Fiance's Snack Bento

My fiance had to go to school and then run some errands, so I made a snack bento so she wouldn't get too hungry before coming home for lunch.

• Apple
• Hazelnut Nut Thins
• Gouda Goat Cheese
• Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

It's a super simple snack bento, but my fiance likes simple foods. so it was a huge hit. Plus it was all her favorites!

French Toast Breakfast Bento

I made myself Gluten Free French Tosat today, using the UDI's Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread. I also used my secret seasonings/spices... I'm not giving away my french toast recipe to anyone!
Anyway, Here it is.

I left to cookie cutters in the picture, because I didn't think the powder sugar would hold the shape very well... and I was right as pictured below...

• 3 Slices GF Cinnamon Raisin French Toast
• I can't believe it's not butter spray
• Powder Sugar

 The leaf shapes stayed a little bit, but it's still a bit of a mess. I guess I need to sift the powder sugar and use less of it when I want to make a shape.
But it tasted soooo good!

Toasted Onigiri Bento

I made a couple of onigiri last night with the leftover rice from dinner. Then this morning I brushed them with gluten free soy sauce and toasted them on each side in a frying pan. Then I made green pea tamagoyaki to go with it.

Here is my fiance's bento lunch. We brought our lunches with us when we went to run errands.

• Green Pea Tamagoyaki
• Rolled up Pastrami
• Soy Sauce Toasted Onigiri
• Cheese Leaves
• Small Apple

And here is my bento lunch.

• Rolled up Turkey
• Chhese Leaves
• Small Apple
• Green Pea Tamagoyaki
• Soy Sauce Toasted Onigiri

It was a super tasty lunch, and it was pretty simple to make as well. I know it's not super decorative, but I thought it looked really cool, and I made a few things that I haven't made in a while (or in the case of the toasted onigiri; I've never made before).

I hope you enjoy!

Spaghetti Sguash & Meatballs Bento

This bento was made with leftover spaghetti squash and chicken meatballs that we had last night for dinner. It was really delicious. I recommend Spaghetti Squash to anyone who is gluten intolerant, or anyone watching their carbs, calories, or nutrition. It's a great alternative to pasta.

This one is my fiance's bento lunch.

• Apple sauce with an acorn shaped sprinkle of cinnamon
• Pink Meringue cookies (my fiance likes the pink ones even though they are all vanilla)
• Spaghetti squash, Chicken meatballs, sauce, cheddar cheese leaves

 And here is my bento lunch.

• Apple sauce with an acorn shaped sprinkle of cinnamon
• Vanilla and Chocolate Meringue cookies
• Spaghetti squash, Chicken meatballs, sauce, cheddar cheese leaf

Applelicious Bento

This bento is Appleliciously apple themed. Although the main item int eh bento isn't even Apples.It's Quesadillas! Gluten Free corn tortillas with cheese and turkey!

Here is my faicne's bento:

• Cheddar Cheese and Turkey Quesadillas
• Apple shaped Apple slices
• Apple Cubes with Cinnamon and Little Apple people picks
• Lettuce
• Mushrooms
• Cherry Tomato (disguised as an apple with a leaf pick)

 And here is my bento:

• Colby cheese and Turkey Quesadilla
• Apple shaped Apple slices
• Apple Cubes with Cinnamon and Little Apple people picks
  
• Lettuce
• Trail Mix
• Cherry Tomato (disguised as an apple with a leaf pick)

Well there you have it. And Apple themed bento! I hope you liked it as much as I did!

Fall is Here Bento

Fall is finally here, and I'm back to making cute bentos again. I was a bit too busy to make any of my bentos cute for a while, but now we got a kitten, and I'm staying at home for a while to help him get adjusted to his new home... so I have more time to make bentos!
This bento is still pretty easy though, because I was up most of the night with the kitten. He was sleeping peacefully next to me on the sofa.... but I was unable to get a good nights rest on the sofa... so needless to say I am pretty tired.

My fiance's bento:

• Onigiri (that I made with my new rice cooker!)
• Cherry Tomato
• Lettuce
• Pastrami
• Cheese Leaves and Letters
• Mushrooms
• Apple cubes with Cinnamon
• Peeps Ghost and Pumpkin
• Trail mix (Pumpkin seeds, peanuts, Pineapple, papaya, fig, raisins, cranberries, almonds, etc.)

