Bento #20 - Zoo Themed

"Let's go to the zoo ... see the monkeys go Woo Woo Woo ... Let's go to the zoo right now ..."

This is a song from one of the toys my boys have at home. A very catchy song with catchy lyrics. Kinda remembered this song as I began blogging on this week's bento.


26 Mar 2012

Oswald is heading out for his 1st excursion with the Primary School. And mummy had packed a little special bento for him to bring along for him to snack on during break time at the zoo.

Mummy was so into making bread these days, haven't been able to sit down to plan out designs for the boys' bento. Thank god for the Onigiri wrappers that I'd bought from Daiso on an impulse. Gladly took it out to place the bread (molded by using my rice molds) that I'd prepared for Oswald. Threw in some other snacks and a packet of drink for him. That Onigiri wrapper really brightens up the bento.


28 Mar 2012

Had decided not to be lazy anymore and did some homework for today's bento. Did a lion face for the boys' bento today with the set of bento tools in the picture. Never gotten the chance to fully utilize this set of tools ... finally the chance came.

Roar ... roar ... roar ... here comes the friendly lions :)

Did the lion using 2 different type of cheese and cut the shape out using a bento tool in the 1st picture. To save time, I use edible markers to add the dots near the lion's mouth. Both the boys have similar food except presented in a different way.


30 Mar 2012

Did something out of norm for today's bento. Usually I would do similar design for the boys to save time preparing and brainstorming but I beg to differ this time. Why??? Because I felt guilty for concentrating too much on my bread making adventures and had neglected the boys bentos ... so I'd decided to be a little more hardworking and work on different animals for the boys.

The Silent Monkey. A gentle reminder to Owein to keep quiet while teacher is teaching and listen quietly. Seriously I am not very sure how he had been behaving in class. But since there is no complain from teacher so far, I assume he is ok.

The Grazing Giraffe. Don't know how come I get a very calm and peaceful feeling with I see this bento. Maybe is the animal itself or probably is the overall layout.


Made a very simple bento dinner for the boys today too. We are heading out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner today. Chinese restaurant = not much food choices for Oswald. Oh yes my POTATO son, not a great fan of Chinese style food ... SIGH!!!

Simple 蛋包饭 with frozen food as sides. I must admit these frozen food are not exactly my best choice of food for my boys but they really do come in handy when I am short of time and help to prepare 'proper' food. I usually have these stash stored in my freezer for times like this.

Addicted to BREAD!!!

I am a bread lover and with all the good results that had been yielded, I had been actively looking around for more recipes to try.

Recently a handful of people in a FB group that I'd joined had been making Hokkaido Milk Bread and all raved about the soft texture. All those comments and pictures and even the name of the bread had gotten me geared to give this recipe a try.

My conclusion ... LOVE this recipe to the MAX!!! This recipe overrules the other 2 recipes that I'd tried. I am a happy mama :)

Since it is named Hokkaido Milk Bread, I am wondering if by using milk from Hokkaido itself would make a difference to the taste. Will be heading to my favorite Japanese supermarket - Meidiya on Friday. Will try to source for Hokkaido milk when I am there and re-make this again to compare the difference. Till then, I am happy with what it is now.

Bento #19

Start of school again ... 1 week of holiday pass that soon ... SIGH. It is back to school bentos for the boys this week.


14 Mar 2012

Kick start bento making for Term 2 ....

Brain engine have not start working yet and mummy is so into making bread these days so a really simple one for the boys today. Using black food coloring to paint the sides on a piece of cheese to get a blackboard look. Added some of the words on Oswald's spelling list as a reminder for him :)


16 Mar 2012

Copied this idea from a fellow bento mum.

Here's a book of ABCs for Owein. End of the 1st week of Term 2 already ... hope he is geared up already.

Oswald's book ... is a reminder of the lessons that he will be having in school today :p


Hope with all these bentos that remind the boys of school, help to gear them up for the new things they going to learn in this term. 加油!!!

Bread, Bread, Bread

Being a bread person, I am so glad that I've found the TZ method to make bread. Since I still got a portion of TZ left in the fridge, decided to use it up to make bread again.

So what I've made this time ...

Use 1/2 of the dough to make Sugared Butter Buns - as per requested by Oswald. He simply love these buns. He can eat up to 2 buns at a go. Great to have such supporters.

The other half, I split it in to 2 dough. Added raisins in 1 and the other left it plain.

March Holiday Bakes

Its MARCH HOLIDAYS!!!!

