I made three bento today--one each for me, my mom, and my dad--and I'm exhausted. Cooking is so tiring. I perservere for the food alone.

These are my first ever bento boxes. Creating pretty bento is harder than it seems! The end result, however, is quite satisfying. Nothing like a cute little lunch to brighten your day! I can't wait to eat mine tomorrow. I hope it's filling enough!





ABOVE: My bento has an onigiri, a fried wonton, some lychee, mozzerella and apple hearts, a few baby carrots, and a wee bottle of Sriracha hot sauce (I love the stuff!). The rice of the onigiri is mixed with some carrots, onions, and Sriracha. Inside is a clump of veggies. My favorite part is the nori star--so cute! The wonton is stuffed with leftover hamburger meat--I added some fresh ginger, carrots, onions, and garlic for a kick.

BELOW THAT: Here you can see my cutie-pie bento box top. Huzzah for monkeys!



ABOVE: The top tier of my mom's bento. It's Success brown rice (pre-cooked) mixed with some furikake, tomatoes, onions, carrots, and cheese. Over that is my awkward attempt at cute patterning with veggie bits. I like the radishes--they add a splash of color--but I don't think my mom will actually eat them. Who said beauty is tasty?



ABOVE: The bottom tier of my mom's bento. I really like this one! Once again, I made onigiri with a star-punched nori handle. This onigiri is filled with tomato-basil tuna. The rice is mixed with carrots and spring onions. There are baby carrots and heart-shaped apple bites along the sides. In the silver cup are seasame crackers as well as an apple-infused cream cheese. (By now, I'm sure you realize just how many apples we had lying around.) Up near the top is a fried wonton and a little sauce fishie filled with soy sauce. Mmm.



ABOVE: The top tier of my dad's bento. Hee! I love my cheesy (pun intended!) heart faces. The guy on the left has a bamboo shoot mustache. Their faces are made of bell pepper. Underneath is Success brown rice miced with tomato-basil tuna. That stuff is great.



ABOVE: The bottom tier of my dad's bento. The apple slices look like french fries, don't they? They're actually resting in a cup of cream cheese. I had to shove the Sriracha sauce beside it as I was running out of space. There are some lychees and yet another wonton. Lychees look strange, but they taste quite good.

All and all, a pretty good bento-ing. I'm still trying to get the hang of this. I'm not even going to mention how long it took me to prepare these--ugh! I'm embarrassed for putting in so much effort. At least they look nice. :)

Current Mood: whew!

First of all, and introduction.

For eighteen years, I claimed not to cook. I told so many people about my crappy cooking that even I started to believe my claims. But no more! This year, I decided to cook more often. I'm such a foodie--cooking is an extension of that!

Frankly, though, I really dislike cooking. It's boring. It's hot. It's annoying. It causes me to panic when several things are bubbling and flaming and sizzling all at once. I try to juggle them all, but it's never easy.

Let me repeat: I am a foodie. I adore good food. For all my skinflint ways, only food has the ability to sway me into submission.

I'm also into anime, manga, and the like. I think Japan's pretty neat. I never really liked Japanese food, being that I thought it was all seafood. But then I found ramen. Soba. Udon. Sushi. Onigiri. All delicious--and surprisingly nutrituous!

Put it all together and bento is a natural conclusion. Bento allows me to play with my food without being scolded. It's cute and fun. It seems really neat.

I just got my bento supplies in the mail today. I need more, of course, but broke. I have to bento on the cheap!

That's what this journal is about: bento on cheap, good food and good times.

Hope you dig it. :)

Current Mood: accomplished