Kel's place

Tuna Sandwiches Again Bento (406)

2012-01-06T08:44:00.000+08:00

Tuna sandwiches and fish balls

Pineapple cubes and strawberries

Assorted candies and mini mandarin orange

Tuna Sandwiches Bento (405)

2012-01-05T08:39:00.001+08:00

Tuna sandwiches with cute expressions and 1 fishball

Pineapples, strawberries and mini mandarin orange

The new food picks I bought from Daiso

Back to School Bento (404)

2012-01-04T08:17:00.001+08:00

Happy New Year!

Little girl is in morning session this year onwards, that mean she has to wake up early and I gotta wake up super early to fix her breakfast & bento. I waked up at 5.10am, turned on the radio and started busy in the kitchen. I enjoyed the quiet & out of distraction moment, enjoyed myself playing with the food :)

I used tortilla to make do this pizza:

On a non-stock pan, heat both side of the tortilla
Spread tomato sauce onto 1 side of tortilla
Put in sausages, pineapple cubes, sprinkle with lot of cheese and drizzle some moyo
Cook until cheese melt

Sausages & pineapple pizza

Sugared strawberries

Mini mandarin oranges

Sweet & Savory Apam Balik Bento (403)

2011-11-11T08:04:00.000+08:00

Sweet (bottom) & savory (top) apam balik bento

Ingredients

165gm flour

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp instant yeast

1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda

1/4 cup sugar

1 eggs

Mix everything (except bicarbonate soda) together to form smooth batter
Leave for 30 minutes
Add bicarbonate soda into batter, mix well
Heat pan, pour a cup of batter and spread out flat like pancake, cook in low fire

Peanut butter apam balik

To make peanut butter apam balik, continue with the following steps after step (4) above:

Spread some peanut butter on when able to see a lot of air bubbles on the cook batter
Fold in half and cut, serve hot

Sausages & cheese apam balik

To make sausages & cheese apam balik, continue with the following steps after step (4) above:

Sprinkle some sausages & cheese on when able to see a lot of air bubbles on the cook batter
Fold in half and cut, serve hot

Tomato Sammy & Bacon Cup Bento (402)

2011-11-10T07:55:00.001+08:00

Tomato Sandwiches

Bacon cup & tomato wedges

Bacon Cup

Ingredients

2 pieces streaky bacon

1 egg

cheddar & mozzarella chesses

Place bacon into the bottom and sides of a baking tin to form a cup
Bake in toaster oven for 10 minutes
Crack an egg into cooked bacon, season with pepper
Bake in toaster oven for 10 minutes
Sprinkle cheeses on cooked egg
Bake further until cheeses turned golden brown

BLT Sammy (401)

2011-11-09T07:52:00.002+08:00

Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches

Rice crackers and candies

Sweet Potato and Chestnut Chiffon

2011-11-08T21:48:00.001+08:00

Ingredients
(A)
5 egg whites
60g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

(B)
5 egg yolks
120g milk
80g corn oil
150g sweet potato, steamed and mashed
100g chestnuts, cooked, skinned and crumbled
100g flour
20g sugar

If sweet potato and chestnut are your fav, this combination will definitely not disappoint u

Other than smelling good, it tasted good too

Ham & Pineapple Pizza Bento (400)

2011-11-01T21:31:00.001+08:00

I was either too busy or totally forgotten to plan on a cute or kyaraben theme for this 400th bento, so this was a simple bento I prepared for little girl.

Ham, pineapple and cheese on a halved pita bread

Orange wedges

Pita Melt Bento (399)

2011-10-31T21:27:00.000+08:00

Pita melt and fish balls

Strawberry pudding and orange wedges

Chestnuts

2011-10-30T20:33:00.001+08:00

(Tip: if the seller allows you to choose the chestnuts, try to choose those with the semi-circle shape, as they are much easier to de-skin)

Autumn, the season of chestnuts, there will be lot of stalls selling raw chestnuts in the market. I love chestnuts but have never experience cooking them myself. As since young, mum would have the raw chestnuts cooked ready as our snacks after school or work.

At the beginning, mum would just boil them for sometimes to cook them, then we complained that it was so difficult and painful to de-skin the shell. I remember once that mum baked a batch of chestnuts in the oven and you know what, the chestnuts burst and popped in the oven which created a havoc and mess. Then, mum learned that by cutting or splitting the chestnut would released the pressure while baking but the chestnut turned dry after baking, so it was another failure. After all the complaints & failure, mum decided to boil the chestnut, drained them, and dried cooking the chestnut in the pot, this way, the chestnuts would be moist and slightly easier to de-skinned but the pot would be blacken and extremely difficult to clean. However, mum had given up experimenting again and stick to this method since.

When I saw the 1st seller selling the raw chestnuts these season, I picked about 600gm and out of a sudden, I decided to try cooking them myself. After gathering mum's failure and as I am one who are 'kiasi' (afraid of losing), I experimented with half from the batch.

1. Give the chestnuts a thorough wash

2. Cover chestnuts with water, add in 1 tsp salt, boil for 15 min

3. Drain chestnuts after cooking, cut the chestnut at the end but do not split it totally.

Meantime, preheat oven at 180C

4. The chestnuts would look like this after baking in the oven for 15 min

5. Peeling off the skin is not difficult or painful anymore, most importantly you are able to get a whole chestnut!

I was so happy when I able to peel off the skin at ease and without breaking them apart. I had tried this method for several times and it has never fail me :)

Boo Sandwich Bento (398)

2011-10-21T21:30:00.001+08:00

Pork floss and mayo sandwich

Boo

Lychee pudding and grapes

Braised Minced Pork with Pasta Benta (397)

2011-10-20T21:26:00.000+08:00

Braised minced Pork on a bed of pasta

Fried luncheon meat, fish ball and candy

Passion fruit pudding

Braised Potatoes with Minced Pork Bento (396)

2011-10-19T20:21:00.000+08:00

Ingredients
2 medium potatoes, cubed
100g minced pork
2 cloves garlic, diced
handful of baby peas
1 glass water
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
pinch of salt and pepper

With little oil in a hot pan, stir fry minced pork til color turn pale
Add in garlic, stir fry for 1 min, mix in potatoes, cook for another 3 min, pour in water til just covering the potatoes, cover and continue cooking under medium heat
When potatoes turn soft, add in baby peas, oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt and pepper, cook for another 5 min

Braised potatoes with minced pork

Eye ball chocolates and grapes

2 Milky Ways

Stuffed Squid Bento (395)

2011-10-18T20:07:00.000+08:00

Little girl requested stuffed squid for bento again.

Ingredients
1 medium size squid
1 small bowl rice
5 cherry tomato, diced
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp soy sauce
pinch of pepper to taste
handful of shredded cheese

Other than squid and cheese, stir fry all ingredients in a pan, cool
Mix shredded cheese into cool fried rice, stuff fried rice mixture into squid
Wrap stuffed squid in aluminum foil, bake in toaster oven for 15 min

Stuffed squid

Hami melon balls and grapes

Wanton Noodle, Fried Calamari & Fish Balls Bento (394)

2011-10-17T22:44:00.000+08:00

I like the color combination of this bento

Wantan noodle

Fish balls

Fried calamari / squid

Ingredients

2 big squids

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

2 tbsp sweet potato starch

1 tsp sesame

1 tsp black sesame

Pinch of pepper

Likely season squid rings with pepper
Mix sesame & black sesame into sweet potato starch
Press squid rings on parmesan cheese, follow with sweet potato mixture
Heat oil in a small pot, fry squid rings til light golden brown, drain oil
Reheat oil after frying entire batch of squid rings, re-fry squid rings til skin turn crisp & golden brown

Cherry tomatoes & grapes

Home Made Pearls for Pearl Milk Tea

2011-10-15T18:55:00.004+08:00

Have wanted to try out DIY the pearl myself after reading the recipe from 周老师的美食课室. Little girl loves pearl milk tea very much, she has been requesting it ever since she was a toddler and now crazy with Chatime. I halved the ingredients from the original recipe.

