Tag Archives: macaroni

Kindergarten bento – Toshi-No-Se (15, 18, 19, 20, 22/Dec/17)

24/12/2017

In Japan, it is said that “toshi-no-se,” the year-end, is bound to be busy, as everyone starts acting somehow anxious to finish off things prior to the fresh start of the new year. As mentioned before, the new year is a big deal in this country, and we do everything to make sure the new year to be quiet and special. 

This year was no exception for me also, and I was running around like a headless chicken without any time to stop and take a big breath… until we left for our Christmas holidays in the Netherlands to visit my husband’s family. Hesitantly we dropped unfinished errands, hurriedly packed our suitcases, left beautiful & sunny Tokyo, and arrived in the equally beautiful, but quite dark Netherlands yesterday. It is Christmas Eve here in the Netherlands, and things already seemed to have slowed down, and people are starting to relax for the festivity to begin. The sense of rush I was feeling in Japan is nowhere to be seen here. It’s an interesting realisation what a huge difference there is depending on which culture you’re in.

Looking back at the bento photos I didn’t have a chance to upload before our departure, I can vaguely remember how I managed all these bento making during my busy schedule. It’ll resume in the new year, but for now I’m relieved that I won’t have to do it for the next two weeks.

Happy Holidays!

15/Dec/17 – Grilled cod in saikyo-miso

18/Dec/17 – Simmered sword fish

19/Dec/17 – Nikudon-don

20/Dec/17 – Macaroni genovese 

22/Dec/17 – Chicken soboro 

Kindergarten bento – Another busy but short week (31/Oct, 1 & 2/Nov/17)

02/11/2017

It’s been another busy but short week for us. Monday was a school holiday since our daughter’s school was open on last Saturday for an art event. Tomorrow, 3rd of November is a public holiday in Japan called Culture Day. As such, there’s only 3 days of school, but since I took up this translation assignment for 9000 words of text, which is due tonight, I’ve been working non-stop since Tuesday. 

Anyway I thought I’d take a break and post our daughter’s bento images because the bento making happens every day no matter what as long as her school is open!

Tuesday 31/Oct – Soboro bento


Wednesday 1/Nov – Macaroni in  tomato sauce with aubergene & bacon


Thursday 2/Nov – Picnic tortilla wrap bento 


Our daughter & her friends are on their way to the sweet potato farm for potato digging today. It’s their first time to take a chartered bus on their own, without being accompanied by their parents. Hope they’ll have fun.

OK, back to my assignment, 2000 more words to go!

Kindergarten bento – Frozen bolognese (25/Sep/17)

25/09/2017

For the past weekend, we went for a short trip out of Tokyo. We came back to our apartment on Sunday evening, resulting in the usual problem of not having enough food in the fridge for our daughter’s bento the next day. 

In such circumstances, frozen stock comes in handy. This morning I defrosted bolognese sauce I made the other day and mixed it with macaroni. I put a lot of veggies (e.g. onion, carrot, celery, garlic) in the sauce, so it’s quite nutritious (actually I put them in the blender so that they almost get pasty, and that gives an amazing flavour to the sauce). I had a leftover cucumber and egg in the fridge, so I whipped this up:

 
The frozen star-shaped steamed carrots made with cookie cutters are also quite handy. I always make them in bulk with my Le Creuset Steamer and store them in the freezer. It’s really a lifesaver on a day like this!

Menu: Macaroni bolognese (steamed carrot slices on top), Cucumber sticks, Boiled egg

Japanese Nashi for dessert (also leftover in the fridge)

Kindergarten bento – Autumn colours (12/Sep/17)

13/09/2017

Incidentally when I finished packing my daughter’s bento this morning, I realised that the colours of autumn was everywhere. Tangerine, mustard, forest green, burgundy…

Usually, I would have put a bit more green to make it brighter (afterall this is for a small child), but thought that I would keep it as it was, hoping she would get my intension to teach her the subtle expression of a changing season.

Menu: Macaroni Amatriciana with broccoli, Boiled egg, Mashed pumpkin & cucumber salad

Japanese “Mikan” orange & Kyoho grapes for dessert

Kindergarten bento – Macaroni with broccoli & chicken (8/Mar/17)

09/03/2017

Menu: Macaroni with broccoli & chicken, Plain omelet, Cherry tomato, Boiled broad beans

Strawberries & banana for dessert

Cooking pasta is actually quicker than preparing Japanese style bento. 

While boiling the macaroni, in a cooking pan with extra virgin olive oil, I cooked diced chicken, broccoli (steamed ones, leftover from the previous day) and chopped celery. After a while I added some boiling pasta water to cook further without drying the ingredients. Just a minute before the pasta is ready, added salt and pepper to taste, poured the cooked pasta into the pan and tossed them all together. At the end, sprinkled grated parmiggiano for extra flavour. All of these steps took only 15 minutes. 

Viva pasta! Buonappetito! 

Kindergarten bento – macaroni bolognese (31/May/16)

01/06/2016

Menu: macaroni bolognese, grated parmiggiano leggiano, boiled egg,  broccoli & green beans

Melon for dessert

It’s not common to put pasta in our packed lunches here in Japan, but I did it anyway upon our daughter’s request. 

I thought the grated cheese on the side was a great idea: our little girl can sprinkle it over the pasta at the time she eats so that the cheese remains fresh – but according to her teacher she spilled all the cheese on the table and her t-shirt, leaving a huge mess…😱