Spice Up Your Life With a Taste of Japan

*Fun Bento Box**Cute and Natural Food From California*

5/30/2017

Bento Side Dishes



Got a lot of beautiful, colorful and yummy vegetables at farmers market last Sunday.
Since not party plan for the memorial day, I made a lot of side dishes for my bento for this week.

1. Roasted beets with honey and lomon
2. Salmon patties
3. Japanese-style sesame rainbow chard
4.Marinated baby heirloom tomatoes
5. Peperoncino cabbage
6. Hoeny-Lemon braised sweet potato and carrot
7. Sauteed yellow mushroom and zucchini
8. Pickled radishes
9. Kinpira carrot and sweet potato
10. Cream braised radishes

Also I made vegetable soup with excess vegetables.
Oh, and chocolate cream with cauliflower;) It's my favorite healthy farm-fresh dessert!
(recipe here)

5/29/2017

Fun Train Ride Bento






Easy and fun bento using a bear shape cookie cutter from Daiso!
I love Daiso so much.... I think I go there every week:)

I made Japanese omelet to create a train, but you can use whatever...
Just cut them into rectangle shapes.  ex, vegetables, cheese, tofu, etc..


***Fun Train Ride Bento***

What you need:
Cooked Rice
Carrot
Japanese Omelet
Nori Seaweed 
Olives


1. Fill a bento box half with rice, half with protein and vegetables.
2. Cut a piece of nori seaweed into a thin trip and place on the rice as shown
3. Add short cuts of  nori seaweed as shown to create rails.
4. Create a Japanese omelet and slice to get 2 rectangle shapes. 
5. Cut out a sliced carrot with a bear shape cookie cutter.
6.Place the egg and carrot on the rice. Also placed sliced olives to create wheels.
7. Cut a piece of nori seaweed with a scissors or a seaweed puncher and create the pace parts. Also make small squares for windows.

5/06/2017

Android Bento




Celebrating the soon to launch Tanoshi kids computer! 
'Tanoshii' means Fun in Japanese.
They offer Fun + Safe + Educational computer for school-age kids!
tanoshiinc.com
Follow them on twitter @TanoshiKids

5/04/2017

Vegetarian "Fish" sushi bento



Tomorrow is Chilidren's day! I made koinobori bento for Japan Up! May issue.
Vegetarian 'Fish' sushi bneto :P

Koinobori is Japanese colorful carp windsocks.
Carp is a symbol of strength and success in Japan.
Japanese hang these windsocks outside for Children's Day (May 5th) to bring good luck to their kids health and success.
One set of the windsocks usually comes with 3 sizes. The big one symbolize father,
the medium one mother and the small one child.

1. Make a Japanese omelet. Or you can use a store-bought one.
2. Make 3 different sizes of oblong shapes by slicing a cucumber, omelet and red pepper. Also cut right side end as shown to create tails for fishes.
3. Make 3 small rice balls in sizes that match up well with fish pieces.  
4. Make a long thin strips with a sheet of nori seaweed as shown.
5. Place fish piece on rice and wrap with seaweed strip.
6. Create round eyes by poking a slice of cheese with a straw and other parts by cutting from a piece of nori seaweed with a seaweed puncher or scissors.