Ingredients
35g black sugar
65ml water
100g tapioca / potato / sweet potato starch
Extra potato starch

Stir black sugar into water, boil
Pour hot mixture into tapioca starch, fold til forming a dough, cool
Dust with some extra potato starch, roll and cut dough into thin strips, then into tiny cubes
Dust hand with potato starch, roll cubes into tiny pearl balls
Boil a pot of hot water, drop pearl balls into hot water, stir, cook for 5 min, off heat, cover lid, let pearl continue cooking in hot water

Stir in more sugar to make-do as a dessert

Or turn them into icy cold pearl milk tea

Wanna share with little penguin?

Chicken Mushrooms 鸡肉菇

2011-10-11T22:52:00.001+08:00

Have you ever seen this kind of mushroom? It was the 1st time in my life seeing and even tasting it. I found this wild mushrooms at one of the stall in SS3 night market, the mushrooms were very dirty, full of mud, RM5 for this bunch here.

Photo taken after they had a good cleanup, white & fair

The seller told me to cook it with ginger, if the ginger turn black, that mean it is poisonous, have to throw everything away.

Stir-fry chicken mushrooms with ginger & spring onion 姜葱鸡肉菇

As you can see, the ginger didn't turn black and we were not poison. These mushroom tasted so good, little girl and me almost finished the whole plate :p

Cabbage, Prawns & Spaghetti Pancake Bento (393)

2011-10-11T22:35:00.002+08:00

Ingredients
3 leafs cabbage, shredded
5 prawns, halved
some spaghetti, cooked
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp all purpose flour
salt & pepper to taste

Except prawns, mix all ingredients in a bowl
Heat pan with a tbsp of corn oil, saute prawn til just cook, pour in cabbage mixture, cover lid, cook at medium heat til both side turn golden brown

Cabbage, prawns & spaghetti pancake

Heart grapes & tomatoes

Container of yellow mustard, ketchup and mayo

Eye balls chocolate I bought from Spore

Halloween Bento (392)

2011-10-10T22:13:00.000+08:00

1st Halloween bento for this year

Eye balls

(Rice onigiri stuffed with squid)

Top left and right: turtle eggs (fish balls)

Center: poison flowers (squid tentacles or arms)

Bottom: fingers (cheese frankfurter & cucumber)

Assorted lizard eggs (cherry tomatoes and hami melon balls)

Ham Rosti Bento (391)

2011-10-04T22:05:00.003+08:00

Ingredients
2 potatoes, grated
1 ham, shredded
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
Pinch of pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together
Shallow fry with oil til both side turn golden brown

Ham rosti and ketchup

Hami melon cubes and candies

Ham & Cheese French Toast (390)

2011-10-03T20:59:00.004+08:00

Used the very last 2 pieces of bread for this bento.

Ingredients
2 breads
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
2 pieces ham
1 slice cheese
1 tbsp butter

Fill ham and cheese in between 2 breads, seal all the edges
In a bowl, beat egg and milk
Soak filled bread into egg mixture for about 2 minutes each side
Meantime, heat butter in non-stick pan, shallow fry bread til both side turn golden brown

Ham and cheese french toast

Hami melon, ham and cherry tomato kebabs

After school,

Me: Did u finish your bento today?

LG: Yes

Me: Did u share the bread with your friends?

LG: I shared with ... (some friends name that I no able to recall)

Me: What about the ham?

LG: No, I had it all by myself!

Me: How come your friends didn't ask for it?

LG: They didn't know!

Me: Huh, why?

LG: Bcos I am on duty today, I was allowed to go out earlier, I quickly finished all the melon & ham before they came to me

Me: Hahaha...

Fruit Tea Punch

2011-10-02T22:15:00.001+08:00

Little girl is busy with her revision again, for the final exam of the year. I made this as a refreshment for her break time.

Ingredients
A handful of pearl sago, cooked and marinated with some sugar
1 tea bag
1 tbsp sugar
Half glass of hot water
Half glass of ice cubes
Some Hami melon, chopped

Soak tea bag into hot water for a few minutes
Remove tea bag, stir in sugar
Mix in pearl sago, ice cubes and hami melon

I would believe it would taste better with some lemon or lime but little girl refused to add in.

Let's take a break with Rilakkuma

Roti Canai Pizza Bento (389)

2011-09-30T22:05:00.001+08:00

Ingredients
1 frozen roti canai
1 chicken frankfurter, sliced
5 cherry tomatoes, sliced
bit of baby peas
handful of mozzarella cheese
Some ketchup

Pan fried 1 side of roti canai til golden brown
Turn it down side up, off heat
Spread some ketchup on to roti canai
Layer with chicken frankfurter, cherry tomatoes, baby peas and top with mozzarella cheese
Turn on fire, with low heat, cook til mozzarella cheese melt

Simple roti canai pizza

Cucumber slices and candies

Stir-fried Udon Bento (388)

2011-09-29T21:56:00.002+08:00

Stir-fried udon with squids and prawns

Cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices and 2 packets of ketchup

Seafood Pie Bento (387)

2011-09-28T20:20:00.000+08:00

Me: What do you wanna have for bento 2mr, darling?
LG: Potato

Now, what can I do with potatoes? Watched an interviewed on TV, they were talking about some pies in Ireland, this gave me a clue to make a seafood pie :)

I blanched some squids, prawns and baby peas, then mixed in some mushroom soup (from Campbell), poured into a baking tin, top with some mashed potatoes and parmesan cheese, baked in toaster oven until top turned golden brown.

Seafood pie and some seaweeds

Cucumber slices and nectarine wedges

Potstickers or Gyoza Bento 锅贴 (386)

2011-09-27T20:45:00.042+08:00

Made some potstickers / gyoza with some store bought dumpling skins. Those store bought skins didn't disappoint me, tasted good :)

4 gyozas

Cucumber slices and a panda bottle of soy sauce

Sliced guava marinated with diced sour plum

(Prepared by hubby)

2 mini custard puffs (brought from Centre Point) and 2 gummies

Ingredients
10 dumpling skins
200g minced pork
1 clove garlic, diced
2 leafs cabbage, chopped finely
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp water
pinch of pepper
More water for boiling

Bring a pot of water to boil, blanch chopped cabbage for 10 seconds, drained and squeezed out excess water, cool
Mix blanched cabbage into minced pork, diced garlic and water, seasoned with oyster sauce, soy sauce and pepper
Wrapped pork mixture into dumpling skin
Heat oil in a non-stick pan, shallow fry gyoza til bottom turned light golden brown
Pour in water til covering 1/3 of gyoza, cover with lid, boil til water fully vapor
Serve while hot

Wantan Noodle and Dumplings Bento (385)

2011-09-26T20:34:00.002+08:00

Wantan noodle and dumplings bento

Thick wantan noodle with prawn roe powder and garnished with cut romano bean

(given by cousin, brought all the way from HK)

2 blanched dumplings and a lion bottle of soy sauce

Nectarine wedges

Potato & Broccoli Frittata Bento (384)

2011-09-22T21:54:00.000+08:00

Little girl loves this frittata very much, I think I only had 2 small bites from the frittata, the rest were all gone into her little tummy :p

Potato & broccoli frittata

Cherry tomatoes and lobster balls

ketchup & mayo

2 black currant gummy

While driving little girl to school,
Me: Do you like your lunch?
LG: Yes!
Me: Now, tell me what did u eat?
LG: There is potato, broccoli, egg and I know u put in some cheese too!
Me: You are right!
LG: * grinning happily *
Me: Ok, let do a revision on your Science, what does potato give you?
LG: Energy!
Me: Good, what about broccoli?
LG: Healthy!
Me: Now the last one, egg?
LG: Grow!
Me: Haha, all correct!

