Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Bento

This post is about some of my different experiences with this bento, the first being that I did some chocolate paintings (plus a multi-pic post)! I decided to save on the fat, and thus didn't do anything aside from the outline after I hand-drew each character. The only ones who are really missing from this bento are Puddin' and Irwin, but I may have something in store for them later. If you haven't ever heard of this show before, its about two children who trick the Grim Reaper into being their best friend forever and their adventures together. The chocolate painting above is the one with Billy, the lovable idiot who tags along with Mandy, and next to him are veggie dog fingers, dark cherries and a plum. Underneath there are spooky broccoli sprouts and a tofu Reaper.

Heeeeeres' Mandy! I feel like she's saying "Billy, you idiot. Don't you realize this is food?" as she lays atop the olive and hummus sandwich.

The trio huddled together, the summer heat didn't help them unmelt.

And here's the adorable, confusing, Fred Fredburger! Sadly for him, neither nachos nor frozen (soy) yogurt were used in this bento.

GABM Bento Ingredients:
1 Olive, Hummus & Sprout Sandwich
1 Plum
Cherries
Tofu
Chocolate
Veggie Dog Fingers
Green Beans


I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I!

Mandrake Bento (Harry Potter)

This bento I decided to be more or-less artistic with since my shaping of a human face wasn't working out that well. Because of the color of the rice and the fact that the head was pretty close anyway, I decided to make a mandrake bento. Broccoli sprouts make up the hair, meatless ground made up the dirt and a put a few, pearl-like, beans around. You may have heard of a mandrake if you've ever watched Harry Potter (poor Neville) or mayhaps even if you've seen plants with oddly humanoid bodies and hair.

Mandrake Bento Ingredients:
Brown and White Rice
White Beans
Tomatoes
Kale
Broccoli Sprouts
Cucumbers

Enjoy!

Jumpy Ghostface Bento (Hero 108)

This bento is based on "Jumpy Ghostface" aka the Rabbit King from Hero 108, a show that I catch multiple times in the morning. I've been wanting to use rice for my bentos and it isn't until recently since I've really started to enjoy them, there's nothing like un-seasoned rice fresh from the steamer basket. To go along with Jumpy I added rice cheese face, nori appendages and eyes, kale, split green beans and of course tonkatsu. Normally Jumpy has a carrot in his mouth (as he is the boss) and a jumprope in hand but this Jumpy is too depressed as he's been made into a bento.

Jumpy Ghostface Bento Ingredients:
Dill Pickles
Watermelon
Seitan Tonkatsu
Raw Kale
Split Green Beans
Brown & White Rice
Rice Cheese
Nori

Cow and Chicken Bento (Bring Back the Bento #1)

This was actually of my most fun and favorite bentos to make, I even included the red guy who follows them around! If you've never seen "Cow and Chicken", a cartoon from the late 90's - don't fret, you can still learn about it here. Originally I was going to have 'The Red Guy' on a tofu salad sandwich with cherry tomatoes, but we had pumpernickel bread and only strawberries in the house, still resulting in a comical piece with his tail hanging out over his "strawberries". Cow and Chicken, meanwhile look a bit more dazed and simple than usual.

I've also started a new bento segment titled "Bring Back the Bento" where I, and any willing participants make bentos from our childhoods. What do you think?

Cow and Chicken Bento Ingredients:
Blackberries
Broccoli
Bean Sprouts
Sweet Peas
Cilantro
Blueberries
Yellow Bell Pepper
Strawberries
Whole Wheat PB & SJ sandwiches
Pumpernickel and Peanut Butter Sandwich
Whole Wheat Tortilla
Rice Cheese

I hope that you like it! ^^

Coraline "The Other Mother" Soboro Bento

Hi again guys! I promise that I haven't abandoned you, but I've been working extra hard with volunteering for charities, making up some surprises (for you guys!) and cooking. But when I could crawl away from the self-beatings and trekked the desert of tiredness I was able to snag a few pictures and recipes down for you guys. I hope that you can forgive me for not having the greatest carving or nori art here but I was really smart with this idea. Notice her sweater? Yep, that's a little piece of apple that had been exposed to the air for about four hours...I dunked it in a little rice vinegar to keep it from becoming gross but allowed enough air to hit it to make the sweater look "knitted".

