Dinner has been fun these few weeks with kids looking forward to eat from the bento tray.  And now they will ask, “who’s turn today?”  So it’s Di-di turn today!

Lately, I realised that yee mee has been the most favourite noodle with my kids.  Not late to found out.  And fish paste is one of my favourite food.

We had this meal on a weekday and I took less than 20mins to get this done. In the morning before I left for work, I boiled anchovies  soup and leave them in the thermal pot.

In the evening, I discard the anchovies, drop in kamaboko and crabsticks, remove them, shape or scoop with spoon the fish paste in the stock, crack an egg or two, lastly the yee mee.  Kautim!

In between cooking or while waiting for the stock to boil, I stuff some japanese cucumber in the kamaboko, arrange the crab stick, etc.

Dessert, we had plum and mangoes from the neighbour’s tree. Fully organic and no pesticide at all. Waitaminute,  they don’t even put any fertiliser.  How can it be organic?   I bump into the Husband while he was plucking mangoes from his tree.  Since already face-to-face, I can’t just walk off right? Have to strike a conversation lor.  So I go, “Wah, your tree bear so many fruits.  One of the day you must climb up and pluck all the mangoes or else later the bees will sting on it or eaten by crow (wtf, crow eat mango meh?) then very wasted.” He just smile and ya-ya at me and before I go in to my house, he gave me a plastic bag full of mangoes!  Muahahaha!

The Prince had 2nd helping of Yee Mee.  The bowl is kinda small.  Maybe I should look for a slightly bigger size.  Good to the last drop.  It sure makes me happy when they enjoy the meal I cook.  I don’t usually cook dinner on a weekday but when I do, the kids is the most happiest lot.

Daddy bought a Japanese lacquerware tray during his recent flight transit in Hong Kong.  I was more than happy to have another gadget added to my already bento mania collection.  Without wasting any time, I started using them the very next day.  I’m not sure how kids (I have three children!) will react when they see meals serving in the lacquer tray but only one of them will get to have them 🙁 .  And of course, this means that the Mummy will have to be bias :(  .

So…… I pick………. Jie Jie.  Reason is because she always give way to her younger siblings and I didn’t want her to think that I have not love her enough.

And guess what happen to Di-di?  He was freating and refuse to eat his dinner.  He wants the bento tray too.   I have to pacify and coax him.    I promised him every one will get a chance to eat from the tray. And he still refuse to eat 🙁 .  Now you know why sometimes I have to spoon feed a 7 years old!  >.<

Closeup on the dishes:

Pan grilled Fish Fillet with other grilled vegetables like baby corn, japanese cucumber and tomato.  Foreground is wakame.

Steam Organic tofu with bonito flakes and a dash of seaweed powder

Seaweed soup with egg drizzle.

Dessert consist of plum and a slice of apple.

If you remember a while ago I baked some cupcake during eldest Princess  9th Birthday.  Along with the paper mould, I have some of them baked using the silicon cup so that the kids can have them for their next day bento.  All I have to do in the morning is to pipe some cream cheese on it, sprinkle some Thousand and Hundred and perfected it with a candy heart.

In the evening, Princess came home from school asking for more cupcakes.  Whoa!  Didn’t know it was a big hit!  Guess I’ll be baking cupcakes more often from now on.

Top from left:  Buttered corn, assortment of fish cake
Bottom from left:  Mini pears, chocolate flavoured mantou

Mini are good.  But mini is always expensive.  I am refering to both food and electronic gadget for example the palm size mobile phone, the netbook, pns camera, etc.  I am always feeling excited when I see mini food cos they are easier to pack into bento box.

You can tell that the pears are mini cos they are no where larger than the mantou.

Post dated bento consist of individually packed rice + chicken floss . Dishes is fried egg (using egg white for the face, cincau jelly for the eyes and whiskers *haha!*, egg yolk for the nose and carrot as the ribbon), blanched broccoli and cauliflower and pan fried salmon slices.

This is how I prepare the rice:

Filled onigiri mould with rice and make a well at the centre. Position chicken floss in the well before closing them with more rice. You can mix rice vinegar to your cooked rice or just leave them plain.

Place your rice ball on the centre of plastic wrap and wrap them up.

As for the pan fried salmon slices:

Cut salmon in slices. Marinate them with teriyaki sauce, dash of pepper, honey and dark soy sauce. Melt a little butter on non-stick pan and fried them. Make sure you do not overcook the salmon.