Potato and Broccoli Frittata

2011-09-22T21:21:00.004+08:00

A simple lunch for little girl and her bento.

Ingredient:
1 potato, skinned, cut to bite size
1/4 broccoli, cut to bite size
2 eggs
some mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper

Lightly deep fry the potato til just cook
Meantime, blanch broccoli
Beat 2 eggs, mix in cook potato, broccoli and mozzarella cheese, season with salt & pepper
Oil and heat pan, pour egg mixture into pan, cover with lid, cook with low fire til bottom turn golden brown.

Fish Roe & Mayo Salmon Onigiri Bento (383)

2011-09-19T23:08:00.000+08:00

After a long and busy weekend, my bento looked so simple and lazy :p

Busy like a bee during last weekend as it was my cousin Steven & Sandy's wedding, and it was a 3 days event! Not only that, aunt and cousin LC flew in from HK, we were busy visiting, chatting and shopping too. Oh well, not entirely that, actually I was totally knocked off for half a day on Sat, not bcos of my cough or cold, but I was having terrible hang over after a crazy nite of wine drinking on the wedding dinner before :p It was a lovely and full of fun wedding. Congratulation to both of u again, Steven + Sandy!

Fish roe with mayo salmon filling onigiri

Both fried fish roe & salmon were leftover from our dinner b4 weekend. Since I was too lazy to use the stove, I just threw them into the toaster oven to heat them up while the leftover rice being heat up in the microwave oven. Once they were ready, mashed the fish roe with the rice, and squeezed in some mayo into the salmon flakes, then had them molded in a heart shaped mold.

Nectarine wedges and candy

Corn Fritters Bento (382)

2011-09-13T22:27:00.005+08:00

Invented my own version of corn fritters this morning, love the taste! The ingredients were rough estimated as I just put everything together with my feel :p

Ingredients
Corn kennels from 1 Cameron corn
1 chicken frankfurter, cubed
1 stalk spring onion, diced
1 egg
2 tbsp bread flour
1 tbsp glutinous rice flour
1 tbsp milk
Pinch of salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together, fried with small amount of batter til both sides turned golden brown.

Corn fritters

A container of mayo and ketchup, nectarine wedges and lots of candy to share with friends

Stuffed Squid Bento (381)

2011-09-08T22:14:00.000+08:00

Bought little girl's some squids yesterday, cooked 3 for dinner (stir fried), and kept 2 for her brunch this morning and this bento. The squid was stuffed with tomato fried rice and mozzarella cheese, then wrapped in aluminum foil, baked for 15 minutes in toaster oven. This stuffed squid was one of little girl favorite food, she will always keep reminding me of cooking it for her.

Squid stuffed with tomato fried rice and some mozzarella cheese

Left: Steamed Cameron sweet corn

Right: Nectarine rabbits

More fruits - dragon fruit blocks

Sausage & Cucumber Maki Bento (380)

2011-09-07T22:01:00.000+08:00

Me: You wanna have sushi for bento 2mr?
LG: Yes, but can you made more pls? My friends will come attack my food
Me: Ok, will make a big bento for u and ur friends

So, that's why a huge amount of rice in the bento :p

Sausage and cucumber maki sushi

Lobster balls and cucumber skewers

Dragon fruit flowers

Roti Canai Wraps Bento (379)

2011-08-26T21:54:00.001+08:00

Roti Canai Wraps Bento

Roti canai wrapped with egg omelet, meat floss and mayo

2 cherries and a candy

Pao de Queijo (Brazilian Cheesy Balls)

2011-08-25T23:20:00.002+08:00

Have known about this cheesy balls for long after googling thru the web, at last able to put my hands together to bake a batch of this yummy treat :p

Adapted the recipe from Cuca Brazuca. I halved the recipe to make do about 30 little cheesy balls.

Ingredients
250g Tapioca starch
1 cup milk
1/2 cup corn oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt

Boil the milk, oil and salt together
Pour the hot mixture into a large bowl containing tapioca starch, mix with a wooden spoon
Let it cool and mix in the cheese and eggs
Get your hands in there to squelch everything together into a smooth thick dough
Separate and roll dough into little golf size balls
Place the dough balls on a tray
Bake at preheat oven at 190C for 15 minutes
Reduce the temperature to 150C and cook for another 15 minutes

Crackly shell with gooey center

Baked Macaroni Bento (378)

2011-08-25T22:53:00.001+08:00

Baked macaroni bento

Baked macaroni

Sausage & cheese bun bought from The Loaf Cafe Pavilion

plum wedges, a cherry and a candy

My Simple Lunch - Ci Fan Tuan 糍饭团

2011-08-23T22:07:00.001+08:00

Have you ever eaten 糍饭团, one of the famous breakfast in Shanghai. It is the glutinous rice wrap with pork floss, youtiao 油条 (or yao char kuai) and pickled mustard plant 榨菜.

I bought a few mini youtiao last night and had 2 left after our breakfast this morning, while driving back home after sending little girl to school, I thought of this suddenly. I have all the ingredients at home except glutinous rice, well, why should I trouble myself on cooking the glutinous rice, since I have some rice left in the fridge :)

So, after re-heating the leftover rice, wrapped the rice with the ingredients listed on top, I was happily enjoying my simple lunch after 5 minutes.

Er, not having it with sweetened or savory soy milk (usually eaten with 糍饭团 in Shanghai) but black coffee :p

and having my self made picked cabbage (recipe adapted from Carol) and the last mini youtiao

The ingredients in the rice: youtiao, pork floss and picked mustard

Side Note:
A lot of my friends have been asking me why am I not updating any bento or bakes in my blog lately. Not that I have given up on bentoing & baking but I really have lack of time to take photo and post it up. Even though I am working from home, the time required for me to spend between work and home really killing me, I have to rush all the times, splitting myself from conference calls, replying emails, preparing bento, cooking lunch, and etc.

Also, most of the bento I made lately were so simple that I really paiseh (shameful in Hokkien) to post up, even little girl has been complaining that I seldom make her cute bento :p

So, friends & little girl, I promise I will try my best to make some cute bento, take photos and post them up for you to salivating on :p

Mayo Salmon & Cucumber Maki (377)

2011-08-02T21:52:00.001+08:00

Little girl requested a big bento for her to share with her friends, made do with this easy and fast to make maki.

Mayo salmon & cucumber maki

Hami melon balls and fish balls

Black Sesame Chiffon Cake

2011-07-22T21:40:00.000+08:00

Adapted the recipe from 我的厨房乐园, love the taste and smell of back sesame.

