Bento Basics - Part Two

Since I am doing a bento guest post over at Following in my Shoes today, I thought I'd post my second installment of my Bento Basics: Tips for Making Lunch Fun. I will address the questions asked in Part 1 throughout this post.

Jocie asked~ What exactly is the meaning of bento? Is it a brand of sold, fun lunches??? Bento or Obento originates from Japan and it's a small boxed take out lunch or one from home. You can find these little boxed lunches for sale all over Japan. Kyara-ben (a shortened form of character bento) are the cute characters, often make out of rice, that are popular. People outside Japan have really expanded on that idea of making lunch fun and ideas/creativity have run wild. Here are 2 of my rice character bentos.

Hello Kitty Rice Character

Onigiri Face made with rice & egg sheet

Tip: Bentos are great for special diets. Does your child have a peanut allergy? Do you stick to a gluten-free or dye-free diet? Make these restrictions fun with a bento. Click on the images below to see the details of the peanut & gluten free lunches from my blog buddies.

Nina made this peanut-free bento for the first day of school.

Deb created this gluten-free bento for her her son.

Tip: Bentos are not just for kids! People will say they don't have a child or one young enough to enjoy a bento. It's lunch packed with love and it can be for any age!

Tortellini, salad & carrots, strawberries with dressing & treat for my hubby.

Mama's bento: Yummy bagel sandwich, fruit salad, & Bircher Müsli.

Tip: Many bentos are portable! In Part One, KC asked~ How do you keep them from tipping and getting messed up in the carrying them to school? I have a few lunch bags with a wide bottom that help keep things in place. Sometimes I will stuff some lettuce or wadded up seran wrap in before the lid to hold it in place, but for the most part it stays unless it gets tipped over in the classroom lunch basket. My daughter is pretty careful about it. I keep the lunch from getting soggy by using silicone cupcake liners or other simple plastic containers to keep something like a cut fruit away from bread. I got many of these at the dollar store.

2 of my wider based lunch bags with handles on top

Inside of the black & grey lunch bag

Pi Day bento uses silicone cupcake liners to keep food separate.

I avoided sogginess with silicone liners & the pickle in a baggie.

I would like to thank Nina & Deb for contributing to this post.

Please leave questions in the comments and I will address them in part 3.