Rest easy, Saba Man and I have not gone back to eating meat. It’s only seitan not real beef. My twitter friends and I do a monthly food theme and February’s was Oranges and after posting my photo of Orange “Beef” and Broccoli, there were requests for the recipe.
UPDATE: Entry phase is now closed and the voting begins here on Facebook!
Woo hoo! It’s Back-to-School Bento Contest time! UPDATE: See below for new dates!
But first… today’s Back-to-School bento is filled with yummy Lazy Tuna Sushi. The basic recipe is here.
And as you can see the recipe can be modified to suit your tastes. This time I left out the scrambled egg and bulked up on the tuna.
The very roomy bottom tier allows for a whole boiled egg which I molded into a fun fish-shape, zucchini, carrots and cherries!
Yes… my bento box collection has a new addition thanks to our friends at Japanistic.com
Isn’t it adorable? And very versatile too. I can think of many ways to pack this cutie! How about a sammy in the bottom tier with fruit on top.
More information on about this adorable Elpha 2-Tier Onigiri Case along with other cool bento items can be found on their site.
What? You say you’d like to have this box for your very own? Okay… here how you can win one:
Win this bento box with matching travel chopsticks!
Contest Rules:
I can’t wait to see your bento entries!
Good luck and have fun!
For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader
Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!
I swear Mondays come around more often than any other day of the week!
And here it is again.
The upside is that I get pack a vegetarian bento for Saba Man. Today’s lunch, or I should say dinner because Saba Man is working an oddball shift today, is a melange of previously fried tofu, asparagus, carrots, sesame, shoyu, mirin, ginger and garlic.
I’ve separated this mix from the hapa-rice with plastic baran; something I don’t normally use but glad to have because I’ve run out of fresh lettuce of shiso leaf.
Champagne grapes, cherry tomato and a pinch of beni-shoga complete this meal-to-go!
For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader
Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!
Another Back-to-School bento idea for today’s post. How about ravioli and sausage? Yes!!!
And packed in one of my most favorite Elph boxes from Japanistic.
Today’s bento is filled with mushroom ravioli, vegetarian sausage, asparagus, carrots, bit’s of smoked mozzarella and a cherry tomato.
If you decide to pack a similar bento just remember to keep things light and not add too much sauce. And you can add almost any type of vegetable if asparagus in not a favorite.
For more ideas visit my Back-to-School page for tips and suggestions.
Also, I’ll be announcing a contest in a few days where you will have a chance to win a cute bento box from our friends at Japanistic!
For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader
Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!
It’s a melancholy moment when I pack an in-flight bento. But happy memories overshadow the sad good-byes especially when I include foods that are reminiscent of the fun-filled visit!
Salmon is de-riqueur for a Seattle-style lunch and Rainier cherries from our trip to the farmers market evoke happy flashbacks of a enjoyable vacation!
That alone should conjure desires for return trip…and to seal-the-deal…I added baked chicken, sautéed asparagus, steamed carrots, tomato, white rice and a luscious chunk o’ purple sweet potato!
For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader
Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!
Walking through the grocery store the other day and I spied this super-adorbs sandwich box in a “Back-to-School” display!
Yikes! It is THAT time of year already?!
So the bento-nerd in me immediately went for it! I checked every sort of box and container for it’s “bento-worthiness”…
Lo and behold this blue with robot sandwich box is a perfect candidate for the first “Back-to-School” (BTS) post for 2011!
But what did I pack in this sandwich box?
This week’s Meatless Monday does not contain seitan! I know, shocker of shocks eh?
Instead, I made burgers out of soy protein called TVP or Textured Vegetable Protein. This product, at first, turned me off as it sounds like something that’s been very processed and artificial…but after checking the ingredients it’s really just soy flour.
But when seasoned and shaped into mini-burgers, they’re fabulous!
The other meatless items are fried tofu, hapa-rice, yellow-carrot namul, pickled cucumbers, seasoned aburage (another type of fried tofu), snow peas and a cherry tomato!
Happy Monday everyone and have a fantastic week!
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JaponMania -Lovely bento supplies and more!
Can you believe it’s Monday already? And that means it’s time for another meatless meal.
So without further adieu…insert drum roll… Seitan Katsu!
Saba Man and I shared a rare weekday off together. So we decided to drop the car off at the shop for a routine check-up. Off course that was just too optimistic of us because the shop called to tell us that our “whatchamacallit” was leaking… we had no choice but to get comfy in a loaner car.
Don’t adjust your monitor, the color of this bento is truly the color of sunshine.
Robust and spicy flavored Oaxacan Tofu—not my creation but bought from the deli— is cubed and cooled down with fresh mango, cilantro and tomatoes. And as though I didn’t have enough yellow in this box lunch, I added saffron rice topped with fried scallions.
Red strawberry and orange carrots complete the warm toned palette.
Well… if the sun doesn’t want to shine over Seattle, maybe I can give it a kick-start with this bento!
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It started out a gray day but turned sunny by noon…just in time for a Meatless Monday bento!
Yummy fried tofu, bought from the Vietnamese market, then simmered in sesame, shoyu and garlic. Partnered with “hapa rice” (brown and white mix), gai lan (Chinese Broccoli) and carrot sticks it’s both a balanced and satiating meal!
If you don’t have access to fried tofu, you can fry your own using firm tofu that’s been drained of all moisture. Just press between cotton towels with a heavy plate on top. Leave it for at least 20 to 30 minutes switching to dry towels as needed. Cut into bite-sized cubes then fry in hot oil until golden. Drain thoroughly. I keep them in the freezer which does alter the texture a bit, but I like them that way. Cook them up in almost any kind of seasoning for bento or drop them in stews or soups. More than just bento-stash!
I was hanging out at the top of a tall building today. By lunch time, the clouds made way to blue skies which made today rainless as well as meatless! 
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Originally posted on 4/5/10. I thought it would be a good idea to re-publish, so go and color as many Easter Eggs as you want… because you can re-shape them later for your bento!
Read on….
Easter is over so now what do you do with all those colored eggs? Add them to your bento of course!
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debra@hapabento.com
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