Bento Lunches

Ever since I was a kid, I've used the written word as a form of therapy. It's my way to get crap just OUT, and to deal with it, and speed up getting over things. I can be a total mess, then write about it and channel all my negative energy into it and out of me, and it speeds up getting back to normal. Yesterday was just one of those days. I had been there for 30 whopping minutes and it was type or dissolve into a frustrated ball of tears. That's the price I pay for choosing to go off my meds. I'll take my chances with the keyboard.

Anyway, I have some pics to post, of - you guessed it! - recent bento lunches.

Top tier: gyoza (potsticker/dumpling that I boiled), little piggie with gyoza sauce, broccoli, tamago (japanese omelette), and carrot slices cut into sakura (cherry blossom) shapes. I buy the bags of pre-sliced carrots and save myself a little time/effort in the morning.

Bottom tier: steamed rice topped with furikake, edamame on little bamboo skewers, fishie with soy sauce, curry croquette. I put a piece of sushi grass in there as a divider and to add a little bit of color. Sushi grass is CUTE.


Top tier: gyoza, broccoli, hardboiled egg with a carrot star insert, and a piggie of soy sauce.

Bottom tier: steamed white rice topped with furikake, edamame, and carrot stars.

Top tier: a bed of steamed rice topped with carrot slices, half of a hardboiled egg that I molded into a star shape, with a carrot star inset, in a nest of edamame, and a little piggy of gyoza sauce.

Bottom tier: shumai, another hardboiled egg that I cut and decorated to look like a chick, a couple gyoza, some edamame and carrot stars. The chicks are not that hard to do. The hardest thing was getting the dang black sesame seeds in the right spot for the eyes. His hair is a little bit of broccoli. :)

Top tier: steamed white rice topped with furikake (such an easy way to add color and visual interest!), tamago, edamame skewers, carrot flowers.

Bottom tier: Broccoli topped with carrot flowers, frozen mango cubes in silicone cupcake liners (because really, who wants mango flavored broccoli?) and some cute koala and mushroom shaped cookies with chocolate.

My husband's lunch is keeping mine company in this photo.

Top tier: steamed white rice topped with furikake and shrimp that I sauteed in fresh garlic and Smart Promise fake butter stuff. Still tasted good!

Bottom tier: Edamame topped with carrot flowers, shumai, Lil' Smokies and some broccoli.

Ah, different box!

Chicken curry and steamed white rice topped with larger than usual carrot flowers. The stems are italian parsley from my new garden. I also have silicone cupcake liners (these things ROCK) with kiwi fruit cut into flower shapes, some koala cookies that are filled with chocolate, chocolate mushrooms with cookie stems, and two japanese gummy candies. One is kiwi flavored and one is litchee flavored. Most of the lunches I pack have this pair under the lid, where you can't see it in the picture.

I have decided that since I have been doing so good with packing our lunches that it would be okay to go ahead and get another bento box. The problem is, I've recently found out that the same boxes that are selling for $12 - $20 bucks on ebay are selling for $2 - $5 in Japanese markets in California! Dang unscrupulous ebay sellers! I mean, I've seen some cookie cutters at Michael's that sell for $1.25 listed on ebay for $5. That's a hell of a markup. I wouldn't even have a problem with it if they were auctions that had just gone up that high, but these greedy boogers are selling them as Buy It Now.

So yeah, on the fence about the new box still. Maybe I'll go to the library and check out some books instead!