Fabulous Food Friday

Wow! It has been ages since I have done a Fabulous Food Friday feature. This one has been in the works for a while. I have been super excited to show you the new bento lunch boxes Andy brought back from Japan...I haven't had much luck finding them locally (except online) and I am so glad I asked him to look for some, cause he (and Taly) found some great ones.

He also brought back some rice molds, dividers and picks to add to my growing bento collection:

Rice molds, sandwich cutters (found at Target and Uwajimaya) and lots of fun containers

Sauce containers and fun food picks

Since Natalie is really the only one who currently takes a lunch to school, she was treated to some fun lunches lately. She wanted me to leave all the labels and stickers on the boxes so all her friends could see that they came from Japan!

Here are my first attempts at bento lunch making:

Carrots and cheese and mini peanut butter and honey sandwiches cut like little flowers, rice with soy sauce.

This bento contains a hard-boiled egg, whole wheat tortillas, humus, carrots and strawberries

Here we have a rice bunny with a carrot nose, edamamme, apple slices and cottage cheese with a cherry on top
This one has a sticky rice ball with nori face and carrot nose and strawberry hat with edamamme, whole wheat Ritz crackers, cheese and pepperoni slices.

Although I am having tons of fun with these lunch ideas, I am really feeling good about the food she is eating. Not just pb&j all day every day...no convenience/processed food either...it's all healthy food.

One of my favorite things about this type of lunch is the fact that I am not using one single disposable lunch bag. I hate the thought of all that plastic wasted every day. I also have stopped putting juice boxes in their lunches. If you think about it, that is not only more expensive to purchase, but it really adds up to more garbage. It really hit me this year as I have been around the school more and seen how much really gets thrown out. Fortunately, Natalie's school has an amazing recycling program, but I feel better knowing I am not contributing to all the garbage...just wash and use over again!

Fabulous Food Friday

What's for Lunch?

Part III

...BENTO!!!

What is a bento lunch? It's my latest obsession!!! This past year, I have discovered the art of bento lunch making...I have not yet attempted one, but they really intrigue me and as soon as I am over my cold I plan to make a trip to Uwajimaya.

According to Wikipedia...

Bentō (弁当 or べんとう, Bentō) is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables as a side dish. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware. While bento are readily available at convenience stores and bento shops (弁当屋, bentō-ya) throughout Japan, it is still considered an essential skill of a Japanese housewife to be able to prepare an appealing boxed lunch.

Bento can be very elaborate, aesthetically pleasing cuisine arrangements. Often the food is arranged in such a way as to resemble other objects: dolls, flowers, leaves, and so forth.

There are many reasons to like bento (enviro-friendly reusable containers, healthy homemade meals, creative culinary outlet), but when I saw these Hello Kitty bento lunches, I was amazed. Funny thing is I actually own a Hello Kitty rice mold. I bought it when Natalie was little for using as a jello mold. I had NO idea...now where did I put that?




Here are some of the most elaborate Bento lunches I have ever seen. While I can appreciate the art form that is "molded" rice, I'm not sure I will ever go this far! But is sure is neat...




Are you thinking to yourself..."Now that is rediculous...who would spend the time making such elaborate meals for a school child?"

Not me, but in Japan it is a great honor to make such a carefully crafted meal for your child. I think I am more likely to create some of the bentos shown at the top of this post, but these other lunches sure would earn you the "Mother of the Year Award" at our school!

Okay now let's talk about all the fun stuff...Bento accessories: I found all these items on ebay...haven't bought any yet. I'll have to see what I can come up with from my trip to Uwajimaya.

Sauce Containers: Too sinkin' cute!

The monkey container is for peanut butter or any other thick sauce, dip or spread. It comes with a banana handled spoon for spreading...the others are used for soy sauce or salad dressing. Isn't that cherry one so cute!

Food Dividers

These are used to prevent food from touching/leaking on to the rest of the meal. Paper cupcake containers can be used, but part of the idea behind bento lunches is to eliminate disposable waste (see footnote below)**, so I may try our silicon cupcake liners.

Punches and rice molds

Paper punches are used to cut the nori (dried seaweed) which can be used to "decorate" your food. The other photo shows some examples of rice molds.


**Much of the trash we generate comes from the packaging on the food we buy, and lunch foods are no exception. In fact, it has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school.


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Here are some resources that may be helpful if you are interested in creating your own bento lunch.

Bento lunches, Lunch in a Box, Bento boxes and accessories, Laptop Lunches, Cooking Cute
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