My bento:

• Apple cubes with Cinnamon
• Peeps Ghost and Pumpkin
• Trail Mix
• Cheese Leaves and Letters
• Turkey
• Lettuce
• Cherry Tomatoes

 Hopefully I can make a cuter bento tomorrow... but we'll see. We are taking our little guy to the vet to get his shots... so who knows how he'll react after that.

Sage, sleeping on my lap.

Rice Cooker Review

Review of the Hamilton Beach Rice Cooker that my fiance and I received for a Handfasting/Engagement Gift.

This Rice Cooker is also a steamer and has a bunch of awesome features that I wrote about here.

This rice cooker is really easy to use, and it comes with a step by step guide and some recipes as well.

After the rice cooker beeped I opened it up and saw a beautiful sight.... Fluffy, Perfectly Cooked Rice!

The first thing I did was line my onigiri maker with plastic wrap and fill the pockets with rice.

And pressed the onigiri maker together to pack the rice into the plastic wrap.

Then I flipped it over and popped them out to reveal.....

Wrapped Onigiri!!!!

I made these to see how they would hold up overnight in the refrigerator. I wanted an onigiri snack for tomorrow.

And here is my dinner... Steak, Vegetables, and RICE, with Cracked Pepper and Butter.

The rice was delicious. So simple to make, and it was fluffy and cooked to perfection. I ate many servings of the rice and I could have had JUST rice for dinner because it was THAT good!
My fiance's opinion of the rice maker....? "More Please!" and "When are you going to make it again?" and "Can we have the rice pudding and the steamed salmon rice?" That last question was referring to the recipes that came with the rice cooker.

With the simplicity of the rice cooker, as well as all the wonderful features it comes with, I would highly recommend this rice cooker to anyone from beginners to experienced rice makers.

New Bento Goodies

So, last weekend was my fiance's and my Engagement Party/Handfasting, and we received a few presents. I'm going to share what I got that will be very useful for making bento.
First of all, I would like to Thank Julie for giving me these awesome presents!!!! Thank you so much!!!

 First she gave me some super cute Food Cutters! These are going to be so great for bento, and I can't wait to try them out!!!

This is the Harvest Cookie Cutter Set

• 3 Leaves
• Pumpkin
• Apple
• Acorn

 And this set is the Farm Animals

• Bunny
• Duck
• Cow
• Turkey
• Pig
• Sheep

Next is the really big gift!

A Rice Cooker!!!!

This Rice Cooker is so cool, and It had different setting so I can make...

• White Rice
• Brown Rice
• Other Whole Grains
• Steamed Vegetables (or steamed meats/fish)
• Soups
• Beans
• Mac & Cheese
• Side Dish Mixes (Like rice or noodle dishes that you buy prepackaged at the grocery store)

And there were a few recipes that came in the manual that I am thinking of trying out.

The Rice Cooker Came with other awesome accessories too

• Measuring Cup
• Rice Paddle
• Ladle
• Steamer Basket
• Oh and it also had a delayed cooking option so I can set everything up and it will cook at the time I set it.
• And it had a setting for keeping foods warm as well

I can't wait to try out my new gadget and accessories! Be on the lookout for a review of the Rice Cooker sometime next week. I'm hoping to a lot of onigiri for bento!

Protein Bento

I made some bentos for my fiance and my lunch tomorrow. We had some errands to run tomorrow after she gets out of class (mainly I have to pick up the bridesmaids dress I'm wearing to my sister's wedding, then go to the nursing home for my fiance's grandmother's birthday), so I made us some protein packed bentos.
Sorry the past few bentos haven't been super cute or intricate... I haven been really busy during the days, so I have been making really simple bentos to save some time. But I will be getting back to the cute bentos soon!

