Bentos Every Day, and Hard-Partying Barbie

That is my goal and so far I am doing pretty darn well making bento lunches every day of the new semester.

Above we have the re-invasion of the octo-dogs; I tried to get them to hold hands but octo-dogs are more into fighting than making nice. They are resting on a bed of pinto beans, and there's a container of mixed Sriracha sauce and hoisin, which was the best octo-dog dipping sauce we have tried.


Jan's lunch on the same day continued the theme, but instead of strawberries he got a tier of mixed stir-fried veggies into which I added some rice vinegar and mirin for the last few minutes at a slightly lower temperature. They picked up a nice flavor! Jan has to watch the carbs so the vegetables are the better choice for him.

And this last bento had pasta with pesto sauce and fresh sweet pepper rings on top, a container of Parmesan, and a salad; Hello Kitty sidecar of Ak-Mak whole wheat crackers. Jan loved this one!


And for the pathos of it, I include here a photo I took at a birthday party today, after what was called "Barbie Wars" had been played by all the 467 kids present:



What is it that happens to poor Barbie's hair after the passage of indefinite time and hard use? I say nothing of her trampish belly tattoo.

Octo-Dog Jim's Flamingo Vegas Gogo

(Props to Avie for naming the bento below!!)

Yesterday I wanted to make pink onigiri so I did my research on the internet. Found JustBento's description of how to color rice naturally and saw that it was good.

However I didn't think I could get the red cabbage grated fine enough to 'disappear' in the rice, and JustBento uses an implement I don't own - a kind of grating stick that really pulverizes the thing being grated. Looks like a great kitchen tool.

BUT: I went prospecting in the cupboard and found some 1000-year old red food coloring that must hark back to some elementary school project my boys did...I don't have the slightest recollection of buying it.

The result, from using too much of this probably radioactive chemical, is these hot-pink onigiri that remind me of Vegas showgirl costumes. Each of these excessively fat onigiri (I keep overstuffing the molds) has a lovely salty red umeboshi in its middle.

Here's the little Kitty Bento I made this morning:



Vegas onigiri, pork gyoza (also made yesterday), two little octodogs in space wondering how they ended up in Vegas hungover, cherry tomatoes, furikake for Vegas in the little pink bear? container, dipping sauce for the gyoza in Little Kitty, a green-tea mochi in the heart, a Lindor chocolate truffle, and a can of pink guava juice.

This particular brand of guava juice, or this lot perhaps, tastes a little like a high school locker room smells, much as I try to pretend otherwise because the can is so cute. It's an effort to drink it, but I manage because I am a mindslave to cuteness.

Return of the Emo-Octodogs

Jan's bento for today features some of my pride-and-joy gyoza, and also the return of the octodog - that terrifying Japanese snack consisting of a hot dog with facial features and eight legs. I made one face smiling and the other threatening an axe murder. This is good. Life should include both aspects don't you think?

In addition I carved a hard-boiled egg into a 'design', and included a chickie pick with cajun smoked cheese cubes. Then there's a rice salad with kalamata olives and sweet peppers, and a brownie bite to add the sweet conclusion. What a mixed up lunch. It's snowing and sleeting as I write, and that's mixed up too since it is supposed to be spring I think...

Horrifying OctoDog Bento

I am cursed; even a simple octopus hotdog comes out looking like a crime victim; in this case, a poor innocent sea creature who has had its eyes poked out violently and bits of black stuff shoved into the empty sockets. Not far from the truth in my kitchen of emo-food sadism! Avie of AviesBento invented the phrase emo-food and I will be needing it so it seems. I need better knives. But that's probably what all the psychos say.

Today's bento included this victim plus a few other less heart-rending items:

From left to right: sushi rolls, raw carrots, and a tinfoil wasabi boat, Octodog on a green sea of carrot-top aspic, tamagoyaki with green onion and polenta wedges fried in a touch of hot chili oil, and wasabi peas with M&M's and a Jolly-Jolly jelly. This went in Jan's Mr. Bento.

And my lunch was a little simpler but still a bento:

Tamagoyaki, carrots, onigiri lightly fried in sesame oil, grapes, and jello jigglers.

I weighed myself this morning, something I do rarely because it takes so much explaining: how my feet are very heavy and large and probably weigh about 15 pounds each, my bone structure is also huge and heavy, my brain alone is probably 35 pounds at least...but the upshot is I am going to try to lose some weight. I think the bento lunches will help if I keep the vegetables up and the Pockies to a minimum.