As for the Hello Kitty egg:

Separate egg white and yolk. Fried them separately. The rest is all cut out from the Hello Kitty cookie cutter.  I really respect those amateur bento blogger. How did they find time to do all those cutesy bento? I took near to 1 hour to prepare this bento. I think this is the first and last time I EVER use the cookie cutter for bento’ing. Really  so much work!

Schedule post* and you know what?  Internet line in Beijing is so much faster than Streamyx!!!!!

This is not a bento post but because I have accidentally watermarked them, saved and named under bento, they are too late/lazy for me to do further changes  now. 

Hello Kitty Fish cake.

Bought them in Takashimaya (Singapore) for S$6.90.  I was told Jusco has them too at about RM12.90.

They kids had them with vermicille noodle one day and reckon they are good.  Prince is not reluctant to ate them even though that pink kitty is for sissy.  I even packed udon with the fish cake some other day and he happyly ate them in the school canteen.  I’m ok if he refused to eat them.  He don’t know what he is missing. kekeke.

Ever since school reopen early of this year, kiddos have been bringing bento to school for their lunch. Prince is the one that set such a routine that Friday is canteen day and I gladly obliged as I get a day rest from all the nerve wreaking too. They used to buy “yee meen” or “cheng tong meen” every friday till one day, the word ‘nuggets’ came to existance.

Left to right: Fried rice (left over), chicken nugget with ketchup on the side, celery & carrot stix with kewpie mayo on the side and dragon fruits.

Well, here is my Motto – “Never Buy Food That Mummy Can Prepare”. Moreover, RM1.00 for 2 pieces of nuggets is a bit over priced. Next day, the kiasu and kiamsiap Mummy went and bought chicken nugget to be included in their bento (since they like it so much).

And you know what I hate the most? That darn smelly and oily kitchen at 6am! Grrr….

My kids love to compliment their rice or porridge with chicken floss.  It is even a bigger hit with Baby Princess who is a very picky eater.  She doesn’t mind eating white rice and chicken floss everyday.  Even when we are out of chicken floss, she doesn’t mind white rice.  Sometimes, I nicknamed her ‘White Rice Baby’.  To me, as long as she is willing to eat, I’m fine with just anything cos she only drinks milk and refuses solid when she turned one.  I know, that is very weird.  She started eating solid willingly when she joins the daycare at the age of 2 yrs 9mths.

To make the onigiri, I opt out the rice vinegar.

I preferred to use a onigiri mould.  Make a well at the centre of the mould.

Placed chicken floss on the centre.  Cover them with rice again before pressing the mould together.  Turn them out and you get a triangle shape.  You can use your hand to shape the rice but it is messy work plus you get odd sizes which I don’t like.   Not forgetting, hot too.

For the older kids, they have homemade sui mai.

Method:  Season minced meat & prawn meat with soya sauce, pepper, sesame oil and corn flour.  Wrap them in wanton skin.  Snip away remining wanton skin. Optional, garnish with some crabsticks.  I put them in moulds again so that I get even sizes.  LOL.  I am quite particular about sizes.  Oil your plate before steaming so that the wanton won’t stick to the plate.  Steam them for 5 mins or till done.

I have different types of eater at home.  This is Prince’s Bento as the Eldest Princess doesn’t like green.  I do give her optional like cherry tomatoes (Prince hate it) or carrot sticks (Prince hate it too).

Place a sheet of baran in between the onigiri so that they won’t stick to eath other.

The more I look at Hubby’s bento, the more I want to snigger at it.  I cooked a whole bunch of the Bunashimeji mushroom with Hong Kong Kailan.  When come to presentation, just a few strand of the mushroom is needed and yours truly wacked the remaining whole lot of it cos I don’t need presentation!  Fyi, I am a Mushroom Mania!

I marinate my own Turmeric chicken aka satay.  The ingredients:  I used deboned chicken drumsticks as I hate breast meat.  Marinate them overnight with a little sprinkle of sugar, salt, honey, pepper and turmeric powder.  Grill them on high for 20mins or till done.

Usually I will braised the leftover roast duck with salted vegetable.  But this time, I have them cut into cubes and add them to the pasta salad with cheese dressing.

I just throw in what ever I have – weiners, lettuce, carrot, wheel pasta, tomatoes and cheese dressing.

Another version for the kid’s bento as the left over duck is not enough to go round.  What you see is the Prince bento as the Princess dislike broccoli.

What is it like coming back to work after the week long break?  GOOD!  I’ve never felt so rejuvenated!