Monday, June 4, 2012

Koala Bento as Requested by a Fellow JET Hopeful ^_^

So, I spend a lot of time chatting about JET. My other blog is about JET and I am fairly active on the official forums in preparation for the next application. One of my biggest Japanese related hobbies is bento (obviously :P) and one of the other JET hopefuls asked for a koala bento. So, here it is.

 Koala Bento (87 I think)
Shrimp Salad Onigiri
Cucumber
Ham Flowers
Shrimp w/mayo, salt & pepper
Soy sauce
Lettuce Liner
Cheese Koala
So, I don't do a lot of charaben, making this a challenge. So it's pretty sparse and the photo is once more from my phone and poorly lit kitchen. Not the most beautiful, but absolutely delicious ^_^ And you can't really see it but the koala has little leafs sticking out of his mouth. But, I still made a bento XD

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Posting Because I Should

So, I did make a bento yesterday and last Monday, but they were ugly and rushed and boring, so I never took a picture. Anyways, I was looking through all my posts and I realized that I suck at life. I had done so well losing a bunch of weight and now I've blown it. The point of this blog was to keep me honest and trying my best. So, I need to get back to my embarrassing honesty.

I don't want anyone to read this, but I need to post it anyways and hope that no one bothers to read my blog. A short prelude to my embarrassing admittance of weight: I had lost a bunch of weight that I had regained since I posted in my blog ages ago. I had gotten down to 185 without forcing myself or anything. I was enjoying my diet and I was enjoying my weight loss. Then I picked up my wedding dress and it was probably an inch and a half or two inches too big, but I lacked the time to have it sent back and a new size sent.. 1-2 inches is between 10 and 20 pounds... This was seriously depressing... So, I had to stop losing weight and even gain some back because I am not rich enough for the other options. In the end, I gained it back (and my wedding dress was awesome), but then I gained more. I had a meal plan at school and needed to not lose that money, but school food is terrible. So I'm going to bury the depressing number right here and keep talking and hopefully you won't notice. I ended up at 225 on the worst day I weighed myself. This morning I am at 218. I am making more bento and trying to eat healthier, so I am losing weight, but it's hard. Ryan and I should be moving out now that I am a college graduate. We are moving back up to Maine and having our own apartment should help me have better control on what both of us are eating.

Anyways, I have no pictures, but I will give a short description of my two bento.

5/7/12 (85)
My Bento
Smoked Barbecue Chicken Leg (perfect <3 oishii)
Shelled Edemame (more fun in the shell, definitely)
2 Hard-Boiled Eggs with Kewpie Mayo on top
Steamed Broccoli

5/14/12 (86)
My Bento
Shelled Edamame (I seriously need to finish these off)
2 Hard Boiled Eggs
Cheese Stick
Salami Rolls


The list of things in my bento display how unphotogenic and boring my bento were. But, they were bento, they were delicious, and they kept me full. So, yeah... That's where I'm at.

Friday, May 11, 2012

A Serious Backlog of Bento and Getting Back on the Wagon

Wow... So bento blogging failure on my part... I honestly have not made that many bento in the last couple years. I spend a lot of time looking at other people's bento, but I ended up moving back to my parents house so that I could finish college. The lack of a kitchen has been a serious detriment to my bentoing. However, I have general life news to report and a few bento to share!

First of all, I graduate on May 19!!! Secondly, I got married last October 7!!!! Thirdly, and lastly, I am moving into my own apartment with my husband at some point this summer. So I will finally be back into my bento obsession! On a sadder note, I have ended up gaining back a lot of the weight I had lost and then some. So, I will be fighting to get back those pounds and still reach my goal.

I think that I will go through my bento I've made over the last two years (there are only a few sadly) and end today with that... But, I will be expanding my cooking, my bento, and my life as I continue this year and work into adulthood. I've also started doing stuff with the SCA and I am making my first kosode (middle ages Japanese garb) now and look forward to doing more cool things. When I get my kitchen, I'll go over all the awesome wedding gifts I got for my kitchen and all the bentoing I am excited to do! I'll try to make at least one bento a week or have something to post, I promise <3 Last, I'm applying for the JET Program, so if anyone is interested in my journey through that I made another blog for that at christineandjet.blogspot.com.

