Crabstick omelette bento
I’ve gotten a few bento stuff from the only full-fledged Saizen store in the Philippines in Robinson’s Galleria, where everything is P85 pesos. This somehow inspired me to make a Crab stick Omelette bento a few weeks back, even though am a Lazy Susan on most days and too busy to make a bento.
This omelette was easy to make, as it only entailed slicing carrots, peppers, onions and of course some crabstick, while mixing them in egg batter to form little round shapes. I added rice to the box, Chinese dumplings, a small apple and peanut butter puffs. My angel twins couldn’t help but smile at the sight of their happy bento which impersonates a bright sunny day (look at the cocktail umbrella.)
Lunch box love
With the word “recession” dominating the news, it seems criminal spending $40 on a hotel buffet or $20 on a lunch out with friends. I still have those days when I’d happily swipe the husband’s debit card, but I’d rather be Little Miss Self-Control.:P
Something happened in the past few months, and it’s the fact that I’ve joined the legions who bring their lunch boxes to work. I found out that this is the greatest money-saver ever, plus you’re spared the trouble of lining up in the crowded cafeteria. It’s an added bonus if you have a microwave oven in the office pantry to have piping-hot “baon” but in case you don’t, those insulated lunch boxes will do the trick.
Just a note: making bento with all those cute characters is painstaking and simply won’t work with me most days, as I always wake up late and only have time to shower. Here are some pics of my baon when it was me who prepared, and not our dear househelp (who also cooks well) :
Spaghetti, ham pinwheel sandwiches, Babybel cheese and crackers. A snack you’d love to keep, and great for kids!
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Lasang Pinoy 25 ‘Make Your Own Bento’: the prizes
One thing I know, it feels nice to shop for fellow bloggers. I initiate events “once in a blue moon” and as a gesture of appreciation for those who joined the recent Lasang Pinoy 25, I am giving away the following:
Lacquered bento box, a set of chopsticks, a Periplus Mini-Cookbook on Homestyle Japanese Cooking, P1000 gift certificate from Delifrance courtesy of GeiserMaclang and a Blog-O-Rama feature to the most prolific bento maker Miss Kitchencow. Thanks a lot for submitting two bento entries Chrissie … and many more bentos to come 
A set of plastic lunchboxes from Japan Home Center and The Adobo Book : Traditional & Jazzed Up Recipes goes to Ryan of KainPinoy who made the picnic adobo bento. The book is a winner of the National Book Award and contains every imaginable styles of adobo you can find, from personal inventions to regional versions to recipes passed on through generations. A few of the examples: Paella de Adobo of Don Anastacio de Alba to pork adobo in buko juice to adobo sa alamang at gata with finger peppers and the Solar Box Day-Long Adobo of Reynolds Philippines. Viva adobo!
The great (late!) Lasang Pinoy 25 round-up….
… is coming soon! finally here!
Apologies to our dear Lasang Pinoy 25 participants who made their own creative bentos. End of the round coincided with a major house move, which presently leaves me with boxes of unopened stuff and no internet connection, ugh. What could be worse for a blogger, especially a blogger who’s supposed to do a timely round-up? 
But I did promise some stuff for the bento-makers and they’re here, namely a couple of Filipino cookbooks, bento box, lunch kits and my sexy friend Alma from GeiserMaclang has even donated a P1000 gift certificate from Delifrance. So it’s still fun 
Japan shopping… Japan Home Center, that is!
My kids must be happy to go back to school this year. My bento obsession has led me to buy all sorts of lunch boxes imaginable. There are strictly no bento lunch sets for sale yet in our shores – unless you buy abroad or shop online – but I think you just have to use existing containers in all sizes to assemble your bento kit.
My bento lunch box addiction led me to retrace my footsteps to Japan Home Center in a major mall. This is a place which prides itself of its Made in Japan knick-knacks, and almost everything is P88 or less – like those 100 Yen stores in Tokyo.
I immediately liked what i saw….
Cuteness!!!
My Arroz a la Cubana-inspired bento
Here’s something to kick off our little Lasang Pinoy bento festival: a bento adapted from the popular Filipino dish Arroz a la Cubana. Translated, this dish is “Rice, Cuban Style” whose terminology eludes me, since this arroz was brought to us by Spain, not Cuba 
Still, Arroz a la Cubana should be a favorite on the tables of many, and mine too, especially as dish looks good on a plate, with your sunny-side up egg mounted on a cup of rice, with sauteed minced meat and fried saba (plaintain) bananas on the side.
Announcing Lasang Pinoy 25: ‘Make Your Own Bento’
My most recent post on the bento inspired me to host this April’s themed Filipino food blogging event Lasang Pinoy. It has been quite a while indeed … Lasang Pinoy is already on its 25th round-up, a silver celebration if you wish.
It is for this reason that I am inviting all Filipino bloggers and readers to participate in my merry theme entitled Make Your Own Bento. ‘Make Your Own Lunchbox or Baon’ if you like, just as long as it depicts a combination of Filipino food that closely resembles a Japanese bento – the healthier and more creative, the better.
Dress up your meal or ‘baon’ by going bento
This being exam week, I decided to motivate my kids to do well by making their ‘baon’ (brown bag meal) a little more special. And when I think of something more special than the usual pack of Oreos and peanut butter sandwich, all I can think about is a bento. It’s something I’ve wanted to do as a project anyway. In Japan, mothers pride themselves in making artistic bento meals for their kids. I like the fact that preparing a bento can be a good venue for creative expression as you plan the colors, textures and shapes that should go into the box. There is also room to include everything in the major food groups, rather than the junk food that our kids are bound to have. With the right presentation, kids can change their mind about eating healthy fruits and veggies after all.
I call this our Pinoy bento which the kids had as a meal in the house.
What went inside the box:
braised pork adobo with hard-boiled egg
lumpiang sariwa (fresh egg rolls made of ubod or palm tree trunk) with brown sauce
buttered mixed vegetables
cupcake with chocolate swirl (bought from our local bakery)
rice with fish ball decor
The Hello Kitty Bento which the kids brought to school:
Spaghetti
Chicken Nuggets Fun Shapes
Mixed veggies
Star- Shaped Mini-Pancakes with syrup
veer away from the usual round pancakes by shaping it with a cookie cutter!
Blogging since 2004 and recently married to Mr Z. I can't live without coffee....and brown sugar.
