Train

Bento No. 89

Whenever I asked my son what he would like to have for a sandwich bento, he always choose the train shape cutter.  So, here it is.  The same old train with tuna mayo, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, cucumber and a small banana.  I also packed his favourite yogurt. 

Yesterday, I had a hunch that it will be a free parking today.  True enough, when I arrived at the school's carpark, the gantry was wide opened and I drove in happily (because I can go shopping after I dropped my son at the school.  hehe.)  I managed to buy a dumpling mould, a trainer chopstick, a lunchbox belt and kids' hangers from Daiso at Singapura Plaza.  But I failed to find the pudding moulds there which I wish to try my hands on the steamed pumpkin muffin receipe by http://food-4tots.com/2011/06/08/steamed-pumpkin-muffins/2/. :( 

Knowing my boy's big appetite, I got him a slice of pandan cheese roll from Bengawan Solo.  He finished the whole cake in seconds!

Octopus

Bento No. 88

I have tried many times to make a hippo bento but unsuccessful. It does not turn out as cute as it should be.  I attempted once today and gave up at the end. The meat patty is supposedly to resemble a hippo head.  So I made an octopus instead decorating with stripes of carrots as its tentacles.  Put on a party hat and placed some muscial notes foodpicks on starfish look alike flower which I cut from a vegetable cutter.  My son has fried long bean with egg along with his favourite fruits; yellow kiwi and blueberries.  This is the only way my boy is willing to eat his long bean.

Recently, I met with a few Mummies at my boy's preschool.  And the hottest topic were thier child is not willing to speak Mandarin. Same for my son.  The preschool is more English focused and teaching subject like Chinese is only conducted twice a week.  I have also noticed my son has started to tell me that he does not like Chinese and I can't help but worry.  I bumped into the school's principal yesterday and understand that they are going to have enrichment lesson for 'Mandarin Speech and Drama' but will not be part of the daily school program.  Another words, I have to pay more school fees if I wanted to enrol my son for the additional class.  The principal assured me that in terms of written chinese, the kids will have no problem in preparation for the local school in Singapore but having confidence to converse in Mandarin with peers will be an issue.  I begin to think if I should be looking for another preschool then.

Sushi Bento

School holiday is over and all the kids are back to school including my son.  We had a wonderful time although it was not much different from last year's.  The main highlights will be bringing Grandma and cousin, Dexter to the Fish Farm at Pasir Ris Farmway and we went to the Art Garden at the Singapore Art Museum with his old friend, 'Kiam Kiam'.  Apart from that, his favourite pastime is swimming and playground.  Perhaps, I shall plan something different next year la.

Today is the first day of his school and I packed his favourite baked salmon sushi, blanched edamame, tamagoyaki and papaya.  I love the cute panda foodpicks.  Don't they look like a pair of best friends? So sweet and lovely resting side by side. 



Bento No. 87



Doggie

Bento No. 86

This is the first time I made Japanese gyoza dumplings which I followed Maki's receipe (http://www.justhungry.com/2004/08/is_my_blog_burn.html).  Unfortunately, I could not find gyoza skin in the NTUC supermarket and instead I used shanghai dumplings skin.  I still has not perfected the skill of cooking the gyoza that yield a crispy side.  It is a bit soft, probably suitable for my boy's palate.  But it is tasty as good as those sold in Japanese restaurant!  I still has some frozen ones in my freezer.  I shall try it agin.

I packed two gyoza into his lunchbox together with fried egg with long bean. Plus a doggie ongiri and oranges aside.

Fried rice with char siu

Bento No. 85

I made a fried rice bento using leftover rice and homemade roasted char siu.  Threw in some greens; blanched french bean and peas.  Picked up a few acrobatic pandas and leaves foodpick and placed it on the oranges.  Simple and speedy!

Yesterday, we celebrated Father's day at Sentosa palawan beach (which is part of the preschool event).  Great outing because it is a very hot and sunny day.  My boy loves the water and sands.  Both father and son enjoyed the sport events organised by the teachers.  I was the camera woman and the porter at the beach! 

Caterpillar

Bento No. 84

It's sunshine day!  I am clueless of what to made for my son's bento this morning. And I think my brain is getting lazy.  Being a homemaker, it is important to stay alert by exercising our mind and brain.  Most of our tasks are routine and sometimes become monotonous.  Creating a bento, new dish or thinking of what to prepare on our next meal helps to stimulate our brain too.  Well, I pondered for a minute staring at the brown rice.  Then, I rolled four tiny riceballs stuffed with baked salmon (in teriyaki sauce) and tata......a caterpillar! The dots are made of cheddar cheese and eyes from nori.  The bone foodpick represent its tentacles.  Aside, my boy has some oranges, blanched carrot and  french bean in black sesame sauce.

California roll

Bento No. 83

My little boy has thrown up during his sleep at 3 am last Thursday morning due to indigestion.  I have been thinking what he has eaten for the past week and realised that the Meiji yogurt with Nata de coco could be the culprit.  The latter contains coconut juice that may have caused indigestion for his little tummy.  Hence, I looked for alternative remedy in one of my cookbook "Feed Your Child Right" by Lynn Alexander and Yeong Boon Yee.  It is a very useful and handy book for Asian parents like me.  I discovered haw fruit drink can ease indigestion.  So I brewed a small pot of haw fruit mixed with red dates and rock sugar for the family.  My boy likes the sweet and sour taste and me too.  Having said that, this drink cannot be drank with empty stomach. By Sunday, he was well enough to eat a full meal.

It's been raining over the weekends and today too.  Good to have more beauty sleep but unfortunately, I have to wake up early to prepare my son's lunch.  He has sushi today.  Nothing fancy.  Just boiled edamame, yellow kiwi, tamagoyaki and california roll (without avocado).

Ladybug



Bento No. 82

Bugs!  My boy does not like bugs be it any insects.  I suspect it should be inheritance from his father (LOL).  Today, I used boiled carrot to cut out the the shape of ladybug and decorated the dots with nori.  Bugs ya....Hehe. And I placed it on the bed of e-fu mee.  He also has one baked honey soya drumstick and accompanied with oranges and cherries.

Traffic today is terribly jam due to an accident along the PIE and having to brake a lot of times make the car jerked causing the lunchbag tumbled back and forth.  I did not use anything to affix the ladybugy.  Hopefully, the ladybug remains as good condition as the shown in the picture.

A Train and a Snail

Bento No. 80

Bento No. 81

We went back to Malaysia to attend a wedding over the weekends.  It was the first time my boy witnessed a Chinese tea ceremony in a very much traditional way and attended a dinner banquet.  And he got to know a new girlfriend, Caren at the dinner.  Both were playing games offered by the jie jie which kept them occupied for a while.  The most unforgettable and memorable thing would be he planted a kiss on her cheek and accidentally kissed on the little girl lips.  The reactions from both of them was immediately wiped their mouths..Haha, so hilarious.  Wonder if others noticed it??  And the girl become shy after the incident ;)

Since we just came back home and I have not stocked up my fridge.  I made a train sandwich with tuna mayo fillings.  Added a few cucumbers for the wheels, cheese and nori for the eyes.  And a hat which the train appeared more animated this round.  I also throwed in some green grapes with his favourite animals foodpicks.

Today, he asked for a snail bento again.  Well, I did and more elaborate than the previous one. I cut it out from steamed egg with minced meat and decorated it with nori and cheese.  For the greens, I gave him blanched caixin and added a few drops of soya sauce for taste as well as carrots.  For fruits, US cherries and NZ yellow kiwi.