Every day BENTO -Lemon herb Chicken-

It is important to add color the side dishes for bento when we make it. This is basic thought and many people do that. Even though they are not attractive color, lots of food is so tasty, but  I don't want to put only dark color dishes into bento as simmered dishes. They are the dishes which is called "grandma dishes".

Anyway, I remember this television commercial Tokyo gas.
It is very touchy.

A boy grew up with his grandmother's cooking. He liked her cooking like grilled fish or simmered fish, so he is good at removing fish bones when he eats fish at the table, and his boss talked about him. One day, he remembers a day when he was a kid. His friends came over his house, and grandmother served dinner for them. However, they didn't like her dinner and couldn't finish because they didn't get to use to it. The boy yelled at her about it. "The reason my friend couldn't eat dinner tonight is your cooking is too old!" His grandmother looked sorry for them because she thought it her cooking was not good.
Now he regrets saying that since years and decided to go home to see grandmother and apologize. When he apologized to her, she showed her best smile without words.

Grandma' cooking is best in the world.







Today's bento menu is,



*Lemon herb Chicken
*Sauteed mashroom & spinach
*Egg roll
*tomato

Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes -vegan-

Cream and berries are perfect to enjoy cakes.
I was so happy to eat buttery sponge and sweet berries for my birthday when I was a kid. My family celebrated our birthdays with each favorite cakes, I asked my mom to bake this cake and my brother asked for chocolate cake.

Now I can bake amazing fluffy sponge cakes without eggs and butter. I am happy though my life.


**Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes -vegan- recipe**
12 mini muffin tins

100g pastry flour
3g baking powder
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp oil
120mL soy milk
vanilla extract
100mL soy cream
3 tbsp raspberry jam
Some powder sugar
Some fresh or frozen strawberries or raspberries

1. Mix pastry flour and baking powder in a big bowl.
2. Mix sugar, salt, oil, soy milk, vanilla extract in a another bowl.
3. Add 2. mixture into the 1.mixture little by little, and combine them.
4. Pour mixture into mini muffin tins.
5. Bake it in the preheated oven at 170°C for 14-15 minutes.
6. Cool down completely and cut in half.
7. Whisk soy cream and add raspberry jam.
8. Decorate mini sponge cakes with soy cream, powder sugar and berries.

Every day BENTO -Omurice-

It sometimes happens.
Too focus to do something, miss somthing.

While I was covering fried rice with the omelet gently, All I thought was trying not to break the omelet.
When I was done, I found it was too big to eat.

I won't say anything to my son even though he can't finish it.




*Omurice
sweet tangy ketchup-seasoned fried rice wrapped with fluffy omelet

*Sauteed veggies&sausage
*Ham&cheese

Oats Crumble Lemon Blueberry Bars

Last summer treat☆
There are tons of how to make lemon bars online.
I have been still looking for best one.
Today I make filling in advance before baking and put it on baked crust. I think the color gets more beautiful bright yellow comparing with uncooked filling on the crust.




**Oats Crumble Lemon Blueberry Bars recipe**
8*20cm (3*8 inch)     2 baking pans
If you still have leftover of crust, you can keep in the freezer.

<Crust>
1 1/4 cups pastry flour
1 1/4 cups oats
1 cup cane sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup melted butter
vanilla extract

1. Mix pastry flour, oats, cane sugar, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
2. Add melted butter and vanilla extract into the dry ingredients bowl and mix them.
3. Press half of the mixture into a bottom of baking pan.
4. Bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 13-15 minutes.


<Lemon curd filling & blueberries>
2 eggs yolk
2 eggs
3 lemon juice(about 100mL)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp corn starch
100g frozen or fresh blueberries

1. Put eggs, egg yolks, lemon juice and granulated sugar and flour into a sauce pan.
2. Warm up on the low heat and stir them with a whisk.
3. Add melted butter into the sauce pan and stir them.
4. Remove the saucepan when it gets thicken.
5. Prepare blueberries.