A tasty & beautiful black cake :)

Baked Cheese & Cream of Mushroom Pasta Bento (376)

2011-07-21T21:33:00.000+08:00

Little girl's favorites

Pasta mixed with cream of mushroom (Cambell's), top with baked cheese

Fried oyster balls and chicken wing from night market

Angry Birds Bento (375)

2011-07-20T22:16:00.000+08:00

If you ask a kid what is his/her fav cartoon/game character now, I would believe the answer will be Angry Birds :)

Little girl oledi has 2 Angry Bird soft toys gifted by her grandma, I definitely believe too nowadays most kids have at least 1 or 2 angry bird themed toys, stationaries or bags with them.

Last month, Baby J has celebrated his 3rd birthday with a Angry Bird themed cake, I promised little girl that I would make her a bento with this theme.

So, after weeks of lazy bentos, I finally able to conquer my lazy bones :p Well, little girl has complained a bit that she didn't get a cute bento for a long time. Then, I am leaving to project again next week, so better make her happy and soothe her now :p

The yellow bird

Body: creamy mashed potato stuffed with quail egg

Hair - cheese and seaweed

Eyebrows and beak - ham

Eyes - seaweed and cheese

The red bird

Body: cherry tomato

Feather on head and beak - ham

Eyebrows - seaweed

Eyes - seaweed, cheese and black sesame seed

The slingshot

Stick - Cheese frankfurter

Elastic strap - soba

Of course, Angry Birds can't go without the groups of evil Pigs and their shelters

Body - Green grape

Eyes and nose - cheese and black sesame seeds

Shelters - pineapple

After school,

Me: Hey, you finished your bento today?
LG: Yes, but I ate so little only, all my friends come attack my bento * sour face *
Me: Ha... why? Your friends like the bento?
LG: Ya, lot of them came see the bento, some from other classes too!
Me: So, which birds did you share with your friends?
LG: I didn't get to eat the red birds at all... I gave 1 pig to YX and she trade me 1 cherry tomato
Me: Oh... that's good, then the rest?
LG: All eaten by me!
Me: Huh, u ate most of the bento and still complaining...
LG: Ya but that was not enough, I still feeling hungry...
Me: Ok, next time make you bigger bento.

Apple Turnover

2011-07-20T22:00:00.001+08:00

Had a strong desire on some apple dessert for the past few days, decided upon this apple turnover as I have a few puff pastry sheets which was left in the freezer.

The apples stuffing was cook fast, I able to have it done in 15 minutes :)

Apple stuffings

2 green apples, skinned, cored and cubed
1 handful raisins
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp whisky
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

Cook all ingredients except cinnamon powder in medium heat until apple turn tender and soft
Off heat, mix in cinnamon powder. Let cool.

Apple turnover with 4 pieces of leftover puff pastry sheets, yum!

As I still have some apple filling left, used 2 flatten bread to finish up the rest
Verdict on this bread apple turnover, crunch while fresh from oven, but turned hard after 1 night

Rosti Bento (374)

2011-06-27T22:13:00.001+08:00

Rosti, ketchup, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, cheese cubes and sweets

Rosti

Cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, cheese cubes and sweets

Mashed Potato Salad Bento (373)

2011-06-24T22:02:00.003+08:00

Top: Cucumber sticks, sweets, a container of mayo and jelly

Bottom: Mashed potato salad

Mashed potato mixed with ham and cucumber cubes, sprinkled with lot and lot of black pepper (took from McD)

Cucumber sticks, sweets, a bear container of mayo

Jelly

Ham Mantou and Nuggets Bento (372)

2011-06-17T21:21:00.001+08:00

Ham & cucumber mantou, chicken nuggets and rock melon cubes

Thick ham and cucumber mantou, 2 round chicken nuggets

Rock melon cubes

Spaghetti Inari-Zushi Bento (371)

2011-06-15T21:10:00.001+08:00

Stuffed bean curd skin with spaghetti and fried bean

Spaghetti with fried meat and bean stuffed in bean curd skin

Fried chicken drummette and cucumber sticks

Flat Noodle Bento (370)

2011-06-14T21:02:00.002+08:00

Flat noodle with edamame, rock melon and sweets

Flat noodle with edamame

Rock melon and sweets

Hello Kitty Roti Canai Bento (369)

2011-06-13T19:19:00.018+08:00

Roti canai with dhal, rock melon & ham kebabs and fish balls

Hello Kitty shaped roti canai

Dhal

Skewers of rock melon & ham, fish balls

Korilakkuma Inari-zushi Bento (368)

2011-05-18T11:03:00.001+08:00

The making of this Korilakkuma inari-zushi was inspired by Anna The Red's Bento Factory, she has a very clear steps by steps pictorial on making Korilakkuma and Rilakkuma inari-zuzhi.

I was feeling bad of leaving little girl again, this round will be about 15 days, therefore gotta make something really cute to comfort her :p

Korilakkuma with 2 different expressions

Happy looking fish ball

Pretty looking fish ball

Cherry tomatoes and kiwifruit wedges

Sesame Seaweed Rice Balls (367)

2011-05-16T10:57:00.001+08:00

Bento made before term break.

3 sesame seaweed rice balls, 2 cheese frank, 2 green grapes, 3 cherry tomatoes and some edamame

Project at Phnom Penh

2011-05-14T21:38:00.054+08:00

Hi, if u notice, I was absent for very long time, it was bcos I was out of the country for project, yup, my very 1st assignment after going back to the working life.

I was sent to Phnom Penh for my 1st project. It was not an interesting project but more of patching works from other colleagues. I was attached to work the moment I stepped into the hotel, and was not out from the hotel for 6 days!

Here are some photo I took from my room:

Threre is a fun fair opposite of the hotel, it reminded me of those my parent used to brought me during my childhood

A king bed in my room

Little girl have Pirate Daniel keeping me company while I was away from home

After hard working for 6 days, managed to sneak out for a late lunch with fellow colleagues, some souvenir shopping and dinner, out about 5 hours only.

Lunch at a restaurant near the famous river side

Had beef taco for lunch

Haven't seen 7-up in bottle for very long time

After lunch, 8 of us (with all my fellow colleagues) went to the Russian Market for some souvenir shopping. It was a very hot day, we were almost melted by the sun. Here are some of the souvenir I bought:

Fan for MIL

Turtle puzzle for little girl

Rabbit puzzle for nieces

Squirrel puzzle

Elephant puzzle for nephew Y

After a quick souvenir shopping and a drink at KFC, we rushed back to hotel as really couldn't tolerate with the heat anymore. All of us return to room for an hour of rest and shower, then out again for our dinner, we went to a BBQ restaurant which is quite famous among the local.

One of my colleague was very fascinated by this dish when he read the menu - baby bee

I had a little bite, tasteless, don like it

Bbq beef

Fried chicken wings, small but delicious

and more dishes like, fried corn, bbq squids, grill fish, tom yam gong, kerabu salad, grill cockles....

The bills is not really expensive, after divided by 8, I paid like US8 only, which inclusive of jugs of beers hor :)

Were there for about 10 days, able to catch fresh air or got the sun only during the day out, most of the time, we were working from 9am til passed mid night most of the days, it was a extremely tiring project.

