Mental for Bento

So I've been fascinated by Bento for ages now, but I finally have an excuse to make some!  The Prawn is doing double martial arts classes on Wednesdays and Fridays (we're doing a different discipline now and are finding it challenging and FUN!) and then staying through the adult class, which she likes to watch.  It also gives her a chance to play with some friends at the gym and read, but mostly, she just watches.  Tuesdays present a similar situation, as she has soccer practice until our game starts on the adjoining field.  Finally, FINALLY, a justification to pack Bento. :)  I've been having  a lot of fun coming up with things to pack.  Being veggie and GF can present a little bit of a challenge, but once you're in the groove, it's not that hard.

Here are a few of the bentos she's had lately:

This one has rice on the left (a mixture of white jasmine, and red cargo) topped with furikake.  On the right, a boiled egg, moulded to look like a bunny head, 2 soy sauce fish, and below that, skewers with alternating slices of cucumber and cheese.  The cucumber slices were tossed with rice vinegar and sesame oil.  Below that, on the left, some sweet/salty rice crackers, and on the right, a little hippo cup with her oshibori (damp towel) rolled up inside.

In this pic, you can see the jelly sticks that I also tossed in her bag - 1 for Prawn, and more to share with friends.  As it turned out, they couldn't open them without scissors, so they all took them home.  Lesson learned. :-/

Next bento!  On the left, some onigiri (are they still onigiri when they're not triangles?  I think so. . .) and a soy sauce fish, a pack of haw flakes, and 2 homemade green tea mochi with red bean filling.  On the right, skewers of cherry tomato, avocado and cheese.  I dipped the avocado in lime juice to help prevent browning, and it seemed to work.  I know this is an odd fusion of cultures, food-wise, but it was a big hit!

And last, homemade green tea mochi on the left, with jalapeno/cheese sticks below.  On the right, onigiri and a soy sauce fish, cheese flowers and kiwi bites in little silicone baking cups, to the right of that, sliced green and black grapes with a skewer for stabbing, and below that, her oshibori.

I have way too much fun making these, and it's even more rewarding to see the smile on my little Student of the Month's face. :)