Hello Kitty Happy Girl?s Day Bento

First of all, Happy Girl’s Day to all the ladies and little ladies out there! This morning, I showered Baby Girl with tons of little pink snacks and goodies for her to eat over the course of the next couple of weeks as school snacks (combo from me and Grandma J), along with a pinwheel and a cute card Aunty C sent to both of us this week. I also gave Buddy snacks, as I can’t bring myself to just be like, “Sorry, it’s Girl’s Day and you’re not a girl!”

Tonight I’ll be making a special meal for us to eat, shrimp tempura! Mmmm!

Today I made a Girl’s Day bento with Hello Kitty in a pink kimono, surrounded by carrot sakura blossoms. I packed it in my Girl’s Day gift to myself, that totally snazzy Zojirushi purse bento box (Update: this is now sold out! Pink still available.) from J-List. Although I have some really great boxes in my massive collection, including three other Zojirushi thermal sets, but this one with the bag takes the cake. I mean, seriously, it comes with a freaking purse!

It’s a whopping $45, but if you had to pick between this and the Ms. Bento, which costs $43 on Amazon, you know you’d want to spend just a little extra for the shipping and get this one. I bought it with my J-List credit, so it didn’t hurt quite as much, but I still think it’s almost like a status symbol to have one of these. Plus, the metallic pink thermal jar is so cute. ; ;

I rode my bike with it hanging from my arm. It’s got an adorable pink bead charm on it and heart zipper tassles.

To show you guys how I made her, here’s a little tutorial image:

I cut out her head with one of my Hello Kitty vegetable cutters. Every bento shopping store I looked at last night doesn’t have this in stock, but I did find one on eBay. The little green flower cutter I used for her hands and feet is from this Wilton Floral Cutter Set. I used fish sausage for the light pink stuff and kamaboko for the white and bright pink parts. Her face and kimono pattern are cut from nori and her nose made from takuan cut with a coffee straw.

For her eyes and kimono flowers, I used my Emoji punch. I’ve seen this at Marukai Ward, but everywhere online looks to be out of stock.

I put in about 3/4 cup of white rice in one container, and then topped it with a fresh shiso leaf that I picked from my shiso plant in the garden. This is SO much better than buying a pack of shiso leaves and finding it in the back of my fridge a month later… I put Hello Kitty on top and then added sakura carrot slices around her.

In the other tier, I have some imitation crab, corn on the cob, broccoli, wild tomato, and carrot sticks. I used more of that deco tape to make a toothpick flag. In the thermal container I put some cold strawberries in the hopes that they’ll still be nice and firm and cool when I eat lunch. ^_^

Total points: 7 (4 for the rice, 1 for the crab, 1 for the corn, and 1 for Hello Kitty)

Weight: 144.6 lbs

I’m back on the weight loss track that I messed up over the weekend! If only I hadn’t traded in my reusable bag card for the bag of free cashews… I mean, don’t get me wrong, nuts are very nutritious and good for you. However, eating like five handfuls in a sitting isn’t, and that’s the kind of cashew eater I am…