Oyster Sauce Mee Pok Bento (366)

2011-04-28T15:26:00.014+08:00

Cooked mee pok mixed with oyster sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sesame oil

Jelly, tomatoes and kiwifruit

Meat Floss Sandwich Rolls Bento (365)

2011-04-27T15:24:00.013+08:00

Meat Floss and mayo sandwich rolls

Jelly and cake ball

Tomatoes and grapes

Spaghetti Bento (364)

2011-04-26T15:22:00.027+08:00

Spaghetti with bolognese sauce

Cake balls and kiwifruit

Cake Balls and Cake Pop Bento (363)

2011-04-21T15:20:00.009+08:00

Cake balls and a cake pop

Whole kiwifruit and dried guave

Chocolate Cake Balls

2011-04-21T15:14:00.013+08:00

Cake pops and cake balls

Cake balls

My 1st cake pop

Corn Dogs Bento (362)

2011-04-20T15:12:00.016+08:00

Fried some corn dogs, actually cooked only 2 with sausages, the rest were with fish balls and crab sticks :p

Corn dogs

Grapes

Stir Fried Loh Shi Fan Bento (361)

2011-04-19T15:03:00.008+08:00

Stir fried loh shi fan

Grapes, jelly and Crispy chocolate rice cereal

Cappuccino Squares

2011-04-18T14:46:00.002+08:00

Ingredients
225g butter, softened
225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
225 golden caster sugar
4 eggs
3 tbsp instant coffee powder, dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water

Grease and line the bottom of a baking tin
Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl
In another bowl, beat together butter, caster sugar, eggs and coffee with hand or electric whisk, until smooth
Mix flour into egg mixture, mix until just combined
Spoon into the baking tin and smooth the top
Bake in preheated oven, 180C for 35-40 minutes or until risen and firm
Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, peel off the lining paper and cool completely

White chocolate frosting

115g white chocolate, broken into pieces

55g butter, softened

3 tbsp milk

175 icing sugar

Place the chocolate, butter and milk in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until the chocolate has melted
Remove the bowl from the pan and sift in the icing sugar
Beat until smooth, then spread over cake
Dust the top of the cake with sifted cocoa, then cut into squares

Sausage Cubes and Baby Peas Baked Potato Bento (360)

2011-04-18T14:40:00.022+08:00

Sausage cubes and baby peas in baked potato

Bunny shaped hard-boiled egg,

a container of ketchup and mayo

Grapes and choclairs

Quick & Simple Bento (359)

2011-04-15T14:34:00.007+08:00

Meat floss and mayo sandwich

Grapes and jelly

Rilakkuma Bento (358)

2011-04-14T21:47:00.004+08:00

Cooked some Hainanese style pork chops for dinner last nite, had a few leftover. Thus, while companying little girl to sleep, I was thinking and planning on a kyaraben bento for her, a reward for getting herself a trophy on Tue.

Me: Girl, which Sanrio character is brown in color? Cinnamoroll?
LG: No, it is white.
Me: Sugarbunnies?
LG: No (Actually one of the bunny is brown, but little girl remembered the pink only)
Me: Never mind, I will google
LG: ... * closing her eyes to sleep while I googled on the phone *
Me: Huh... I got it, girl, it's Rilakkuma!
LG: Oh, right!
Me: But it's not from Sanrio, it is from San-X. Ok, I'll make you Rilakkuma bento 2moro, go sleep now.

So, here I present my Rilakkuma bento. The origini was stuffed with a big piece of pork chop and the rice was mixed with the pork chop gravy. I made 2 tiny origini for the ears and a big one for the head. Bento used about 45 minutes to complete.

Rilakkuma onigiri

(made of pork chop & gravy, egg crepe for the ear & face and seaweed for the expression)

Rilakkuma was joined with 2 friends, which are:

Crab stick balls

and cheese fish ball

They were happily playing in the balls playground (buttered baby green peas).

For dessert, there are grapes and jelly

Salmon and Mayo Angel Hair Bento (357)

2011-04-13T21:38:00.002+08:00

Fried a big piece of salmon fillet last night, had some for dinner and kept the other half for this bento and our lunch.

After cooking and draining the angel hair, tore salmon into chunks, mixed all with mayo and seasoned with bit of salt and pepper.

Fast and simple, bento was ready in 15 minutes.

Salmon chunks and mayo angel hair, garnished with some cucumber slices

Kiwifruits

1st Trophy

2011-04-12T23:53:00.000+08:00

Before last holiday, little girl returned home 1 day announcing that she has volunteered herself to enter the chinese poetry reading competition. I explained the poetry to her and read with her once, and she has memorized well and have been practicing by herself occasionally or even sometimes with her form teacher.

I totally forgotten that it was her competition day today, I didn't even cheer her when I left her in school, feeling so sorry for that.

However, when I reached her school at the evening, she waved to me with the trophy on hand and a big smile. "Mummy, mummy.... This is the 1st time I am getting a trophy in school!" She was so delighted with the little trophy.

While driving home, she told me how she performed on stage, what happened next, etc, then,
LG: Mummy, thank you for practicing with me.
Me: * Aw... my heart melt immediately *
Baby, you don't have to thank mummy, you should thank your teacher, she practiced with u
more, did u thank her?
LG: Yes, and she said 不用客气 (you are welcome in chinese)
Me: Good girl!

Boy, though it is just a consolation prize but I am so proud of her.

Well done, little girl!

Cucumber and Sausage Sushi Bento (356)

2011-04-12T23:30:00.000+08:00

This morning,

LG: Mummy, when can I have sushi for bento?
Me: Hm.... let me check... * opening the fridge *
Do I have cucumber? Yes Rice? Yes
Ok, u can have sushi for bento today!
LG: Yeah! Can I share with my friend?
Me: Sure.

So, here I present the very last minute decided sushi bento. All ready in about 20 minutes.

Maki sushi stuffed with cucumber and sausage sticks

Grapes

Fried Potato Wedges and Bacon Bento (355)

2011-04-11T23:25:00.003+08:00

Used 2 types of potatoes in this: Russet and Holland potatoes, both tasted great after frying. But if you ask me what is their different, I really can't tell :p

I cooked the wedges in the bacon fat (got it after frying bacon), which enhanced the taste beautifully :)

Bento was ready in 20 minutes.

Russet (long) & Holland (short) potato wedges and some cut bacon

A container of ketchup and mayo

Nutella French Toasts Bento (354)

2011-04-08T23:07:00.000+08:00

Made do these french toast with the final 2 pieces of bread from the dual color sweet potatoes loaf I baked on Sunday. I cut each bread into 6 cubes, slit open each cube to spread in some nutella before soaking them into the egg & milk mixture bath, then cook til golden brown on both sides.

Cooking process and bento preparation took around 30 minutes.

3 nutella french toasts

Lychee pudding

Wantan Noodle Bento (353)

2011-04-07T23:06:00.000+08:00

Cooked 2 bunches of store bought wantan noodle for our lunch and bento. Drizzled some oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil into the cooked and drained noodle. They were so fragrant and tasty!

Bento was ready in 15 minutes.

Wantan noodle with lettuce as separator

3 cheese cocktail sausage

4 Color Veggies Fried Rice Bento (352)

2011-04-06T21:47:00.001+08:00

Cooked this fried rice with 4 color veggies, ie: baby green peas (green), baby corn (yellow), erygii mushroom (white) and tomato (red). Fried the rice & veggies with a dash of scallop sauce, yummy!

Bento was ready in 15 minutes.

