Little Miss Bento

I have made similar carnation flowers Mother’s Day bento before, in fact one year ago for my mother. 

The two things I did different was to create a larger carnation flower. I used two farfelle pasta (instead of one) to make one carnation flower. The end result was wonderful! I think the flower looks even more real! :) happy~

I also used vegetables (beet) to naturally color the pasta, so no food colorings were used! I think you would want to make a healthy natural bento for your mummy, so I think this would be perfect for Mother’s Day!

Wanted to share this super easy bento tutorial so you can also make this simple yet beautiful Mother’s Day Bento.

The side dishes for this Mother’s Day bento included minced meat patties, sauteed vegetables, lettuce and strawberries. 

日曜日は母の日ですね。今度母の日のキャラ弁作り方を紹介しました。可愛いカーネーションの花一緒に作りましょう〜〜レシピお読みください

母の日のキャラ弁のおかず：ひき肉パテ、野菜のソテー、イチゴ、レタス。

Bento Tutorial – Carnation Flowers Using Pasta for Mother’s Day Bento

Ingredients 
- beet 90-100g (also known as beetroot)
- water approx 400~450ml
- farfalle pasta 4 pcs (4 pcs makes 2 flowers)
- thin french beans

Method
1. Peel and cut beet. The peeling and cutting enables the colors to be released into the water later. I cut it into small cubes and diced it finely in a processor. You can also grate it finely if you do not own a processor. 
2. Place the beet pulp in about 400ml of water, bring to boil for few seconds and turn off the heat. Sieve to remove the beet pulp. You will have a lovely purple colored water. Beet can be eaten raw, so you need not boil very long. 

3. Boil two pieces of farfelle pasta in the water from step 2 for about 7 mins. Sieve out the cooked pasta.
4. Boil remaining two pieces of farfelle pasta in the same water from step 3 for about 7 mins. Sieve out the cooked pasta.
Note: Interesting observation, during the boiling process, I noticed that the purplish beet water gradually changed to a redder tone, and it lightened as well. So I tried using the same liquid and boiling again, achieving a much lighter, and slightly redder color tone for the pasta pieces. I thought it is quite lovely to actually have slightly different colors for the 2 carnation flowers. 
5. Halve the pasta pieces. Stack 4 pieces of the pasta together to make one flower as shown in the picture. Repeat to make the second carnation flower. 
6. Cut the french peas to form the stalk of the flowers.