26 January 2011

I'm Bento-ing

I've joined in the community of bento mamas since Olina gets into primary school this year. Because of her long hours in school, I'm afraid she will often be hungry by the time she gets home and develops gastric problem in the long run.

I always go "wah..." over others' creations when I read their bento blogs. It's really an art to create a presentable and yet nutritious bento. And you know, I seriously lack that artistic touch.

Practising my raw bento skills in yesterday lunch







It was tough (and still is) trying to pack a kawaii bento in the wee hours. Being a person who doesn't plan much in advance (maybe that should be my 2011 resolution), I always run out of ideas what to "create" into the lunchboxes. Decorating the items takes time and I often run into the danger of being late. This morning the school bus driver had to ring me to remind that I'm running late. Oops!

This was what I prepared for the kids this morning.

Recess for the kids






Breakfast for the little one




After a few rounds of bento-ing, I discovered I need an average of one and a half hours to work comfortably. That means, I would need to wake up before 5am to prepare a non-elaborate bento!

I'll probably look for a few bento books in my next trip to the library to pick up some tips and ideas. Hopefully that will speed things up a little.

5 comments:

emy@thehandiworks said...

Looks great!

May I ask what's the filling in the sandwiches? My mom who is in her 60s is always concerned about having food left at room temperature for a few hours (I am assuming from morning 7am until 10am recess so that's 3hrs?)

How do you overcome that?

Thanks for any tips in advance.

KWF said...

Hi Emy, nice to hear from you again. :)

Actually I understand and share the same concern as your mum. My kids will only consume their food about 4 hrs after I've packed them. So far, I've used ham, cheese, fried egg and omelette as sandwich fillings.

How do I decide what to use? I observe from local bakeries the kind of ingredients they have in their buns/sandwiches. Their products are in room temperature for more than 10hrs, usually. So the type of ingredients used are generally "safe" to be kept for at least 3-4 hrs. If your mum is concerned about things like ham, can suggest to her to pan fry the ham first, cool it totally before filling the sandwich.

Testing. Advise your mum to test the food before allowing your kid to bring to school. She can make a small sandwich, leave it in the house for 4 hrs and try it out. I actually tested some cheese cubes in room temperature 6 hrs after taking from the fridge and it passed the test.

You can also get antibacterial sheet from Daiso to place in your bento. It's supposed to keep food longer. Or put a small ice pack in your bento bag holding the lunchbox to keep things cool.

Hope the above have helped you a little.

Teddy bento said...

Very nice and neat bento. Yummy ......

Alice said...

Hi KWF,

nice bento u made!
i have a gal going into primary sch next yr, guess need to practise to bento 4her :)

i love browsing your blog and really love to try your recipes - thks for sharing!

dun mind ive linked ur blog to mine :)

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