<Finish lemon bars>
1. Place blueberries on crust. Pour lemon curd onto oats crust base and blueberries.
2. Sprinkle the leftover oats crumble on top.
3. Bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 15-20 minutes.
4. Cool it down, and then place it in the fridge for a while.
5. When it gets cool completely, cut into the bars.

Every day BENTO -Shigureni-

20 minutes.
In general, this is the time to make bento in the morning. I can get some information from cooking book for bento, and also check information online the same.

"How to make bento in 20 minutes."
"Easy and quick to prepare bento in your busy morning."

The title of these books is very attractive to buy it and I actually did, but never done in such a super short time.
At least it takes more than 20 minutes to cool rice down before I put it into the lunch box.
Definitely it is important to prepare for bento the night before the day. It depends on how much take time to prepare.

I am a morning person, so it is not hard to get up early for making bento. I want to go to bed as soon as possible at night. I don't want to take long time to prepare at night. That's why it takes much longer time to make bento for me than others. In conclusion, this depends on individual life style.


One of my friends "togu" rice in the morning and cook it for bento.
("Togu is wash or rinse rice. It is important step before we cook rice. After we do this, need to place quietly for at least 30 minutes before cook rice. Cooking time with rice cooker is generally about 50 minutes.) Too much things in the morning.

Another friend cooks rice, cool it down, put it into the bento box and keep in the fridge at the night before in advance. Basically keeping cooked rice is not tasty.

I have friends who is super slow, and super well prepared. I guess I am in the middle.
OK, I don't care the words "20 mintutes".



*Beef Shigureni
 Gingered beef  and burdock cooked in soy sauce and mirin.

*Boiled egg & tomato
*Butter sauteed enoki and zukkini
*rice balls

Every day BENTO -Chinese Stir fried Veggie and Chicken

No more frozen food in my son's bento box.

I swear last week, but almost I break down. This challenge is my selfish one, not his favor.
I want keep doing this until he says something about non-frozen food bento. I am very curious about it whether he notices or not.

When I was young, my mom made bento for me without frozen food. There were few frozen food for bento as today, but she wanted to cook very homemade side dishes for me. I was so greatful. I don't know whether I was an idiot or not, which meant I remember I asked my mom to use frozen food for my bento. I said to her I wanted eat frozen food in my bento like my friends.
She was so kind she did my favor once a week.

When I ate bento with frozen food about 10 days ago at home, there was a reason, I noticed it was not good.
I realized my son eats this every day. That's why I started to make bento without frozen food. He has said nothing about it so far.

I know frozen food is very convenient when I make bento, but I don't want to eat it every day.
Hang in there.



*Chinese Stir fried Veggies and Chicken
rich oyster sauced taste

*Butter sauteed mashrooms
*Ketchaped sausages
*Fish sausage with cheese

Sports Day BENTO

Sports day is coming.
Sports day is the biggest event in a year for parents who have small kids in Japan.
On this day, there is a opening ceremony and group marching, and kids participate a lots of sports. This is competition between classes.

Parents watch energetic kids for competition, and prepare their lunch. Lately most of school have a rule about lunch time. All kids should have lunch at the day in their class room, but so did I when I was young. However some school has different one, which is kids spend lunch time with their parents or relatives.

There are arguments for and against this. Spending with parents during lunch time on sports day for kids could be precious time, but there is one problem.
For the kids who don't have parents or relatives, there are no one who come to watch them on the day. Spending in class room with friends or teacher is better idea.

Anyway, this arguments for and against this idea have been coming to conclusion, each school has a rule on their own.

In my son's school, we had lunch with kids with parents so I need to prepare tons of lunch for my whole family. I remember this was hard but fun.


Looking back BENTO pics on past sports day, I made big BENTO with same menu every year, and it doesn't change until now. Now my son is high school student and still need BENTO every day.

I make same BENTO for more than 10 years. This could be thought amazing or ridiculous.





Fried chicken
Hamburg steak
Egg rolls
Simmerd root veggies
Salad
Rice balls