Here's my fiance's bento:

• Hazelnut Nut Thins
• Vanilla Meringues
• Cellery
• Baby Carrots
• Pastrami (Rolled up with bone picks)
• Hard Boiled Egg (In the shape of a flower.... that you can't really see in the picture)
• Edamame Hummus

 Here's my bento:

• Pecan and Hazelnut Nut Thins
• Vanilla and Chocolate Meringues 
• Celery
• Baby Carrots
• Turkey (Rolled up with Bone Picks)
• Hard Boiled Egg (Heart Shaped... but you can't really see it)
• Edamame Hummus
• Pickle Slices

Gluten Free Apple Crisp

When my friends and I went Apple Picking last weekend, I picked up a pamphlet that had a few recipes in it. I decided to try making the Apple Crisp Gluten Free, so here is my Gluten Free Attempt.

YUM!!!! It was so good, My fiance and I each had two bowls full right out of the oven!

I started with a mixture of Apples that we picked last weekend (McIntosh, Sparta, and Cortland).

The other Ingredients I used.... I substituted the flour and the oats for gluten free options.

• Oats
• Flour
• Brown sugar
• Butter
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg

 Here it is before putting in the oven... I sliced the apples and put them into the greased baking sheet, then I mixed the other ingredients and  sprinkled it on top.

Here it is out of the oven. We were so excited to try it, I forgot to take a picture until after we each had a bowl full.... Oops.

It was soooooo good, and I'm totally putting this recipe into my new recipe book! :)

Easy Sandwich Bentos

We had to take the car into the shop today after my fiance got out of class. so I packed some quick sandwiches for us to bring along for lunch.

My fiance has:

• Pastrami Sandwich (with Cheese, Lettuce, and Mayo)
• Small Apple (That we picked yesterday)
• Parmesan Goldfish Crackers
• White Cheddar pirate Booty
• Apple Juice
• Caramel Apple

 I have:

• Gluten Free Sandwich (Turkey, Lettuce, Mustard)
• Small Apple (That we picked yesterday)
• White Cheddar Pirate Booty
• Pickle Slices
• Caramel Apple (With Nuts and Chocolate Chips)

Handfasting Leftovers Bento

Friday, my fiance and I got Handfasted/Had an engaement party. And this bento dinner was made with the leftovers. The yummiest fall foods all rolled into one bento dinner.

 My Bento Dinner

• Mashed Butternut Squash
• Roast Chicken (White Meat)
• Spiral Sliced Ham
• Roasted Vegetables (Sweet Potato, Red Potatoes, Gold Potatoes, Carrots, Persimmons, Onions, Garlic, Rosemary, Black Pepper)

 My Fiance's Bento Dinner

• Spiral Sliced Ham
• Roast Chicken (Drumsticks and Dark Meat)
• Mashed Butternut Squash
• Roasted Vegetables

We had a wonderful time at our party. and I am soooo excited to get Married.
If you'd like to read more about Handfasting or just want to read a Pagan/Wiccan blog, then please check out my Book Of Shadows Blog.
Thank you, and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Cinnamon Apple Waffle Bento

YUM! A few of my friends, my fiance, and I went apple picking yesterday, so this morning I was hoping to make something with apples in it for breakfast. I remembered I had gluten free Apple Cinnamon waffles in the freezer, so I pulled those out and set them in the toaster oven to toast. Then I sliced two apples, and cooked them with some cinnamon, and brown sugar, and other secret seasoning (I'm not giving away my baked apple recipe..... I use the same ingredients for my baked apples.... but this time I made it in a frying pan instead of in the oven). Anyway, I placed the apple slices on top of the waffles, and added a little whipped cream.... and that was all I needed to do to make the best Autumn breakfast ever! It was soooooo good!

Here's a picture without the whipped cream, so you can see the apple slices better.

This next one in the yellow bento box is my fiance's breakfast.

• 2 Gluten Free, Apple Cinnamon Waffles
• Cinnamon Baked Apples
• Whipped Cream (Light)
• Apple Person Pick

And here is my breakfast in the pink bento box.

• 1 Gluten Free, Apple Cinnamon Waffle
• Cinnamon Baked Apple Slices
• Whipped Cream (Light)
• Apple Person Pick
• I also added some Milled Flax Seed before I ate it.

So delicious, and easy to make.... but I'm not giving away my baked apple recipe, so you'll have to find a different one to follow. Sorry.

Please Vote For Me!

