Today’s lunch is pretty simple. The kidlet loves Bakugan. It’s a game, a cartoon, and physical toys from Japan that is a bit of a craze in the elementary school set.  He doesn’t know how to play the game. He just came home from preschool one day knowing what they are and wanting to get some of the little figures. They are golf ball sized plastic and metal magnetic balls that unfold like a transformer into some creation, which is then the “brawler” for the battle between two players. Well, there is no way I could do a true bakugan bento. I am sure one of the amazing bento artists that can create elaborate nori designs and convoluted rice shapes to display perfect likenesses and landscapes could pull off a crazy looking creature like a bakugan, but not I. So instead I included the symbol of one of the bakugan “attributes” (don’t ask me to explain it, I can’t, but the kidlet would recognize it).
Since anything “cutesy” would be contrary to the whole bakugan thing, I kept the rest simple. Lil’Smokies, Broccoli, Carrot, Cauliflower, Sweet Potato, Pretzel and Cheddar Goldfish Crackers, Cantaloupe stars and a plum hidden under the Pyrus cheese. I took a babybell cheese, and carved away some of the wax to make the bakugan symbol. Sadly, babybel doesn’t make green, blue, gray, black or brown waxed cheeses; it will take some creativity to do the rest of them!
I think it came out pretty close. The knife slipped and I ended up makign my center point too short, but really, I’m sure its close enough to be recognizeable, and presumably he won’t have the symbol there to compare the two 😉
Total time was under 20 minutes. I braised the lil smokies in sauce (they are all bumpy out of the package, and cooking them in a little liquid plumps them back into shape and helps the flavor as well), and microsteamed the cauliflower and broccoli. While those were cooling I got everything else ready and then assembled.
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