School Lunches
August 20th, 2008 by Simone
I’ve discovered a craft that is new to me, comes with all kinds of tools; because in the end it’s all about the toys; and is very pertinent to the beginning of the new school year, in short: the Bento Box.
It all started when I was looking for a Pokemon lunch box for my daughter. There are only about three things she likes to eat and one of them is rice. I thought that if I could make her lunch experience a little more fun, she’d actually eat her lunch and so on and so forth. In the course of this quest I was surfing the Web and stumbled upon this:
Two Piplups and they are so cute. I showed this picture to my friend Megumi. Her comment was:”When do people get up in the morning to make this?!” (Dear Reader: Meg doth protest too much. She has a timer on her rice cooker and makes a proper bento box for her son’s school lunch.) She then forwarded me a link to this blog in which a mother chronicles her bento creations that she prepares for her seventeen-year-old son. According to my friend, this boy has begged his mother to restrain her need to express herself artistically as part of his lunch break. He even went so far as to call her loving creations abusive. This is her hysterical English response to his accusation.
In any event, I’m hooked. My daughter is now the proud owner of a two-tier bento box. I have since invested in little pig-shaped sauce containers for her soy sauce, heart- and flower-shaped rice shapers and silicon baking cups that separate the different foods from another. I’ve acquired the Nori, or seaweed, for dramatic decorating purposes, but I still need to feel inspired before I try that. Until then, I will peruse Flickr for ideas.
1. Opera House and Sydney Harbour, 2. Children’s Day bento lunch for preschooler, 3. Parasite pals, 4. Lunch, 5. Hello kitty & panda bento, 6. Charaben – my first time, 7. Sakura bento2, 8. DSCN3466, 9. three bears bento, 10. Halloween bento, 11. 2 rats bento, 12. Pluto Close-up, 13. Jack Skellington Lunch, 14. Kodama, 15. Cat Bento, 16. Brown Bear Bento
If you are inspired to look into the art of bento, check out these blogs:
August 20th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I’ve been having fun with Bento lunches too. My 4 year old loves them. They are like opening a present everyday. I don’t get very elaborate. Keep it simple and things he’ll eat. He thinks they are his bento boxes. I insist they are mine and I let him use them.
August 20th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I was so frustrated with my 8 year old daughter not eating her lunch and coming home hungry all the time. Then I switched to a bento box and made the food “cute” and in smaller portions. It completely changed everything. She eats her lunch every day. She doesn’t like sandwiches so her protein is peanut butter, into which she dips sliced apples. Sometimes it’s hummus and pita. She also likes shaped rice with soy sauce in mini plastic veggie containers. Be sure to check out molds for hard boiled eggs, they are so cute!
August 20th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
JenniferShmoo at Vegan Lunchbox has been posting sporadically the last year or so, but she took pictures of all the lunches she packed for her son and they are still on the website
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
August 20th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
SO FUN!!!
August 21st, 2008 at 10:36 am
great pix …. i just got back from seattle where I picked up some cute bento supplies …. but i’m wondering …. how does one fill those teeny condiment containers?
August 21st, 2008 at 3:46 pm
So cute! I adore bentos. I’m actually getting a nice one for myself, although I doubt I’ll be making such adorable food to put in it.
August 21st, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I love bento. You should check out ebay sales, they have some really cool stuff on there. I`ve got a whole drawer full of cute egg molds, tiny cutters, itty bitty condiment containers and squeeze bottles, plus WAY too many adorable food picks. And the food is a lot of fun, too! My kids are still little, one and two, but they enjoy it.
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:05 pm
lunch in a box is a good blog she makes bento for her toddler everyday.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:00 am
That photo is amazing!! I want a lunch like that!
August 26th, 2008 at 6:40 am
How cool is that! Very neat!
August 26th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Love the bento box. And it is true that once you get in the groove of making them, they are not so daunting. The very artistic creations in some of those photos are daunting, though! Really cute pictures. And it is true that kids LOVE them. Mine would be wild for those penguins.
August 26th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Hi! It’s me again! Just wanted to let you know that your post inspired me to do a blog post of my own on my other site. It’s at http://ohilovethat.blogspot.com if you want to check it out. I referred to your post and site, and I linked back for you.
September 1st, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Ah I love bento boxes! But my kids are homeschooled so no need for school lunches. I guess we could make them when we go out to run errands all day? I must think of a reason because they are so cute!
April 15th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
It completely changed everything. She eats her lunch every day. She doesn’t like sandwiches so her protein is peanut butter, into which she dips sliced apples.
March 27th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
http://lindybraund.multiply.com
http://fearheller.blog.co.uk/