Since I love to surf the 'net and check out other bento blogs, websites and Flickr streams, I figured I should make a repository of links to some of the many things I'd like to try in/with my bentos.

Recipes

Dessert sushi
Frozen banana rolls (TRIED 9/5: They are super-yummy! And I don't normally like bananas)
Pan-fried lemon chicken nuggets
Shrimp and green onion fritters
Omuraisu (Japanese rice omelet) (TRIED 9/11: Very good! Almost like I remember from Korea)
Gyoza "sandwiches" and mini-pies
Stovetop mini-fritattas and ketchup yaki onigiri
Quick and Easy Mini Stromboli
Chicken Katsu (TRIED 9/11: OMG YUM! These were so tasty!)
Pumpkin Miso Mini-muffins

Tips
Organizing Bento Accessories
Everyday Bento ~ Finding Accessories in Your Town

I'll be adding more as I find them :)

Since my last couple of bentos were paticularly uninspired, I decided to go a bit fancier with this one. I'm starting to really like the one-tier boxes better because there is so much more room to work with and I can fit things under the lid better.

Monday's bento was just thrown together, so I didn't take a pic. I'm trying not to lose my bento motivation. I'm going to try to post something here everyday...even if it's not bento pics just so I don't feel like I have to make a picture-worthy bento every day.

Contents: Ramen noodles w/furikake, shrimp & edamame shaomai, baby corn, baby carrots, and yakgwa cookie.

No bento on Tuesday because I had a migraine Monday night and went to bed early...then didn't have time in the morning to toss something together.

Today's bento is fun and exciting however. I took pics, but haven't had a chance to post them yet. A new entry will be posted this evening with pics. I got to try out some of my new goodies. Yay!

Thanks to Vanessa's teacher, I found a store that sold mooncakes! They had a pretty decent variety, though they didn't have any individual ones...they were all in gift boxes. So I snagged the cheapest one they had...8 for $12.99. If we weren't so broke, I would've gotten one of the more expensive ones because these were just a little disappointing. For one thing, they were rather small compared to what size I though they'd be and, most of all, they were very plain. I had been looking forward to the ornately-embossed ones. Ah well...as you can see from the pics, I went ahead and ate one. It was ooohhh so yummy! The crust was very flaky...it practically fell apart when I cut into the cake...and the filling was lotus seed paste with salted duck egg yolks. I can't even describe the taste because it was like nothing I'd ever had before...slightly sweet with a bit of saltiness from the egg yolk.

EDITED to add that apparently the box I got is a mix because the mooncake I ate last night had red bean paste, not lotus seed. I like the lotus seed better...it has a more delicate flavor to it.

Tomorrow's lunch bento is essentially a copy of what I just had for dinner tonight. I don't mind eating it more than once if it's as yummy as this was. :) The layout is kind of boring, I will admit...but I really didn't feel like jazzing it up much today. The only difference between dinner and lunch is the Lychee Coconut Jelly that I'd forgotten I had. It was given to Munchkin, along with a few other oriental snacks about a month back when her preschool was doing an "Around the World" theme for the week. Her teacher is Chinese, so she gave them goodie bags of Chinese snacks and little toys. Ooo....that makes me realize that I could probably ask the teacher where to buy moon cakes. I'll have to remember that tomorrow when I drop Munchkin off.

I stopped by the Oriental market today, hoping to pick up a moon cake or two for the upcoming Moon Festival, but alas, I guess Korean-owned markets don't carry them, because there was not a one to be found. :( I did, however, pick up a few other yummy items...panko, frozen mixed seafood, shrimp and edamame gyoza, and some "traditional Korean cookies" (which, after a bit of research, I have found are yakgwa).

The panko was for making chicken katsu...which I jumped right in and made for dinner this evening. OMG...it was sooo good!! The panko just makes it...it gives it such a different texture than regular bread crumbs. I normally do not like making anything fried, but this was super-yummy. The recipe I used was from JustBento (even though the link in my "Bento Things to Try" is for the recipe at CookingCute...I might try that one next time) because it was simpler. I figured I'd try it first, then add more seasonings if I felt like it. I also whipped up some simple tonkatsu sauce with ketchup and worchestershire sauce. I'm not sure if I got it right because it's been ages since I've had real tonkatsu sauce...but it was good.

The omuraisu recipe is from JustBento and was very good....even though it probably would have been better fresh instead of having been refrigerated and reheated in the microwave at lunch. I'll have to try again one day when I can eat it fresh because it tastes like it would be the next best thing to the omelets I absolutely loved when I was in Korea.

A fun little meme from Very Good Taste.

The Omnivore’s Hundred

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten. (The ones I love are in red, the ones I don't like are crossed out)
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at Very Good Taste linking to your results.

So, here I present…

Raven's Omnivore’s Hundred

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (Haven't actually had steak tartare, but a Korean version called yukhoe...yummy!.)
5. Crocodile (Does alligator count?)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (There's a winery right down the road that makes the most fabulous apple wine. Plus, an ex-bf of mine made some very yummy homemade chokecherry wine...mmmm.)
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream (I'm not a fan of pistachios)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (we have wild strawberries growing in our yard)
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (Please, a cigar is not food...ditto)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (had a $60 one though...an ex-bf was into scotch)
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (??? - the only reference I can find to this is a type of clay)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (All of the above…yyuummmm)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (not knowingly...but that squid jerky they sold from those little carts in Korea sure looked like it could've been)
76. Baijiu (I've had the Korean version, sujo)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

63%....not bad, but not as high as I thought it would be. However, there are a few adventurous things I have eaten that are not on this list...mainly when I was stationed in Korea.

Munchkin's preschool is having show 'n' tell tomorrow where they have to bring something that is yellow, square, or begins with a "b". We decided that her square fairy bento box would be ideal. So...being that I have to show off just a little ;), I planned out a nice snack box for her, using the some of the cute accessories I got in today. Since the preschool provides food, I deicded against doing a full lunch-type bento and opted instead for just a few little snack items that she could share.