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Bento Lunches

bderby

bderby

No, I will not tell you what "merde" means!
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Jul 11, 2009
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So, the other thread about school lunches got me to thinking about bento lunches. I think they sound really cool. Anyone here do them and what are the must have products?
 
We do bentos!

The boys have the "laptop lunchboxes" (jessica has one too, but uses a diff system).

Jessica we use various little containers... i esp love the metal tins we use from Kids Konserve.

I think i did a post about bentos on my blog at some point. i'll try to find the link.

HERE it is... well it's about lunchboxes.

xo
 
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i use a planetbox for audrey ... she loves it. we also have a bunch of traditional bento stuff, but the planetbox is easier for her to get in and out of/keep clean/etc ... i will put some of the traditional bento stuff in it (dividers, picks, etc) to make it more fun.

usually i have a section for 1) protein/sandwich 2) fruit 3) veggie 4) pretzel/goldfish/etc ... i looked for a picture and here's one from earlier this month ...

audreys-lunch.jpg


i must have been out of carrots/broccoli that day b/c usually she gets that too :)
 
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can i be the clueless one in the group here? i have ZERO idea what a bento lunch is. can anyone explain?
 
RebeccaH said:
can i be the clueless one in the group here? i have ZERO idea what a bento lunch is. can anyone explain?
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Bento is a Japanese term, really a custom and art form there. Moms put sushi, rice, veggies, quail eggs, etc into decorative containers called Bento boxes. Here's a more traditional one:

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The concept has been hijacked by Americans as a fun way to serve healthy lunches with a variety of foods.
 
To get a really good idea of the variety of lunches that are covered by Bento, go to flickr and search under bento. Lots of yummy eye candy! Warning: You will think you have to do this for your kids...and then you will spend a fortune on adorable containers and cutters! LOL
 
lmccandless said:
Warning: You will think you have to do this for your kids...and then you will spend a fortune on adorable containers and cutters! LOL
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see, this is what I want to avoid :)
I want to do cute little lunches, b/c I think it is fun and a more healthy alternative and I think they might eat more healthy stuff if given to them in small portions, but I don't want to go broke preparing their lunches!
 
i got all my bento stuff from ichiban kan - unfortunately they closed their online store a few years ago - it was SO inexpensive! they still have some shops in CA, though, if you know anyone living near one you can get some goodies for cheap :)

http://www.ichibankanusa.com/home.html
 
*lol* you guys are gonna laugh at me, but i do this all the time, i just don't use fancy shmancy boxes. i use the ziploc disposable containers (that i reuse instead of dispose) that is sectioned into three compartments. works like a charm. my kids call them mom-made lunchables because it usually has cheese and turkey and fruit, etc.

i guess i could look into fancying it up a bit. :giggle
 
bderby said:
see, this is what I want to avoid :)
I want to do cute little lunches, b/c I think it is fun and a more healthy alternative and I think they might eat more healthy stuff if given to them in small portions, but I don't want to go broke preparing their lunches!
Click to expand...

i find it mks it EASIER to mk their lunches, cuz i know i need to fill x # of spots... ours are usually: fruit/veg/sandwich(or other main)/snack
 
I've been looking at this one but am worried that my son will open it sideways or won't be able to open or close it properly. How old is your daughter? My son is 6 and still has trouble with the typical lock type Tupperware containers. He can open them but not close them.

Dana said:
i use a planetbox for audrey ... she loves it. we also have a bunch of traditional bento stuff, but the planetbox is easier for her to get in and out of/keep clean/etc ... i will put some of the traditional bento stuff in it (dividers, picks, etc) to make it more fun.

usually i have a section for 1) protein/sandwich 2) fruit 3) veggie 4) pretzel/goldfish/etc ... i looked for a picture and here's one from earlier this month ...

audreys-lunch.jpg


i must have been out of carrots/broccoli that day b/c usually she gets that too :)
Click to expand...
 
audrey is 4 - the planetbox is MUCH easier than tupperware! it just has one metal clip in the front that is secure, but not too difficult to open/shut. she has no problem with this - but i don't think she'd be able to do tupperware by herself. HTH!
 
bderby said:
see, this is what I want to avoid :)
I want to do cute little lunches, b/c I think it is fun and a more healthy alternative and I think they might eat more healthy stuff if given to them in small portions, but I don't want to go broke preparing their lunches!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just spent a small fortune on Amazon! heehee I just couldn't resist!! This stuff is soooo adorable! I have several "themes" planned out...Noah's Ark; Lions, Tigers and Bears, Dog-Gone Cute, Frog Prince, Chicken Little...and then of course there are the holiday themes. :) (Yeah. I have no life. LOL!) I wish that this would have been around when I was kid!! Lunch would have been so much more fun!
 
we have planet box's for our kids and they work great. no spilling, easy to get in and out of, no mixing of food... even if you don't got bento crazy, they're still great lunchboxes.

we've done lots of bento stuff, too - got most supplies from HERE. super cute stuff, great prices and super fast shipping.

where's Kristin - i'll point her this direction - she's also done a lot of really fun bento stuff.
 
I wanted to do all the cutie pie holders for my daughter's lunches but she's bad at bringing home things... we started the school year with 12 really cute reusable sporks - ended the year with 0!
We started using the silicone cupcake holders in our lunch box... they are bendable and actually held up against my 7 year old this past school year... I did find tulip shaped ones on clearance last year at Sur La Table that were perfect for fruit & fruit cups! :) we actually didn't lose any of these! :)

holders.jpg
 
I love bento lunches! When we lived in Japan I got hooked on the supplies. It's very interesting, really, they have a certain amount of each type of food that they put in, i.e. 200 g of rice. And they make bento boxes sized appropriately to who will be eating it. A man's bento box is larger than a woman's, etc.

My boys are too young for lunch at school but we use our supplies all the time in the summer for trips to the beach and park. We obviously don't stick to any real bento guidelines!:)
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And because we all have so much time on our hands to prepare lunches, did you see this on pintrest?

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Sorry for the HUGE pics!
 
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nicole i DID see those on pinterest. but how funny, when I saw them, I thought, "Who on earth would take the time to do that before feeding their kid?"
See, I think creativity just doesn't cross over for me into the 'feed the kids' area. :giggle
those are some adorable sandwiches though!
 
OK, I have to share these because my kids love them...and well, they have a frog that looks somewhat like our resident Bartholomew!
You get the effect of the cuteness without much extra time/work. You can find these at Amazon under Lunch Punch.

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