4 color veggies fried rice

Lettuce as separator, and 3 skewers of fish ball and cucumber

Prawns/Pork Floss Rice Paper Wraps Bento (351)

2011-04-05T21:11:00.002+08:00

I still have 4 rice papers left in the pantry, decided to finish them up in this bento and my lunch. I have prawns (and pork floss), shredded cucumber, fried eryngii mushroom, angel hair, mayo and lettuce wrapped in the bento. Used about 25 minutes to prepare the bento.

2 wraps with prawns and 1 with pork floss (the center)

Grapes

Dual Color Sweet Potato Swirl Loaf

2011-04-03T22:02:00.001+08:00

Do you like the color combination?

Didn't bake a loaf of bread for very very long time, brought 2 sweet potatoes (yellow and purple) from MIL's stall, planning to bake some bread.

After steaming, skinning, mashing and weighing the sweet potatoes, I found that I able to double the bread recipe for each of the potato.

Therefore, I gotta 4 loafs in the end :)

I used the recipe from my previous posting Sweet Potato Loaf, which was adapted from Carol's.

Loh Mai Kai Bento (350)

2011-03-28T23:52:00.001+08:00

The loh mai kai was leftover after praying to the ancestor, I had it steamed and packed half into the bento. Bento was ready in less than 10 minutes.

Grapes and loh mai kai

Passion fruit jelly

Meat Floss and Seaweed Roti Canai Rolls Bento (349)

2011-03-24T23:36:00.003+08:00

Another quick and simple roti canai rolls I able to think off :)

After shallow frying the roti canai, I placed it on a piece of seaweed, squeezed on some mayo, sprinkled with lots of meat floss, then roll it up. I let it sit for about 5 minutes, then cut into 5 rolls. Little girl took 1 to test out the flavor and the other 4 went into the bento. Bento was ready in about 20 minutes.

Meat floss and seaweed roti canai rolls

1 marshmallow,

2 sweets from HK Disneyland given by my colleague,

a fruit jelly

Skinned orange wedges

Braised Yee Mee 焖伊面 Bento (348)

2011-03-23T21:12:00.000+08:00

Waked up with a blank mind, really have no idea what to prepare for little girl's lunch and bento. After browsing through the ingredients I have in the cabinet and fridge, this is what I managed at the end.

Bento was ready in about 25 minutes.

Braised yee mee with chinese cabbage, fish cake and dried prawns

Grapes

Pineapple

Seaweed Hash Browns Bento (347)

2011-03-22T12:23:00.008+08:00

Just found out over the weekend that little girl loves hash browns, of course I won't disappoint her, cook her some for bento.

I used 2 medium size potatoes to make 5 hash browns. While I was cooking 2 plain ones in the non-stick pan, I saw some soggy seaweed (those small packs seaweed that little girl left on the counter), as I don think anyone will like soggy seaweed, I had them cut thinly and mixed into the shredded potatoes. It turned out superb, little girl enjoyed eating it very much :)

Bento was ready in about 30 minutes.

2 seaweed hash browns and 1 plain hash brown

2 quail eggs

5 grapes

2 packs of ketchup from McD

Elephant Sammy Bento (346)

2011-03-21T23:07:00.004+08:00

School re-open today. Little girl had so much fun during her 1 week holiday, she stayed over nite at mum's place, then her cousins' place, she came back only on Sunday evening b4 the school starts. She really turned wild after moving out from the 'jail' for the entire week, gonna tune her back to routine & normal again, haiz...

Last nite,

LG: Mummy, can I have a small bento to school 2moro?
Me: Why, darling?
LG: 2moro is Monday, I have duty, I don think I can finish fast
Me: Alright... Sandwich ok for u?
LG: Ok
Me: Tuna sandwich?
LG: Yes!

So, here is the small & simple bento, ready within 15 minutes.

Tuna sandwich with cutie elephant print

Marshmallow and grapes

Carrot, Peach and Raisin Cupcake

2011-03-18T23:38:00.000+08:00

I had 3 sticks of carrots in the fridge which I do not know what to do with them, as the 2 at home refuse to touch this orange color veggie. So, in order to con them into eating carrots, I had them grated finely and hidden them inside the cupcake :p

Also, to make them more healthier, I added wheat bran and fresh peach into the cupcake as well.

I adapted the recipe from Joy of Baking, altered a bit to make it more healthier, the cupcakes turned out very light, moist and yummy.

Ingredients
240g all purpose flour
20g wheat bran
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
160g brown sugar
1 cup corn oil
210g finely grated raw carrots
1 large fresh peach, skinned and chopped coarsely
100g raisins

Preheat oven to 180C
Sift flour, baking soda and ground cinnamon together, add in salt
In another bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and oil until slightly thickened
Fold in the flour mixture until incorporated
With a large rubber spatula, fold in the grated carrots, chopped peach and raisins
Evenly spoon the batter into muffin cups and bake about 20 minutes (I baked for another 10 minutes on 200C as they were still pretty wet after the said baking time) or a tooth pick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean
Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack

I had all the ingredients for the cream cheese frosting ready, but due to lack of time, I didn't make the frosting, I believe these cupcakes will taste lagi best with it :p

It tasted even better a day later

Made 9 small and 6 medium cups

Sushi Sandwich Bento (345)

2011-03-11T22:48:00.000+08:00

Making a simple sandwich bento for little girl again as it is Friday, the bento have to be prepared early and stayed in the bag for a longer time til her recess.

Turned the boring pork floss sandwich into these interesting sushi sandwich, I believe little girl would find it tasting differently from the normal pork floss sandwich she ate for breaky.

Bento was ready in 10 minutes.

Pork floss & mayo sushi sancwich

Hawthorn candy 山楂酪

Grapes and marshmallow

The Queen Bento (344)

2011-03-10T22:36:00.001+08:00

This bun is the same as the pizza swirl bun, I just had the filling wrapped inside instead of rolling in. After placing the facial expression and chicken nugget on the bun, I found it looked like a little queen :p

Bento was ready in less than 10 minutes.

The plum looking queen

(bun with pizza sauce & cheese filling, chicken nugget as crown)

Top: chicken nugget

Middle: marshmallow

Bottom: grapes

Pizza Swirl Buns

2011-03-09T23:46:00.000+08:00

The idea of baking this bun was inspired by Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day of their recipe on pizza lollipops. I didn't adapt their bread dough recipe but using the leftover no-kneading method bread dough after baking the sweet potato and nian gao buns.

The process was not difficult if you look at the video in pizza lollipops link, just spread some pasta sauce on flatten bread dough, sprinkle some mozzarella cheese, roll up the bread dough, cut dough with scissor, let it proof, then bake in oven at 180C for 20 minutes.

My lunch - pizza swirl buns with thick cream of mushroom soup

I had the buns baked in the morning, had a few for our breakfast, and I ate 2 again for lunch, yum!

Baked Rice Bento (343)

2011-03-09T23:11:00.004+08:00

Made this baked rice with part of the remaining bolognese sauce after baking the pizza swirl buns. I fried a few pieces of marinated pork, placed them on some white rice, scooped plenty of the bolognese sauce over, then top with plenty of cheese and baked in oven for 15 minutes.

Baked rice

Peach and grapes

Oden Bento (342)

2011-03-08T22:51:00.000+08:00

It was a speedy and easy bento, I just need to blanch the pasta and fish balls in the oden broth that I leftover last nite. Bento was ready in about 15 minutes.

