I felt lazy in the morning and just defrosted the hamburg steak I made the other day. I usually eat the same thing for lunch at home as my daughter to see how it tastes like. It worked just fine.
Menu: Hamburg steak (defrosted), Spinach omelet, Boiled green beans, Rice with furikake sprinkle, Steamed carrot
Apple bunnies & kiwi fruit for dessert
Menu: Grilled cod marinated in saikyo-miso, Boiled egg, Steamed pumpkin, Cucumber & Steamed cabbage salad, Goma-konbu
Kiwi & banana for dessert
Menu: Grilled salmon & wakana sprinkle mixed in rice with nori seaweed on top, Steamed broccoli, Steamed carrot & daikon mixed with olive oil, Boiled egg
Apple bunnies & Kyoho grapes for dessert 
Last night (Sunday night), my husband and I went out for a dinner organised by his business partner. We asked my parents to come over to our place to babysit our daughter, with an option for them to possibly stay over in case it gets late.
With such an arrangement, of course we take an advantage and stay for a nightcap, but this means going to bed super late on a school night and waking up early for bento as well as breakfast for five people instead of three.
So I did. Woke up early and made bento for our daughter and breakfast for all of us. As I was making bento at our open kitchen my parents looked over my shoulder and admired their granddaughter’s bento. Not because it’s fancy (not at all), but because they haven’t had a hand-made bento for a long time and reminisced its existence. Sensing their wish I packed two extra bento boxes for my parents (forgot to take a photo unfortunately) and left it before I went out for my weekly chore. When I came home my parents had already left, and I was expecting to see those two extra bento boxes taken along with them. But instead, I found one empty bento box in our kitchen sink with a pair of chopsticks clearly used for eating what was in the box.
It must’ve been really good.
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)
For almost 10 years, I used a regular cooking pot and a stainless steel strainer for steaming. Our kitchen is small with limited storage space, so I avoided buying any additional cooking equipment with material dimensions (growing up, my mum used to use this gigantic three layered steamer made in aluminum, which I definitely didn’t want in my kitchen).
But a few month ago, I finally decided to buy a steamer that is small enough to fit in our tiny kitchen as well as visually appealing. This steamer from Le Creuset was a perfect choice for us. It can be fitted to my existing Le Creuset Cocotte Ronde (a great wedding gift by my dear friends eight years back), and tucked away nicely in the same manner. As simple as steaming can be, it basically works the same way as my DIY steamer mentioned earlier, but much faster with presumably stronger air pressure due to the better heat circulation in the pot, which can be seen in the amount of steam escaping the lid. Because of this, the differences in the outcome are quite significant; the cooked food results in much richer in taste, nutrition, and colour. It also makes me happier to get to use my Le Creuset more often. Who doesn’t enjoy having this beautiful French pot on your stove while cooking?
Le Creuset Steamer
Coupled with Le Creuset Cocotte Ronde (mine is 22cm)
Large enough to steam a few different veggies at the same time
Set it up like this
Done!
SMALL TOKYO KITCHEN 