Panda

Bento No. 159

When you have a compartmentalised bento box, it is easy to assemble the lunch and within seconds, you got a speedy nice bento!  I bought this Lock and Lock lunchbox from Isetan some months ago.  It comes with a poka dot lunch bag, two lunch box (only one with compartments) and plastic fork and spoons. Clearly, there are fruits (strawberries and oranges), vegetables (sugar bean/carrot) and meat (homemade roasted char siu) inside each compartment.  His power protein is the macoroni and chicken soup which I packed it separately in a vaccum flask.

Lately, my son does not take our instructions very well.  He wanted to be incharge and do his own way. Especially, when we teached him the correct way of using/doing things, he either ignored us or simply said, "I can do it myself."  meaning "my own way".  The same happened in school too.  We lectured him last night and hopefully, he would understand and listen more.

Teddy Bear

Bento No. 158

This morning on the way to school, I turned on, 最爱97.2 FM and we were listening to Chinese New Year song over the radio.  My boy unexpectedly said he likes it and wanted more.  I was like "really??" and still could not believe my ears.  Reason being, he dislikes Mandarin all the times and always requested me to swtich to English songs when I attempted to turn on to Mandarin.

Above is a teddy bear made with brown rice onigiri with a red bow tie foodpick.  I cooked chicken thigh with potato (which I learned from Sanku who was here last month) and it was well hidden underneath the brown bear.  He also has green Japanese pumpkin (with skin on), blanched broccolli/sugar bean, strawberries and dragonfruits.  In fact, today's lunch has less meat and more vegetables.

This is the time of year, I need to get packing for the trip back to Malaysia for the Chinese New Year festive.  And we are looking forward because we are going to spend a few nights at Colmar Tropicale Berjaya before heading towards Penang.   I am sure my son would love it :)

Rabbit

Bento No. 157

Yesterday was a good start of the school for my boy.  Teachers commented he was so ethusiast in class.  He learned the Chinese character "我" in class and kept saying it when asked to participate.  I am glad he is happy and at the same time, enjoyed his lessons. 

Today, he has fried stick noodles with pork dumplings, Japanese green and blanched carrots.  He requested for brown noodles yesterday night.  Hence, I stirred in some dark soya sauce and pan-fried it.  And his fruits consist of Korea strawberries and oranges. 

Rose and sushi



Bento No. 156

Today is the first day of school and it is brand new year 2012.  The year of dragon according to Chinese zodiac.  We were so busy towards the end of last year.  We had lots of relatives came all the way from Penang/Kedah in November and December.  And we truly enjoyed their company (otherwise, it would be a boring and quiet holiday for us).  My boy had his first trip to Universal studio, gamely ride on Transformer Autobot simulator with his eyes shut all the times.  He decorated his first Christmas tree.  His first Christmas eve dinner at our favourite bistro Foo's House, Upper Changi Road. His first taste of lollipop.  Lots of gifts and presents.  Thanks to his Sanku, Jin Pak Pak, Lilian Pak Leong and all the jie jie. Oh yeah, we ate all the times.  Guess, my boy has put on few kilos and become quite chubby now with a big round belly.  And my resolution this year, get my son started with swimming lessons and trim down his fat belly ;)

He has a simple baked salmon sushi with his usual sides; edamame, tamagoyaki, strawberries and dragonfruits.  A yellow rose made with tamagoyaki and my boy chose his favourite animal foodpicks; lion and giraffe.

 I wish everyone a very rosy dragon year ahead and may all the wishes come true.

Snowman

Bento No. 155

Christmas is coming! I made a snowman onigiri wearing a party hat and a red scarf.  In the bento, my son has steamed egg with minced meat, blanched carrot/broccolli and dragonfruit. 

I have a great time with my partner celebrating my birthday yesterady :)  We went for a movie, "The Adventure of Tin Tin" at Great World City and ate Skinny pizza.  We have not really been in cinema only just the two of us.  I felt good to spend some couple time together.  I also baked some chocolate cupcake and had my boy sang a birthday song for me ;)  It was a wonderful day!

Doggie & sushi

Bento No. 153

Bento No. 154

Yesterday, I made a doggie out of cheese and place it on the spaghetti.  Unfortunately, my son did not eat his lunch but he finished all the fruits.  When I opened the lunchbox, I discovered the cheese was sticked on the lid of the cover.  Back home, he kept asking for food knowing Grandma has bought some char siu bao for him.  I told him he has to eat at least half of the spaghetti before he can have his bao.  Well, he did so.  Gosh, I cannot believe he can stomach so much food at one go. 

The spaghetti is infused with garlic oil and I packed his favourite tomato sauce (which was the leftover previously and it was kept in the freezer for use) on a separate container.  And he passed gas all the times yesterday.  Is it the effect of garlic oil or the tomato sauce?

Today,  it is baked salmon sushi and his usual side dishes! The addition of red strawberries made the bento look so tempting and colourful.  Put a few of his favourite safari animals foodpicks for cuteness.

Last week, I requested my Mom to post a letter to my son for fun.  It was a silly idea but my boy would ask whether he got any letter every time, I opened our letterbox.  Well, he was so thrilled and surprised (from his expression) that he actually got a mail.  Not an electronic one but via the conventional method.  Inside the envelope, there were a bookmark from NLB, a doremon sticker and a cartoon printout by his cousin, Dexter.

Pinwheel

Bento No. 152

Does it look like pinwheel or flower to you?  It is made of crabstick and blueberry. The rest of his lunch consists of tuna mayo sushi, edamame and kiwi.

My boy has a wonderful time with his cousins from Penang.  It is fun watching three kids aged seven, five and three years playing together.  On the other hand, it can get quite rowdy when they are out of control. I just cannot imagine how the parents cope in the old days where they have six or more children.  When the kids are in bed, we finally has some peace and sat down comfortably to relax.  One topic we discussed is hyperactive child.  My son is also super-active.  That is why I am very particular with what I fed him because the type of diet would affect his behaviour according to experts.  I would love him to take all the natural food but occasionally, I will allow processed food.  But caffeine/soda drinks are absolutely prohibited for him now.  The main reason is my boy always fights with me over his bedtime.  This also explained why I constantly looked out for labels with preservative, colourings, sugars level, sodium and etc.

Below are some excerpts from http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/807819/calming-foods-for-hyperactive-kids.
“Food additives and colors plus artificial sweeteners make the nervous system overactive. That's in addition to what too much sugar can do,” explains Dr. Jennifer Greenfield, Center for Chiropractic Wellness.

“Foods that have calcium and magnesium, like vegetables, nuts and seeds, can be calming,” adds Greenfield.

In any case, it was a good discussion where we shared our thoughts and parenting skills.  And the best?  We have a great time together! :)