Coraline #2 Bento Ingredient List:

Soft Tortilla

Nori

Jamaican-style Soboro

Black Rice

Radishes

Carrots,

Jalapenos

Tomatoes

Cauliflower

Apple Slice w/ Rice Vinegar

Cilantro

To make the soboro all you have to do is add your favorite crumbles (or lentils, or beans, ect) and combine them with chopped onion, peas, allspice, curry powder, sliced cabbage, black pepper, minced garlic, carrots, water and cinnamon until it has all come together and it is no longer liquidy. Let cool and then place in your bento to enjoy!

Mickey and Minnie Valentine's Bento

This is my retro version of Mickie and Minnie for my bento on Monday (I made it Sunday night). I think its one of my cutest and most simple bentos - the meatloaf made this one especially filling and had little crunchy and chewy bits of roasted cauliflower rounds and leaves. It was absolutely delicious and I fell in /love/ with it! You'll also notice the cloves and heart shapes that I've carved into the apple which are supposed to represent the saying "When one door closes, another door opens.".

Mickey and Minnie Bento Ingredients:

Roasted Cauliflower Stem and Pressed Leaves

Roasted Potatoes

Chickpea Meatloaf with Spaghetti Sauce

Apple with Lemon Juice and Cloves

Broccoli

Carrots

Radish Slices

Spinach

I hope you enjoy! ^^



Barn Animals Bento

I think that I'm an okay bento artist - but I know (and I know that you know) that I'm a horrible photographer most of the time. I think that this picture was taken at night with a closeup, so that bit isn't entirely my fault. But the bento was still delicious and I was able to use the basic furikake that I love on these tofu sticks. So I hope you can look over that and enjoy the rest. ^^

Barn Animal Bento Ingredients:
Brown Rice
Sticky Rice
Tofu Sticks (baked with furikake)
Nori
Parsley
Radishes (some used for pig)
Roasted Bok Choy
Beet Juice
Uncooked Spaghetti (for pig ears)

I hope that you guys like it!

Happy New Years Rilakkuma & Friends Bento

This is the cutest (and healthiest) bento that I've ever made! I was going to make the little chicken out of the rice or the falafel, but decided that the two bears were just right (get it?) for this bento. Surrounding everything I have lots of fresh "foraging space",  wild strawberries, fresh water, cashews and lots of other delicious things that a growing bear needs.

Bento Ingredient List:

Italian Parsley

Brown Rice

Sticky Rice (with Soy Sauce)

Carrots

Wasabi Peas

Strawberries, Carrots, Raw Radishes and Parsnips

Cashews

Nori

Soy Cheese

Uncooked Spaghetti Noodles (to hold up ears)

Mini-Bottled Water (fake Sake)

Falafel

I hope that you found this bento to be just as adorable and delicious looking as I did!

Mordecai The Bluejay Bento

Yes - it's another member of the "Regular Show" Gang, Mordecai! He's surrounded by delicious food, but this time he IS the food. Don't worry though, Mordecai made it out of this dastardly bento - and into my mouth.

Ingredient List:



Sticky Rice
Vegan Tempura (Wasabi Tofu)
Carrots
Steamed Tofu
Black Bean Balls
Nori
Radish
Parsley

Wasabi Tofu Recipe:
1/4 Package of Extra-Firm Tofu
1/2-1 tsp Wasabi Paste
Enough Rice Flour (Mochiko) for Coating and Pasting
Water for the Paste
Vegetable Oil
Salt to Taste


Slice your tofu through the the middle and again into thick "steak fry" pieces. Press the tofu until as dry as possible and then roll it in some of the rice flour. Meanwhile, take a pair of chopsticks and mix your wasabi in a bowl with the rice flour. Once fully incorporated and a bit lumpy, stream in the water until it's a thick paste. Place your floured tofu into the mixture, coat it, roll it in the flour and place it back into the paste. Fry them off for about 30-45 seconds on each side or until crisp, then bake them off in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes. After that you can lower the heat to 200 degrees after you've prepared the rest of the bento. Be prepared to see a lot more of the gang soon.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Sci-Fighters Themed Bento

Using my favorite character, Skip, from one of my favorite games on newgrounds, I decided to come up with a bento. Also - the game is made by one of my favorite groups, The-Super-Flash-Bros. Obviously this isn't the healthiest of bentos (or the most awesome) but I'm just experimenting right now so this won't be a total constant. I used the vegan kamaboko as well as the vegan egg sheets - aren't I awesome?

Sci-Fighters Ingredient List:
1 Green "Egg" Sheet (oval)
1 smaller Soy Sauce "Egg Sheet" (also oval)
3 small pieces of "Kamaboko"
1 Large Radish (cut into long fourths for the antenna and eyes)
Nori
Cheddar-Style Tofutti
Turmeric + Water (around the edges)
Spinach (underneath the egg sheets)
Sticky Rice


Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Here Doggy Doggy!

