It helps me a lot to write the menu the night before on the blackboard so I’m prepared in the morning 
Of course I prepared most of the dishes in advance the evening before, because I’m not a morning person and cannot wake up too early. The rice is cooked with the timer on the rice cooker.
Wakana onigiri didn’t happen as I ran out of time😓
Extra nori seaweed for her, as she loves it and very healthy
Apple for dessert
Pardon my handwriting… 
Another soboro, chicken mince variation mixed with freshly cooked rice, chopped boiled spinach and sesame
New bento box for our big girl’s kindergarten. Kindergarten specifically asked to prepare an aluminum bento box for some reason. I guess I will find out why in due course
Menu: Chicken mince tricolor bento, steamed broccoli, cherry tomato, simmered pumpkin in dashi broth
Our LO started going to her kindergarten in April and today was supposed to be her first official school picnic with her new classmates and their parent/s… but of course it was postponed because of the rain… and of course it was decided at the last minute, and I ended up preparing our packed lunch that was not really necessary… (the regular class ends at 11:40am for the time being, that is part of “adjusting” period for the little ones). And of course by that time the sun started shining, so with some friends we went for a voluntary picnic in the near by playground.
All turned around to be very nice at the end, as we say in Japanese, “終わり良ければ全て良し /owari yokereba subete yoshi (All’s well that ends well)”
These cute cookie cutters, bought at 100 yen shop, are very useful… not really for cookies but for carrots.
After steaming sliced carrots using my Le Creuset steamer, this is what I do:
Cut out the shapes and put the outer part aside
I usually freeze these nicely shaped carrot slices in a container and use a piece or two in LO’s bento box from time to time. It not only gives bright colour in her packed lunch but of course additional nutrition (carrots are full in carotene and vitamin A).
Some examples…
I chop the outer part of the cutout slices and pack them away for later use, too (e.g. for miso soup, soboro variation, etc.)
This is the tori-soboro (chicken crumble) variation; with tofu, spinach and chopped carrots
It may seem a little troublesome at first, but I assure you this will actually make your life easier especially for your bento making. It will give more versatility to your recipes also.
Great purchase for a few hundred yen!
menu: tori-soboro (chicken crumble) on spinach rice, asparagus, cucumber & ham salad, tomato omelet
apple mousse and yogurt for dessert
tori-soboro, chicken crumble, is a suitable and popular recipe among children for packed lunches. in one of my earlier posts, it was introduced as “tricolor bento (recipe attached for tori-soboro)“. it can be frozen after being prepared and kept for a few weeks, which becomes especially handy when there is no other protein in the fridge. i sometimes mix it into mashed potato or pumpkin, which makes a excellent side dish.
today i served tori-soboro on top of spinach rice (boiled spinach, drained well, chopped and extra water squeeze out well, mixed into freshly cooked white rice). the bright green not only adds a nice springy touch in the bento box but also matches nicely with the soysauce based chicken crumble and is great for extra nutrition for the little one.
side dishes
2nd april 2016, aoyama cemetary
as many people may know by now, japan is obsessed with sakura, cherry blossom. sakura is considered to be the national flower of japan that blossom splendidly around the end of march to beginning of april. the entire country gets flourished with the colour of delicate baby pink, which is the sign for the start of a brand new, exciting, fun season. this coincides with the new financial and school year, which lifts everyone’s spirits to the highest. everything becomes sakura this and sakura that, from sakura flavoured latte to sakura printed/shaped plates spread all over town. it feels a bit overdone in recent years, but i guess they do it because people fall for it. japanese take seasonality seriously, and make the most of it whenever possible.
so, what do we do? we go for picnic with our packed lunches and picnic mats, and this is called “hanami (hana = flower, mi = to look at”).
this is the bento i prepared for a sakura picnic (2 adults + 1 little one + 1 littler one who does not eat yet – the mini onigiri and assorted deli lunch on the right are for my LO). what i made is nothing special, but i prefer bringing homemade food because it brings me a sense of nostalgia from my childhood, and i want to give my little one the same feeling.
having said that, of course i get lazy and buy sandwiches or commercial bento from time to time…
one day, i’d love to make a bento packed beautifully in layered lacquer boxes and stuns everyone present, but i think it’ll take a while to realise that mission (have to buy the lacquer boxes to start with!)…
31 march 2016, yoyogi park (the image by courtesy of my dear friend L.G.)
menu: grilled cod “saikyo” style, omelet, steamed broad beans, tomato, wakame seaweed & tofu salad
fresh apple for dessert
grilled cod fish marinated with “saikyo” miso paste. i grilled the fish perfectly for LO’s packed lunch, but totally burnt it for our dinner the same evening 😭
since the saikyo miso paste is quite sweet it is prone to get burnt easily. I was multi tasking when grilling the fish for dinner, which wasn’t a very good idea…
wakame seaweed is one of LO’s favorite things to eat. it’s semi-dried, and you soak it in water for a few minutes and cut into bite size pieces before serving. it’s not that fishy (to me but i’m japanese), and not chewy, either. it’s full in mineral, and it’s said to be keep your hair nice and shiny.
menu: mini niku don, pumpkin & egg salad, steamed broccoli, cheery tomato
fresh apple & kiwi fruits for dessert
niku don, stir fried pork on rice, is the most popular recipes in this blog, and this is a miniature version of it. LO usually doesn’t eat so much meat but she loved this one!
menu: penne with chicken mince, cheese omelet, cucumber & carrot salad
fresh trawberries & yogurt for dessert
menu: “omuraisu” omelet & rice, coleslaw salad with chicken, cherry tomato and green beans
apple mousse with yogurt for dessert
“omuraisu” omelet rice – it’s a Japanese adoption of western omelet. it comes with fried rice usually seasoned with tomato sauce. today however, i used just salt & pepper for seasoning. the fried rice is then wrapped with a plain omelet, and tomato sauce on top of it.
fried rice with chopped onion, spinach and bacon
SMALL TOKYO KITCHEN 