One person's trash is another's treasure

I love checking out Craigslist for used furniture. One lucky day I found an old dresser for free on Craigslist and I asked my husband to immediately fetch it for me. It was not in the best of condition. It was very dirty, old, and had no drawer knobs. However despite all of this I saw real potential and decided to keep it.

I love the curved lines and details. I also prefer old furniture because they usually don't have nails. 

I cleaned and sanded the dresser and then painted it green. I bought drawer knobs from an Anthropologie store and voilà, here is the renewed dresser!

I love saving furniture. I use it to store candles, table cloths, glass jars, etc. I also add candles, flowers, photo frames on top as a decorative touch.

One person's trash is another's treasure. 

Lunch boxes (September 26 ~ 30)

Kamaboko Donburi Bento

Kamaboko and mixed vegetables,
cook in a Japanese sweet broth (soy sauce, sugar, mirin),

add eggs at the end and finish cooking.

Pour over warm rice.

Halloween is coming Bento

It's hard to believe that this was the last week of September. Next month is Halloween and it's my daughter's favorite time of the year. I made chicken karage (Japanese chicken nuggets) stuck with toothpicks, wrapped with foil, and tied with Halloween themed ribbons. Cheese cut like ghosts and bats decorated with seaweed added some scare. Ketchup rice with bacon and mixed vegetables along with broccoli and grapes rounded out the food pyramid.



Anpanman Bento

Anpanman is a hugely popular cartoon charactor in Japan, he will be known by any Japanese child.

I have a bread machine and so I made this Anpanman red bean bread for my daugheter's lunch. Look at those cheeks!

I also made a simple roll bread made into a fish sandwich with baked Trader Joe's frozen fish nuggets with ketchup and mayo sauce. Yum.

I wrapped these homemade breads individually. I added grapes and cheese in a white paper bag with my own artistic touch.

Teddy Bear Bento

I made this for 2nd time. Everyone loves a bear!



Yaki Udon Bento

Stir fried Japanese udon noodle with pork and vegetables in a mentsuyu sauce.