Hello all Facebook Users! I am entered in a contest to win a cute bento box set from Hapa Bento.
In order to vote for me, you have to first 'Like' Hapa Bento on Facebook (If you haven't already that is...) and Second you have to 'Like' my bento picture.
So please go here on Facebook and 'like' my picture so I can win!
Thank you so much.
My entry is this picture

Wall Photos

MewlKitten's bento entry for the Back-to-School Bento Contest. Select "Like" as your vote.

By: hapa bento

I'm counting on you all to help me out! Thank you so much!

Fresh Rolls & Fried Rice Bento

This is my first time making fresh rolls.... and I had a lot of trouble. The rice paper was sticking to the plate, and I didn't roll it up tight enough. so when I cut them all the filling was coming out. That and I didn't even have lettuce to fill it with. *shakes head* I'll try again soon.

I'm putting my bento first, because my fiance's was a colossal mess, and mine came out a little better. She didn't care because it still tasted super yummy.

• Chicken Fried Rice from here
• Fresh Rolls (Rice papers, rice vermicelli, shredded carrots, red pepper, cooked mushrooms)
• Soy Sauce in the little apple bottle
• Red Pepper garnish

 You can't even tell that these were rolls.... it just looks like I tossed everything into the bento... Oh well. This bento has exactly the same foods as the first bento... it's just a lot messier.

I'll definitely try making fresh rolls again sometime. I just have to be sure to wrap it much tighter and make sure the knife I use to cut it is a lot sharper so I don't have to saw through it as much.

Chicken Fried Rice

I made up a Chicken Fried Rice Recipe on the fly, and it turned out super delicious. This was our dinner, and my fiance asked for seconds.... I would have eaten more too but then I'd be uncomfortably full. lol.

Easy Chicken Fried Rice

Serves 4-5

• 1 lb Boneless Chicken Breast (Cubed and Cooked)
• 1 cup Egg Beaters or 4 Eggs (Cooked and Scrambled)
• 3 cups Cooked Brown Rice (Day Old or 3 Minute Rice Cups)
• 1/4 Onion (Chopped)
• 1-2 lg bags Frozen Mixed Vegetables (Peas, Carrots, Corn, etc... Thawed)
• 1 lg Garlic Clove (Minced)
• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
• Black Pepper + Soy Sauce (to taste)
• Toasted Sesame Seeds (Garnish)

1. Saute Onion and Garlic until translucent. Add Chicken and Soy Sauce. Cook until warmed through.
2. Add thawed Vegetables and cooked Rice. Stir well to combine.
3. Add Sesame Oil, and toss well. Add Pepper and extra Soy Sauce if desired. Stir well and cook until the rice soaks up the extra liquid.
4. Gently stir in Scrambled Egg and serve with a sprinkling of Toasted Sesame Seeds.

If you have the ingredients prepared beforehand, this dish is very fast and easy to make.

Spontanious Snack Bento

I felt like having a snack, so I grabbed the stuff to make a quick snack bento. I made it in less then 5 minutes because all the vegetables were cut and washed already.

• Broccoli Florets
• Baby Carrots
• Cherry Tomato
• Edamame Hummus with Red Pepper Tapenade
• Pecan Nut Thins

This was a super delicious snack bento, and for such a quick bento, I think it turned out pretty good looking.

Kitten Bento

This bento is Kitten Themed because my fiance and I are getting a Kitten this month. Right now he is only 5 weeks old, so he is not old enough to leave his mother, but after a few more weeks, we will be taking him home with us.
Anyway, I made kitten themed bentos today in honor of our new baby boy.

Here is my fiance's bento lunch

• Kitty faces with M&M eyes and nose (Grilled Cheese Sandwiches)
• Cat Toy with star cutouts (Mini Babybel Light Cheese)
• Litter Box (Rice Crispies Cereal, Brown M&Ms, Chocolate Peeps Cat)
• Meow (Apple with letter cutouts)
• Cat Toys (M&Ms)

 Here is my bento lunch, All gluten free!

• Kitty Face (GF Sandwich with Turkey, mustard, tomato, lettuce, pickles, and M&M face)
• Cat Toy (Mini Babybel Light Cheese)
• Litter Box (GF Rice Crispies Cereal, brown M&M, Chocoleate Peeps Cat)
• Meow (Apple with letter cutouts)
• Cat Toys (M&Ms)

And now, Introducing Sage Johnson Our 5 week old Kitten.

Isn't he the cutest?