This being exam week, I decided to motivate my kids to do well by making their ‘baon’ (brown bag meal) a little more special. And when I think of something more special than the usual pack of Oreos and peanut butter sandwich, all I can think about is a bento. It’s something I’ve wanted to do as a project anyway. In Japan, mothers pride themselves in making artistic bento meals for their kids. I like the fact that preparing a bento can be a good venue for creative expression as you plan the colors, textures and shapes that should go into the box. There is also room to include everything in the major food groups, rather than the junk food that our kids are bound to have. With the right presentation, kids can change their mind about eating healthy fruits and veggies after all.
I call this our Pinoy bento which the kids had as a meal in the house.
What went inside the box:
braised pork adobo with hard-boiled egg
lumpiang sariwa (fresh egg rolls made of ubod or palm tree trunk) with brown sauce
buttered mixed vegetables
cupcake with chocolate swirl (bought from our local bakery)
rice with fish ball decor
The Hello Kitty Bento which the kids brought to school:
Spaghetti
Chicken Nuggets Fun Shapes
Mixed veggies
Star- Shaped Mini-Pancakes with syrup
veer away from the usual round pancakes by shaping it with a cookie cutter!
I’ve added a new category in the blog for “bento.” I loved the challenge of doing this and will definitely be creating some more in the future.
Good that my foodie twins loved it. Bon appeTITE!
mga bata ngayon kailangan may arte para pakainin. Di na pwede yung mga ordinary nalang kundi hindi nila yun kakainin. I remember my sister na gusto namin pakainin ng vegies, talagang we cut the carrots pa na flowers para lang kainin. ay sus. hehehe 😉
|Love the pig and the hello kitty hope they taste good too
Hi Dyanie. Sinabi mo pa 😀 katakot-takot na bola, atsaka actually mahilig ang mga anak ko sa mga “branded” fastfood. Nangunguna na dun ang walang kamatayang Jollibee, hehehe.
Thanks Ernesto.;)
Sino ba naman ang hindi gaganahan kumain nyan? Wonderful presentation!
Salamat Watson:) Long live adobo!
Whoa! I wish my dad tried as hard as you did when I was little. I had Zest-o & either a cheese or ham sandwich for years until I opened my hand and asked for 5 Pesos.
pag maganda ang presentation, nakakagana kumain!
Funny anecdote Aileen. But I have to say, baon is really important. Nakakawalang ganang mag-aral pag kulang ang baon!
Galing naman… 🙂 I hope when I have kids one day, I’ll be as matiyaga as you in preparing baon!
Cheers,
Marie
pagbalik ko dyan sa atin ajay, turo mo sa aken kung san ok bumili ng mga bento boxes, tapos kayo ni sachi ang magiging tipsters ko sa paggawa ng mga yan! 🙂
Probably the best thing about Bento, to me, is when the person next to you DOESN’T have one 😉 When the guy next to me on the flight pulls out his SECOND cold PB&J, and I disassemble my monster Bento container, revealing fresh Miso soup, Steamed rice topped with ground beef and a scrambled-egg “heart”, hard-boiled Quail Eggs, Chinese Pickles, and a li’l container of Shoyu, yeah, it feels good.
Still, I gotta ask – whatintheheck do Chikorita and Psyduck have to do with Bento 😛 Ask Paolo, Farfetch’d woulda been a better choice!
Still can’t believe that one little Hello Kitty Bento was enough for Ms. Big Eater, your Daughter! Hehe.
I want your bento! 🙂 Sino nga ba naman di gaganahan sa ganda ng presentation 🙂 This post gave me an idea to pimp my baon bag next time I brine one to work! 🙂
Ang saya ng bento! Na-sustain mo ba?
I’m starting to miss the Philippines again. Sarap.
Cheers,
Rocky
You know what Ajay, I think anyone who would look at your kids’ faces would instinctively want to give them nothing less than the best. They have such adorable eyes and the sweetest smiles. I’d prepare bento boxes for them everyday myself… not that I know how, but… 🙂
ang cute!!!!i want that i want that!and looks yumm-oh!btw, i just posted my entry too:)
I want the hello kitty lunchbox din, I posted a comment sa lasang pinoy with my entry, hindi ko sure kung dito ba dapat o doon? anyway its in my blog….www.kitchenmaus.blogspot.com
what a fun idea for a kid’s lunch. I’d love to try this bento idea.
love the hello kitty container
mommyng-mommy ka dito ms. ajay ah…love your bento food. they all look delish. 🙂
wow! i love that! the hello kitty bento. i have to try that one time. thanks for that idea.. = )