Mothering Corner

Isn’t this simple? I don’t even have to do much about shape cutters or anything, but just place a banana and the sausages in. LOL! This is my first attempt in decorating the bentos with lettuce, and if you are wondering if my kids ate them…..The answer is NO. I ate the lettuce instead because I wanted to. It’s vegetarian festival here in Bangkok, so I’m cutting down on meat. Those lettuces were my afternoon snack.

I packed some cornflakes in my boy’s container and asked him to share with his sister. They didn’t have problem sharing it, so maybe next time I will just pack their food in a bigger lunch box and let them share it out.

This morning, I packed them something simple again…

Some pineapples, corn, and shredded pork sandwiches with decorative cheese.

At first, I thought of decorating the dolphin and turtle, but then I was too rush to get the kids ready for school and walloping my breakfast. LOL! I am still struggling with cutting the seaweed into different shapes because of my skill and lack of time. I just can’t wait to get my hands on those seaweed punchers!

It’s another busy Sunday for us. Mommy had to pack food for the kids again, but hubby said make it simple. We planned for shopping in Chatuchak, and it’s easy to get drinks and food, if the kids needed any. Thus, the bentos were meant for snack in the car again, so I only packed finger food.

Wheatmeal cereal, some weiners and san cha peng (ya, again, until the box is empty)

By having some snack and their toys and audio book in the journey, my kids are less grumpy being on the road. I do hope that I have more time to learn more about charaben and present something cute for the children. So, it’s there any way I can have more than 24 hours a day? LOL!

I knew that we would be spending a day out at The Grand Palace on Saturday, so I prepared the sandwiches the night before and kept them refrigerated. It’s simpler to do it this way and I don’t have to rush like a mad woman the next day with cooking and cleaning the Grohe faucets and kitchen because my housekeeper doesn’t come on Saturdays.

Some strawberry and blueberry jam sandwiches, star shaped cheese, ham, san cha pen and apples for the kids

For the first time, I packed myself a bento too. I just bought this pink bento from Daiso Family the day before, so I was eager to put it to use.

Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

 
It’s a 2 layered lunch box

And I bought a thermal insulted bag for myself too.

But I found that it’s too small for sandwiches, so I can’t put much into it. Hubby would have to use the air-tight container for the time being, until I find bigger lunch box later.

Hubby’s bento

I knew that we would pack the car in the open area nearby the palace, the food might not be fresh in the hot sun. Thus, I placed a cool ice pack in the thermal insulted bag to keep the food cool for hours.

The cool ice packs

 An ice pack, a fork, a lunch box and a mini handkerchief for my kiddo’s convenience.

We had the food in the car mostly, so finger food is better than noodles and rice. At least I don’t have to worry about the mess in the car if my kids spill the lunch boxes!

It’s another simple bento today. I bought the cheese and bacon buns yesterday and placed them to in the fridge to preserve the freshness. I took them out at about 5am, all thanks for my kids who refused to let mommy sleep through the night and mommy might need acne treatment soon if her skin is getting worse.

Today’s bento has a banana, a cheese and bacon bun, and some apples.

Added a small piece of cheese on the bun…

And use the rest as breakfast. Why waste?

My little gal lost a few silicon cups and picks since the day she started to bring bento to school, so I have to go shopping again. Gosh, I really love the Japanese shop I found at Future Park. Most of the online stores are selling the same products at least double or triple the price, so I don’t think I will shop online, unless it’s something very special.

Oh ya, some of you are interested in asking me to get the products for you, but the shipping fee is about USD10. So, not really worth it leh…unless you can wait until I fly back to Malaysia. LOL!

Is 13 a good number?

I wanted to surprised my kids with their new lunch boxes, so I didn’t let them see it last night. They knew that I bought new lunch boxes again, but they didn’t know that it comes with a strap! Ya, just a simple thing like this can make a kid happy about it the whole day…

 Corn, san cha pen, Honey Stars and fried shredded pork sandwiches decorated with cheesy bears.

It’s a simple bento, and my kids finished the love shaped cheese and seaweed before I had a chance of packing the 2 layer lunch boxes. *Slap head*

 I wanted to decorate the beads with seaweed, but my kids ate the seaweed again before I cut their eyes and lips.

But then, they were overjoyed to see their new lunch boxes and thermal insulated bags. I packed a pack of juice for them as my boy said, “My friend also bring this Doeramon juice to school.”

The complete bento

I can feel that peer pressure has started its effect on my 3 years old. *roll eyes*

My gal happily brought her new bento to school and she was galloping all the way to her friends. My oh my! LOL! I told her that if she can’t finish the food, just bring back to the office, but she will have to eat the cheese bears first.

On the other hand, my boy wanted me to place his bento at the office and he said that he will eat it after school. But then, he took the juice to school with him, maybe he wanted to show his friend that he has juice to school too huh?

I ordered 3 times from NST.my, and I like the products I bought from this website. I’m still waiting for my 3rd batch of products which are all pre-ordered stuffs from Japan. However, I was not given any discount even if I was a return customer. The store owner said the redemption program will start soon, but I don’t know when will it be. Thus, I decided to look for more bento stuffs on my own, as there are quite a lot of variety here in Bangkok, if I seriously shop around.