Bear-bear pasta

Assorted fish balls with facial expression :p

Cucumber and grapes

Stir-fried Pasta with Scallop Sauce Bento (341)

2011-03-07T23:30:00.000+08:00

Don know what to cook for the bento & lunch this morning, as little girl loves pasta so much, decided to tweet the method of preparing the pasta, stir-frying it instead of the usual way of mixing it with bolognese sauce.

I stir-fried the cooked leaf pasta with some marinated pork, cabbage and scallop sauce, it tasted so good that little girl asked for 2nd serving :p

Stir-fried pasta with pork, cabbage and scallop sauce, top with shredded egg

Skewers of orange cubes & kiwi berries

Sweet Potato and Nian Gao Bun

2011-03-06T22:52:00.005+08:00

Took some sweet potatoes from MIL, thot of using it to fried the 1/2 nian gao I left, but at the end decided to change to make do some buns.

I used the no-kneaded method for the bread dough, as for the fillings, I just mixed & matched myself, luckily it turned out good :p

Ingredients
300g sweet potatoes, steamed, skinned & mashed
10g butter
1 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
8 nian gao cubes (cut to bite size)

Mix butter, sugar and salt into mashed sweet potatoes, mix til well combine
Separate mashed sweet potatoes into 8 balls, wrapping each with a piece of nian gao in the center
Let the sweet potato balls chill in fridge for 30 minutes
Wrap each potato balls into bread dough
Proof for 30 minutes
Brush with egg wash and sprinkle some black sesame seed on top
Baked for 20 minutes in preheat oven at 180C

I liked the combination of the sweet potato and the nian gao, both were soft & gooey, awesome!

See what I meant on the gooey part :p

Yummy bun!

Veggie and Cheese Pan Cake Bento (340)

2011-03-03T22:24:00.004+08:00

Cooked this veggie and cheese pan cake with Carol's recipe, adored the crunchiness of veggies but disliked the smell of dried shrimp's skin mixed with cheese, the smell reminded me of the food that my grandma fed the chicken, sorry, I know it sounds disgusting, but that was how I felt while eating it.

Ingredients
1) The batter:
140g flour
10g wheat bran
2 eggs
150 ml milk
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of white pepper

2) Veggies:
Potato, shredded
Carrot, shredded
Cabbage, shredded
Spring onion, diced
Dried shrimp's skin
Cheddar cheese, shredded

Mix ingredients (1) all together til well combined. Rest for 20 minutes
Mix in (2), fold well
Heat a non-stick pan with some oil, pour in half of the veggie and cheese mixture
Fry with medium fire til both side turn golden brown

I used about 30 minutes to get the pancake done and packed into bento box.

Veggie and cheese pan cake

Skewers of grapes and watermelons and a container of ketchup & mayo

A note to myself, will skip the dried shrimp's skin next time if I will cook this again.

Assorted Finger Food and Muffin Bento (339)

2011-03-01T23:21:00.000+08:00

This bento is a combination of loves and supports from little girl's ma ma (grandma) and mum.

Finally, little girl starts her exam today, I don really have enough time (multi-tasking with work and doing her final revision) to prepare her a nice & cute bento, but I put together all the food that MIL and I prepared before hand.

Bento was ready in about 10 minutes.

An oreo muffin (baked by me),

3 wantans (fried by MIL),

2 fish balls (I bought from SS2 night market)

3 fried popiah nian kau (wrapped by me, fried by MIL),

and 5 grapes

Oreo Muffins

2011-02-28T23:09:00.000+08:00

Boy, I'd been longing for a batch of muffins since yesterday. Originally I thot of baking carrot & raisin muffins, but little girl rejected the offer as she dislike carrot and afraid that she may taste the carrot in the muffins. Then I suggested oreo muffins, it couldn't go wrong with this, as 3 of us adore oreo, and of course little girl approved it.

I googled for a recipe during lunch this afternoon, found this but decided to change the recipe slightly to the ingredients I have on hand.

Ingredients:
(yield 8 muffins)

1 3/4 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup yogurt
1 egg
1/4 cup corn oil
10 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

Mix flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl, set aside
Blend milk, yogurt and egg in a small bowl, stir in flour mixture with oil until just combined. Gently stir in chopped oreo cookies. Spoon batter into muffin cups
Bake at 200C for 20 minutes

Got 8 of them from the recipe

Oh boy, they smell so good while baking

Should I eat it with coffee or milk?

Sad Looking Mushrooms Bento (338)

2011-02-28T22:48:00.000+08:00

We were celebrating my nephew Picky eater Y's birthday at mum's place last nite. Mum prepared so many dishes that though all of us had stuffed ourselves so much, we still couldn't finish it. Thus eldest sis & me gotta help mum finish up the dishes by packing some back home.

So, other than the fruit & marshmallow, the rest of the items in the bento were leftover food from the party. I had it warmed this morning and packed into box nicely, all ready in about 15 minutes. While placing the mushroom slices over the chicken rice, I found them looking very sad, with the look just like little girl this few days, as exams are drawing near. Hence, I sticked some mouth to the mushrooms to emphasize more on the sad look.

The bento full of leftover

3 sad looking mushrooms on a bed of chicken rice

From the top: cut lamb chop, roast duck and broccoli

Marshmallow and watermelon balls

Note of the day

Green & Black Rice Balls Bento(337)

2011-02-25T21:45:00.000+08:00

It is Fri, little girl has to go to school early for dancing class. As we were out of bread at home, 1 couldn't prepare a sandwich bento for her which last better in a longer period, the other alternative I able to think of is rice.

Make 2 types of rice balls, 1 mixed with baby green peas and the other with sesame seaweed, both having pork floss and a dash of mayo for filling.

Time spent on bento => 25 minutes.

Baby green peas rice balls

Sesame seaweed rice ball

A big piece of nugget & 3 kiwi berries

Kitties Among Flowers Bento (336)

2011-02-24T21:22:00.007+08:00

Little girl asked for soba today, when I asked she wanna it in a roll or just plain normal, she chose for the plain normal. Therefore in order to make it more presentable, I turned them into flowers.

The preparation process was simple, but spent most time on decorating the kitties. Used about 35 minutes.

Left soba stuffed with shredded cucumber,

middle soba stuffed with sesame seaweed,

right soba stuffed with leftover stir-fried cabbage,

kitties was made of cheese frank

Watermelon cubes and strawberry jelly

And the almost forgotten to pack along frozen diluted men shoyu with frozen spring onion

Roti Canai & Dhal Bento (335)

2011-02-23T23:12:00.001+08:00

Little girl was very delighted when I told her I'd made her roti canai for bento, thot of transforming it to roll but little girl preferred it normal with dhal.

Thus, just needed 5 minutes to prepare & pack the bento, time used on frying the roti, preheat the dhal in microwave oven and threw all into box along with the fruits.

Cut pieces of roti canai with a container of dhal hiding underneath

Watermelon cubes, kiwi berries and a container of sugar

Stir-Fried Loh Shi Fan with Broccoli and Shredded Pork Bento (334)

2011-02-22T23:25:00.000+08:00

Most of the ingredients from this bento was bought from the SS2 night market yesterday, the broccoli, fish balls, loh shi fan and the kiwi berries, something new in the market (but they aren't as sweet as the fruit seller promised).

We had the stir-fried loh shi fan for our lunch as well. Bento was prepared and packed in 40 minutes.

