Annie put this together herself. I made the Onigiri but she is learning. So the Onigiri are rice balls seasoned with Furikake (mixed seasonings, this one hade seaweed, fish flakes, salt & pepper, and some other seasonings but those were the most prevalent.) and surrounded by chocotrees. I'm curious how those will taste being so close to each other. The other container has a green tea mochi treat, a slice of ham (I told her she needed to have some sort of protein), a wedge of cheese, some kiwi, and finally, a handful of raisins. The little container on the side has more furikake seasoning for extra flavor and crunch. Way to go Annie and this allowed me to watch Downton Abbey!! Yay!

The Nisse are pleased with these vittles. Grapes, sugar snap peas, and cherry tomatoes on the left with smoked salmon, the last of the kamaboko, and a lussekatter bun to round it out. Tomorrow is the last day before break and I've got one little Nissa home with an upset tummy. Hopefully she'll be back at it soon.

The Nisse are trying to filch Annie's lunch today. They want her chocolate trees and mushrooms, her cheesy soldiers and snow. They are dangerously close to her kamaboko fish in the middle and are partial to the dill marinated cucumbers, pickles, and cheesy tree. Christmas is close and that always makes the Nisse hungry but still happy little nuts!

It's been a month full of celebrations with lots more to come! I've been making bentos but not posting. I admit, its because I've used most of my online time to look for present ideas. Also, after last Friday, I was distracted by a gamut of emotions surrounding the great tragedy. But here I am tonight, snuggled in with the baby (can you call a two year old a baby anymore?) and done with my online window shopping. As I looked through my pictures, I found a few bentos from the past few weeks and figured, it's about time! Most of these are accompanying bentos, meaning I included a thermos of this, that, and the other thing. Two pictures are nearly the same except that one shows the this, that, and the other thing as a homemade burrito wrapped in foil, sometimes I do that with chicken too. I'm going to come back later and give more details but here's a few of the unusual things in these - gjetost cheese, pickled herring, lussekatter (lucia buns), mini apples, and cream cheese stuffed cherry tomatoes just to name some. So anyway, here they are:

For dinner I made an inside put cottage pie, which means I was too late to put the fixings in a casserole dish and in the oven so I served them separately. The filling is just burger, onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and frozen green beans. I added some chipotle but only a little for flavor or the kids veto the whole thing. Not much more for seasoning besides pepper and salt. It was pretty good and very much a comfort food. That goes with the garlic mashed potatoes which are holding the two carrot green bean flowers. In the top tier is a container of chocolate "mushrooms" and a container of raisins/dried cranberries surrounded by pretzel bites and apple cinnamon snackers (I don't remember their real name). And that's it for the week! Nissa opted for hot lunch for all of December so I'm back to single bentos for a bit. Easier or not easier, that is the question... I cannot yet answer.

So these aren't really mini bao (bun) which, if they were, would have more of a bread dough around the filling. These have a dumpling wrapper around the filling in the shape of a little bao. So they are more of a bao shaped dumpling but the girls loved them anyway. In Annie's on the left, she has some mini carrot heart garnishes, a middle tier of kiwi and raspberries, and a top tier of carrot flowers and some fresh peas. Nissa's on the left is the same ingredients but with a different layout and fewer carrots.

It's after Thanksgiving so I can use Christmas colors without guilt! Who am I kidding, I'd use them anyway. With Norby's coaching, I made my first noodle stir fry. I'm always shaky on the sauce and seasoning but it worked and it was yum! So that's what the girls get for lunch. A vegetable noodle stir fry seasoned with oyster, soy, and fish sauce as well as some rice vinegar. See, on my own I would never mix all those things but Norby helped and it was just right. On top of the stir fry and in the middle tier are pieces if kamaboko (surimi pressed into a log like shape). On top of the surimi are some fresh peas and the top tier has kiwi slices with raspberries. Christmas here we come!