Now onto the bento!
20 March 2010 (72)
My Bento

Top Tier:
Rice
Heart Made of Shrimp
Pink Shrimp Flakes

Bottom Tier:
Gyoza
Lettuce
Pink Quail Eggs
Gummy Candies
Furikake for my Rice in the Penguin Cup




 19 January 2011 (79)
My Second Bento

Soba Noodles
White Sesame Seeds
Cucumber Slices
Bell Pepper Slices
Quail Eggs










 17 July 2010 (76)
My Bento

Potato Salad
Babybel Cheese Wheel
Leftover Curry
Sauteed Beansprouts







 19 January 2011 (77)
Ryan's Bento

Top Tier:
Rice
Black Sesame Seeds
Lemon Container of Tonkatsu Sauce

Bottom Tier:
Lettuce
Tonkatsu
Bell Pepper Slices
Soy Sauce Fishies
Green Apple Agar Agar Jelly
Quail Eggs


 19 January 2011 (78)
My Bento

Top Tier:
Lettuce
Tonkatsu
Soy Sauce Fishies
Kitty Cup of Red Bell Peppers
Manga Agar-Agar Jelly

Bottom Tier:
Rice
Black Sesame Seeds
                                                                                    Bottle of Tonkatsu Sauce

 27 February 2010 (65)
My Bento

Top Tier:
Soy Sauce Egg (yummy!!!)
Rice with Sukiyaki Furikake mixed in
Homemade Pork Dumplings
Fishy full of Soy Sauce






 8 March 2010 (66)
My Bento

Strawberry Mochi
Meltykiss Strawberry Chocolate ♥
Pork Dumplings
New Potatoes
Kamaboko decorations
Fishy of Soy Sauce





 16 March 2010 (67)
My Bento

Top Tier:
Cutie Oranges
Pork Dumplings
Quail Eggs
Pasta
Okinawan Sweet Potato Stars (in both tiers) with Cheese Stars

Bottom Tier:
Mozzarella Balls with Herbs
Mini Bell Papers Filled with Garlic and Herb Cheese
Ham Flowers
Piggy of Soy Sauce


 16 March 2010 (68)
Mum's Bento

Top Tier:
Mini Bell Peppers filled with Swiss Cheese
Mozzarella Balls with Herbs
Quail Eggs
Pasta

Bottom Tier:
Ham Flower
Dumplings
Piggy Soy Sauce
                                                                                    Okinawan Sweet Potato Stars


 18 March 2010 (69)
Ryan's Bento

Top Tier:
Baked Mac n' Cheese
Ham Flower
Broccoli
Piggy of Soy Sauce

Bottom Tier:
Tonkatsu
Cutie Orange
Broccoli
Meltykiss Strawberry Chocolate


 18 March 2010 (70)
Mum's Mini Bento

Meltykiss Strawberry Chocolate
Tonkatsu
Ham Flower
Pasta
Mozzarella Balls with Herbs
Piggy of Soy Sauce





18 March 2010 (71)
My Bento

Top Tier:
Heart-Shaped (sorta) Egg
Penguin of Sukiyaki Furikake
Ham Flower
Meltykiss Chocolate
Mozzarella Balls

Bottom Tier:
Rice
Tonkatsu
Broccoli
Piggy of Soy


16 May 2010 (73)
My Bento

Top Tier:
Cutie Orange
Piggy Onigiri (Rice, Ham, Katsu Sauce)
Broccoli

Bottom Tier:
Homemade Pork Dumplings
Bell Pepper Butterflies
Ham Flowers
Garlic and Herb Cheese
                                                                                    Broccoli

 26 June 2010 (76)
My Bento

Orange Slices
Cucumbers
Potato Pancake
Cherry Tomato
Italian Sausage






 29 June 2010 (75)
Ryan's Bento

Pork Gyoza (homemade)
Carrot Sticks
Cherry Tomato
Pasta Salad
Lettuce Liner
Shoyu Fishies
Italian Dressing Piggies




 22 May 2010 (74)
My Bento

Pork Gyoza (homemade)
Carrot Sticks and Flowers
Laughing Cow Wedge
Rice
Shoyu Piggy






 31 March 2012 (80)
Chuck's Bento

Rice
Homemade Gyoza
Green Onion Tamagoyaki
Red Bell Pepper Strips







 31 March 2012 (81)
Mum's Bento

Top Tier:
Small Rice Balls
Homemade Gyoza
Cheese Tamagoyaki

Bottom Tier:
Salad (Tomato, Cucumber, Red and Orange Bell Pepper)



 31 March 2012 (82)
Dad's Bento

Top Tier:
Homemade Gyoza
Cucumbers
Red and Orange Bell Peppers

Bottom Tier:
Rice




 31 March 2012 (83)
Ryan's Bento

Rice
Homemade Gyoza
Green Onion Tamagoyaki
Cucumbers
Red and Orange Bell Peppers






 31 March 2012 (84)
My Bento

Top Tier:
Rice

Bottom Tier:
Homemade Gyoza
Cheese Tamagoyaki
Green Onion Tamagoyaki
Cucumbers
Red and Orange Bell Peppers






 This isn't a bento, but it was my first successful tamagoyaki!!! So I thought I'd share <3 You should definitely check out Soul, Soup, Soap by Izumi Takaya and learn how to make tamagoyaki and awesome other bento things <3 I also made bread from her site!




Sorry there were so many bento, but I'll do better ^_^ Keep bentoing!