A break from school for the boys = A break from Bento-ing for mummy.

BUT ... mummy hands are itchy ... itching to spend time in kitchen to play with her kitchen tools and SO ... mummy decides to do some baking.

Had been seeing lots of post on FB regarding homemade bread and all look so delicious. As a bread lover, I had wanted to make my own bread but after a few rounds of failed attempts, I'd shelf the idea for a long while. All these pictures of homemade bread had made the urge to try bread making come back. After rounds and rounds of read up and asking around, I'd decided to give it a try. Picked up a recipe strongly recommended by a friend and worked my Kenwood mixer hard to get the dough right. After 2 rounds of proofing and 20 mins of baking in the oven ...

Love the smell of freshly baked bread in the house and love the end result of the product. The Yogurt Bread is soft and nice ... I ate up 2 buns almost immediately. So glad that bread making was a success this time. All thanks to a friend who was so patience in explaining and teaching virtually me with whatever materials she could find on the Internet. The only thing that I would need to improve on is the shaping of my buns. I got rough surface buns due to the poor shaping. Though they look ugly, but they do taste good!!!

Due to the great success and feedback from the family, I felt super motivated and made another batch the next day. This time, I had search up on how to shape properly and had increased sugar amount in the recipe to suit my taste. Personally I would prefer a sweeter tasting bread.

See, batch 2 is so much nicer in looks. This recipe is here to stay ...


Now since my engine had been started, I started to think if I should try out the 65°C TangZhong (湯種) method. This method is also known as Water Roux method and is said to produce soft and bouncy bread which keeps well too. Had caught my eye on this type of bread a long long time ago but due to my lack in confidence and knowledge back then, I only read and did not do anything. Now, since confidence was boosted to the max, I gave this method of making bread a go. End result ...

I super like this texture :) The only problem is the dough is slight more difficult to handle cause it is slight sticky. Like the texture of breads produced via both methods mentioned hence both recipes are here to stay!!!


On top of my experiment with bread, I also managed to find time to bake a cake for my MIL's tea party on Saturday (17 Mar). Upon her request, I made Green Tea Red Bean cake for her.

A very fulfilling march holidays indeed with all these baking.

Rilakkuma!!!

Found some Rilakkuma bento tools at Kinokuniya @ Liang Court!!!

I am a happy mama =D

Bento #18 - Monsters

This week I am going for Monster Themed bentos ... Thought I had enough of cutie stuffs for now any wanted to make something scary but ... all my monsters all turned out looking cute!!! LOL.


7 March 2012

See if you can guess who is this ...

Got it??? YES ... it is Mike Wazowski from Monster Inc.

Decided on Mike so that I can use the yellow hat that I bought sometime back. Used a triangular onigiri mould to mould my bread, that explains all the lines that you see on Mike.

Topped up with mini oreos and gummy from Marks and Spencer for Owein.

For Oswald's Mike, I decided to use Pandan Cake instead so I get a green Mike (which is the actual color) instead of a white one.

8 March 2012

Got addicted to 'drawing' with pancake batter and since I had forgotten to buy loaf bread for the kids breakfast this morning, it shall be pancake breakfast again ^_^

And of course, since Mummy is making breakfast, then it shall be in-line with this week's bento theme ... the boys are having Monster Pancakes for breakfast!!!

9 March 2012

Last day of Term 1 ... 1st time ever I am so looking forward to end of term ... LOL.

Anyway, last bento for Term 1 made only for Owein because Oswald's school got some special activity for the P1s and only required them to be at school at a much later time.

Presenting DOMO Kun to end my Monster Themed bentos ...

Used a mini chocolate swiss roll for Domo this time and cheese cut outs for facial expressions, using food coloring to color up the cheese.

Bento #17 - Sandwich Cutters Bentos

Totally brain dead this week can't think of a nice theme to work with hence decided to use sandwich cutters to prepare food and then dress up the bento from there.

Bought 2 new cutters recently and hence decided to give them a try.


29 February 2012

Trying out the Elephant Shape sandwich cutters. Let's go for an elephant ride ...

2 March 2012

Using the Penguin sandwich cutters, I've got 企鹅哥哥和弟弟一起去上学.

Cute sandwiches right =]

Glad to have these cutters. They really do save the days when I've got no inspiration at all or am feeling lazy. I was totally drained out by last week's events and our short trip to Port Dickson. Brain cells are totally malfunctioning.

So glad that it is Friday ... got to find time to rest and recharge. Still haven found my inspiration for next week's bento!!!