This isn't a bento but it can be easily modified to be placed into a cupcake tin for a bento. It's a vegan egg from this recipe with sriracha and plenty of veggies on the bottom. The trick is to fill about 3/4 of the holder with vegetables and just to allow enough brown rice to cover a bit of the bottom of the "egg". I used the cheap (clean) egg used for pantyhose to make this so that I didn't have to cut anything in half. Then I added some sticky rice mixed with soy sauce around the edge to make it softer and more of a mound shape. Then I added some sliced spinach and spring onion. It looks kind of like something from the Yum-Yum Bento Box by Crystal Watanabe and Maki Ogawa doesn't it?
Obviously not as cute - but it's a first and unique try.
Dog Bento Ingredients:
Soy Sauce
Vegan Egg + Yolk
Nori
Sriracha
Spinach
Spring Onion
Brown Rice
Sticky Rice
Your choice of vegetables

Construct as you like and enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Princess Mononoke Bento

I wanted to make this bento very simple as my bentos are (mostly) already natural. I used some leftover black bean chili that I had for last night's dinner and a bit of white rice with some vegetables (I also had a seperate veggie platter). The "H" is made out of a nori and it stands for both Hime (princess) and Hayao Miyazaki. The recipe is a bit different than what I did because I just mixed corn meal (sub rice flour) with chili.

Black Bean Burger Recipe:
1/4 cup of Cooked Black Beans + Juice
1 Jumbo Garlic Clove (minced and cooked)
1/4 Small Onion (minced and cooked)
1/2 Green Bell Pepper (minced)
Cumin, pepper, salt and chili powder to taste
Cornstarch or other thickener mixed + water (depending on your allergies)
Corn Meal or Rice flour (enough to make a paste)

Mix the ingredients together until they create a paste and then lightly oil or spray your cooking pan. Place the mixture in the pan and then cover it with a top until the bottom has cooked, flip it and then repeat until it has cooked to your liking. Add it on top of rice colored with chlorophyll and brocolli then create your kodama onigiri.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

A Day In The Garden Kyaraben

This was a simple bento full of fresh fruit that I ate for breakfast but it's perfect at any time! I used more lightlife sausage in this one and combined it with some cracked red pepper and agave nectar. I covered the cheeks with some sriracha and cut out some nori for the facial features. To top it off I made a sweet potato pancake hat and some chocolate potato hair. Tasty, right?

Pancake Recipe:
"It's Pancake Time" recipe + Mashed Sweet Potato (for the hat)
Pancake Recipe + Cocoa Powder


Prepare them the same way but make sure that they're like regular pancakes, flatten them a bit more if you can, cut in half and make one with an edge for the brim of the hat. Attach them to some a sausage ball of your choice (that had been coated with panko) with some raw soba or rice noodles. Cut out the nori and cheese and dot on the sauce.

Next, make your omelette (I used beet juice instead of soymilk) per the directions of the fatfree vegan recipe (not mine) located here.

Line the bottom of the box with some spinach and put in your favorite fruits and vegetables. If you like, you can attach a small strawberry or a slice of a banana to the pancake hat to make a cute little flower.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Silly Raccoon

I'm in love with J.G Quintel, or moreso - his works (and hair) and wanted to show off some things totally inspired by him. This bento features a nice little healthy surprise for Rigby the Raccoon when he tries to get off of his diet. The little rascal thinks that he can eat all of the "french fries" in the bento and get away with no fruits or  vegetables. I'm sorry to say tell him that this is a healthy vegan lunch box.

Rigby's Body:

California Brown Rice (I used a different type, but this works much better)

Nori

Sticky Rice + Soy Sauce (for color)

Steamed Tofu

Make Rigby's body anyway you want to after fluffing the rice. Wrap it up into plastic wrap and with the back of a spoon, drag a dugout for Rigby's stomach. Place the packaged rice into the fridge for about five minutes and steam the white rice. After steaming your sticky rice and mixing it lightly with some good quality soy sauce, unwrap the brown rice package and pack the other rice onto it. Add a pointy nose out of brown rice and stick some nori onto it with a touch of water. Place the hair around Rigby's head, place thin strips of nori there for hair follicles and then place rounds of nori onto Rigby's face. Cut out smaller rounds of tofu and place them onto the nori, then place some nori eyes onto his face. Add a tail and an arm and do whatever els you like with it.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3