Stir-fried loh shi fan with broccoli and shredded pork, along with 2 cutie & juicy fish balls

4 kiwi berries, 2 nectarine wedges and a container of sugar for the sour kiwi berries

Baked Potato with Mayo Crab Stick Bento (333)

2011-02-21T21:28:00.000+08:00

The idea of baked potato was intrigued after having our lunch at Wendy's yesterday, little girl said she didn't have this for quite some times.

Didn't really have to prepare much for the baked potato, just need to bake it in toaster oven, blanched the crab stick & peas, shredded the crab stick and mixed with mayo and black pepper, done. Bento was ready in about 30 minutes (time used mostly on baking the potato).

Baked potato with mayo crab stick

Baby green peas mixed with butter

Fried nian gao 年糕 and cheese in popiah skin (I prepared on Sat)

Nectarine wedges

Egg Tarts & Nectarine Bento (332)

2011-02-19T20:58:00.005+08:00

I'd been absented for the past few days, didn't prepare any bento as Tue was a holiday, then from Wed til Fri, I had been buried with meetings and appointments, and little girl had to spend her nites at mum's place. Little girl had me bought her 3 chicken wings from SS3 nite market on Tue, so that she able to have 1 each for her 3 days' bento. She was preparing her own bento for the 3 days, though getting mum to help her on the pre-heating part, but she able to plan and pack it herself, I was really really please.

Due to lack of sleep and tire after days of meetings, I was lazy to prepare little girl something special for bento today (Yeah, it is a school day today, sigh...). Luckily I bought her some egg tarts from MV Megamall previous day, put 2 in for a quick & easy bento. Bento was ready in 3 minutes.

Yummy Tong Kee egg tarts

Nectarine wedges and a marshmallow

Heart Sushi Bento (331)

2011-02-14T23:12:00.007+08:00

It's Valentine's Day today and I didn't even prepare any bento with this theme before it reaches, sigh... been lazy or busy... I don remember ... :p

I roughly planned this out yesterday, after reading the sushi book I bought from HK, well, just planned out the ingredients to be used only.

Used about an hour to get the bento ready, phew! Luckily the result was rather satisfying :)

Able to get 4 heart sushi only after busying for about 1 hour

The pink heart was mix of pink seasoning and diced crab stick with sushi rice

The outer layer of pink heart was surrounded by long bean and thinly shredded egg

2 heart cheese franks

Extra crab sticks

Mandarin orange

Heart marshmallows and kisses

Last but not least, a beautiful song for u, from Fei Wong and Eason Chan, Happy Valentine's Day and enjoy!

Wanton Noodle Bento (330)

2011-02-10T21:56:00.000+08:00

Hubby offered to buy little girl wanton noodle this morning, thus I don have to cook for her bento and lunch :p

Merely transferring the wanton noodle from plastic bag to the bento box and peeling off the skin from the mandarin orange. Bento was ready in less than 5 minutes.

Wanton noodle, choy sam, cha siew and wanton

1/2 mandarin oranges and 2 marshmallow

Chong Fan Wraps (329)

2011-02-09T00:00:00.000+08:00

Went to SS2 night market yesterday b4 fetching little girl back from school, managed to buy a packet of fresh chong fan. Little girl don really fancy chong fan, but she won't complain if I transform it to wraps, isn't she funny? :p

Bento was ready fast, just gotta blanch the crab sticks, shred all ingredients then wrapped into 2 rolls. It was ready in about 10 minutes.

Made 2 types of chong fan wraps:

Left: with bbq pork slice 肉干, pork floss, cucumber and mayo

Right: crab stick, honey dew and mayo

Left: marshmallow

Right: fruit jelly

Steamed Glutinous Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf Bento (328)

2011-02-07T23:56:00.000+08:00

The glutinous rice wrap was leftover from the 3rd day CNY dinner which was hosted by Puchong uncle at a restaurant in IOI mall. All the dishes from the restaurant were good, however, we were either too filled up or overly high with alcohol (14 bottles of wines) after half way thru the dinner, thus these rice wraps had to pack home.

Little girl agreed to have it in her bento, though it has a spicy center (with spicy dried shrimps), she really fancy glutinous rice.

I had the rice wraps steamed in the rice cooker for 10 minutes, then threw into box along with some cut honey dew, all ready in less than 5 minutes.

Steamed glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf

Cut honey dew

Steamed Radish Cake 港式罗卜糕

2011-02-07T23:42:00.000+08:00

This steamed radish cake has been in my to-do list for few years, and I finally dare to make it come thru :p Luckily, it turned out fine but was rather too salty as I over seasoned it.

I adapted the recipe from Shirley@原味生活, she had listed the ingredients and steps clearly, thus it was so easy to follow. I'll advice u to go thru her recipe a few times b4 attempting on trying out the recipe.

Ingredients

1800g radish, skinned and shredded
75g rice flour
150g corn starch
375ml water (liquid from cooking radish)
4-6 shiitake mushroom, cubed
2 sticks chinese sausages, cubed
50g dried shrimps, diced

Heat wok or pan, stir fry chinese sausage and dried shrimps til fragrant, add in shiitake mushroom, continue stir fry til oil being absorbed and fragrant. Dish out and set aside
In the same wok or pan (without washing), cook the radish with its juice til soft, mix in the pre-cooked chinese sausage, shiitake mushroom and dried shrimps, seasoned with sugar, salt & pepper to taste. Off heat
Remove 375ml liquid from cooked mixture, mix into rice flour and corn starch (do not have to wait til cool), stir well til blended and not lumpy
Without turning on the heat, pour the batter into radish mixture, mix well
Turn on low flame, keep stirring & folding the mixture til liquid turning dry and mixture turning gooey
Off heat, continue stirring & folding the mixture til even
Oil a mold, pour in the radish mixture, even and smooth out the surface
Steamed with high flame for 40 - 45 minutes

I made a mistake on seasoning the radish b4 mixing in the pre-cooked chinese sausages and stuffs, thus it turned much too salty.

I like the texture and it was really filled with all the goodies' flavors, will definitely make it again next year!

Osmanthus Flower Chiffon

2011-02-07T22:00:00.001+08:00

I bought a small packet of dried osmanthus flowers 桂花 from Seremban night market sometimes ago, I love the sweet fragrant and had used it in chiffon cake once, I didn't post up the last time cos I didn't bring my camera along to mum's place.

It is said that a cup of osmanthus flower tea promotes beautiful skin, tightening pores and reduces wrinkles. Here is a little note about benefits of consuming osmanthus flower tea (which was given by the herbal tea seller from the night market):

香气迷人，除臭解毒，用于口臭，风火热牙痛，胃热缓和肠胃胀气，紧实肌肤，调理皮肤毛细孔粗大，减少皱纹。

I mixed 2 tbsp of dried osmanthus flower into 3 tbsp of honey, let them sat in the fridge for more than a week before I baked the chiffon cake.

Ingredients

90ml water
120g self raising flour
5 egg yolks
2 - 3 tbsp osmanthus flower honey
60g oil

5 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
60g sugar

Outer look of the chiffon cake

I had the cake baked on Mon, 31st Jan, baked it in a hurry (b4 heading back to Seremban) as little girl demanded a cake for her & all cousins to cut during CNY (cos she remembered this).

Inner look of the chiffon cake

However, I managed to ice & decorate it only on Wed morning, which was the eve of CNY. Hubby complained that the cake turned dry but the kids didn't seem to mind at all :b

The decorated osmanthus flower chiffon cake