Some of the stuffs I bought from NST are…

I like that sausage cutter, and the Pooh Bear vegetable cutter. For the animal picks, I don’t think I will get from NST again as I found a Japanese shop selling at 60 bahts here, so it’s way much cheaper in Bangkok. I’m still waiting anticipatedly for the rest of the pre-ordered stuffs from Japan, so hopefully I will get them by next month.

Some of my friends said they can’t find nice things at Tesco, but I don’t know la… I bought some cookie cutters, pancake mould, rice moulds, egg moulds and etc from Tesco and Central. And it’s all about how you want to prepare your bento. Sometimes, I will just go for practical shape like circle for my kids’ sandwiches, and I don’t blog about it because it might look very plain. Nonetheless, I’m more concerned about preparing food for my kids diet instead of making cute food everyday.

Assorted cutters from Tesco.

The best thing is, I’m glad that I found Daiso Family here at Future Park, and I was thrilled to get everything at 60 bahts each!

All for 60 bahts each from Daiso.

I will surely shop for more here, but in the mean time, I need to find a way to store all my bento gadgets first. LOL!

All the rice and egg moulds, with some silicon cups for jelly. I seldom use them, so they are placed in a separate container.

A box to store the rest of the things…Gee… can’t fit much liao…

I put the lunch boxes away in another cabinet, and I will use them based on the amount of food I pack each time. Bento-ing is fun, but I don’t think I will make cutie bentos everyday.

I woke up late this morning with a sense of panic if I could prepare today’s bento in time. Thank god I prepared the blueberry sandwiches in advance last night and refrigerated them in air tight container, so I just had to prepare the wieners and fried some eggs for breakfast.

Actually, I don’t have to prepare food for my kids to school but just their daily milk. But my boy insisted that they will bring the bentos to school, and the sapodilla will be placed at the office for them as after school snack.

Sapodilla, flower and fish shaped sausages, some blueberry jam sandwiches and asparagus.

My gal almost ate her bento before I had a chance of closing it! LOL! For simple decoration, I used the Helly Kitty, Thomas The Train and fancy animal picks which I bought from NST.

 Hello Kitty and Thomas

 Giraffe and Percy

 Hello Kitty and a chicken (I think…:P)

I like these containers by Mickey and Minnie which I bought from Central.

Mickey and Minnie

It’s small enough for a quick snack, and the best thing is, it’s only 25 bahts (about RM2.50). LOL! Cheap leh…

Before my kids started school in Bangkok, I would pack their lunch everyday to the office, except Sunday, of course. At that time, it had never come across my mind to fix bento “properly” and I used the thermal boxes most of the time. Gee, why didn’t I think of posting them? I can’t even find any photos about them in my memory cards. LOL!

Frankly, I was too busy settling down and starting a biz, I don’t think I have the energy to fix bento. But lately, it’s been so much fun, I think I want to keep this going for as long as possible.

We had fried spaghetti as breakfast yesterday, and there was some leftover. As usual, mommy is the one who finishes the food so that none is going to the waste bin. I packed my first lunch to the office yesterday, how exciting.

Fried spaghetti with scrambles, pork, Chinese chive and cute Pooh bear carrots.

The bento was cold by lunch hour, but I ordered the spicy fried minced pork with basil to go with the spaghetti and it tasted great. Maybe I should pack something for myself next time, and no doubt about it, there won’t be much leftoever left behind after breakfast.

Regarding Bento#9, the doggie was messed up by the time my boy opened his bento. So, I have to think of a way to make sure that things are in place if I would to do something cute next time.

We spent almost the whole Saturday staying at home. Hubby played golf and we planned to meet him up at the office after his game. Thus, I prepared something for him and the kids.

Clockwise: A piece of grilled salmon teriyaki, some cherry tomatoes, choy sum, roasted pork ribs and rice decorated with carrots.

For my boy as tea: Banana, cherry tomatoes, spring rolls and some mini peanut butter chocolate sandwiches.

For my gal (who had eaten banana earlier): Some strawberries, spring rolls and sandwiches too.

Actually, I felt that it’s easier to pack bento with dishes and rice, without thinking much about decorating it. I just have to pack those dishes I cook everyday when they are cold or just pack them in a thermal container. I used to do so for my children when they went to the office on our first month in Bangkok. That thermal container is very convenient in keeping the rice and dishes warm until lunch hour. However, since my children will only take some simple snack after school, I’ve put the thermal container away. But who knows? Maybe someday I will pack lunch with it.

I was looking at this Japanese bento blog when my boy came into my room. He saw one of the bentos of a dog and he asked me to fix one for him. O.o

The bento was prepared with rice, but since my boy is going on the field trip today, I think bread will be a better choice. Thus, I modified it by using chicken floss sandwich, ham and mini sausages.

For doggie: Strawberry spring roll (as paw), sausages (on top of bread and ham) as ear,and ham, a tiny cut of sausage (as tongue) and chicken floss sandwich as the head on a silicon cup.

BTW, there are grapes, a banana, some raisin, haw flakes and fruit juice as well.

I wonder if the doggie will stay that way when my boy opens the bento later today? LOL! I didn’t pack anything fancy for my gal who said she didn’t want a doggie last night. She prefered Hello Kitty, and I’m still waiting for my next batch of products from NST.

Clockwise: Grapes, mini sausages, fish shaped biscuits, raisins and haw flakes.

I think I have to put in more effort and practice if I want my bentos to look cute. But then, I have to ask my kids’ opinions first because I have a feeling that they will go more for taste instead of looks.