Long time no bento!
This bento has vegan butternut squash ravioli with spaghetti and marinara sauce. The vegan butternut squash ravioli are great, but for $4.99 a serving it’s kind of expensive.
Back to School Lunches August 17, 2009
As the new school year is about to start, many parents are wondering, “What will my child be eating?”. There has been a lot of controversy lately over school lunches and their nutritional content. When I was in school, lunches weren’t so great – french fries, dehydrated mashed potatoes, and cold vegetables with no flavor were the norm.
But if you’re willing to put in a little effort, you and your kids can make healthy and delicious meals at home. Bento boxes, much like American style lunch boxes, come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and have many different cool characters on them. Some even have smaller containers that fit inside for different types of foods. Once your child has selected their favorite bento box, it’s time to go to town!
I recommend checking out some bento blogs online (like this one) to get an some ideas on how to arrange bentos and what foods stay fresh throughout the day. Kids have the disadvantage that they normally don’t have refrigerators or microwaves to keep and prepare their food, but there are alternatives. Using ice packs or thermos’ are a good option.
You and your child can make it an evening routine to make their bento for the next day. This is a great way to teach kids about different foods and they’ll be excited about showing off to their friends. So help your kids ditch bland, unhealthy school food and embrace the art of bento boxes!
Below are some links to my favorite sites that have bento boxes and meals.
bento boxes and accessories:
JBox (warning some areas of the site are NSFW)
Laptop Lunches
Or search ebay
You can also find bentos at your local Japanese or Asian Markets.
bento blogs:
Bento 40 August 25, 2008
I started classes again, and I’m not sure how it’s going to go bento-wise. I have huge breaks in my class so I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to make a lot of bentos. But tomorrow I’m going to go work out and I have to run some errands so I thought I’d make a bento for a quick lunch.
I made some Haluski for dinner so I added the leftovers of that, a croissant, some baby carrots, some salad and light italian dressing, and to finish it off some nectarine.
Bento 39 – Easy Snack August 16, 2008
For lunch at work, we’re having vegetable fajitas. So I made a little snack bento for the evening (I have long shifts). I threw in some mixed dried fruit and nuts, baby carrots, and some leftover noodles from last night’s dinner. Then I added a piece of rice candy for a little sweetness.
Bento 38 – Forest of Fruit August 15, 2008
I had some extra time to make my bento last night, so I tried to make something pretty but still filling for lunch today. I had some leftover vegan al gratin potatoes, so that was an easy one to add in there. I added a fresh basil leaf to the top for extra flavor. I also had some steamed broccoli that I arranged in my bento. I tried to make it look like a forest. I know, that’s not too hard to do with broccoli!
After that I sliced up a banana and apple and arranged them in the larger part of the bento. All I had was a little space to fill, and it donned on me, I had a half an avocado in the fridge that needed to be eaten, so I put some salt and pepper on it and placed it in there. Overall I think this bento was a success, now I just have to eat it and make sure!
Bento 37 August 14, 2008
Last night we had spinach pasta with tomatoes, onion and garlic. So I added some of that to my bento, then my Mom told me she would bring me a sub sandwich for lunch so I just put some garlic bread and sliced nectarine in here to finish it off as a snack bento.
Bento 36 August 13, 2008
I started feeling better last night, so this bento turned out pretty neat. Last night we had corn on the cob and mashed potatoes with gravy for dinner, among other things. So for this bento, I started out by cutting the corn off of a half a cob and mixing it with the mashed potatoes. Then I spread the potatoes in the large part of my bento and filled the heart container with gravy. I got some new soy dogs so I fried one of those up and added it in there.
After that I made a little salad with alfalfa sprouts, carrots, cherry tomatoes, onion, celery, green onion, and zucchini (the star shapes). I filled a little pig container with some vegan salad dressing and added it in. Then I sliced some strawberries and kiwi and filled the last little container.
Bento 35- Sick Day Bento August 11, 2008
I recently caught a cold and wasn’t feeling too well last night when I needed to make the bento for today. So this bento is really simple, but I think it still looks nice.
It has leftover vegan mac & cheese and forbidden rice, baby carrots, and sliced apple.
Bento 34 – Bird’s Nest Bento August 8, 2008
Last night I was inspired by birds when I was making this bento. Birds are really cool, so I thought it would be nice to make a little nest of my own. I had some alfalfa sprouts that need to be finished off, so I used them to make the nest and then cut some baby carrots in half to make the “eggs”. I think it turned out cute. I put some vegan ranch dressing in a little piggy sauce container to eat with the veggie nest.
Then I found some kiwi and bananas in the fridge and had to put them in the bento because they’re some of my favorite fruits. Kiwi and banana is a good combo too. For the main dish, I decided I would have some kimchi potstickers, but as I was making my bento I forgot and got out a bunch of food for tortilla wraps. Then I remembered about the potstickers, so I made a little of both.
I’m really happy with how the wraps came out and will definitely make them again. I got a tortilla and put a layer of plain soy yogurt on it. Then I sliced up some avocado and cherry tomatoes and lined them up in there. Then I added some of the vegan ranch and some tobasco sauce… delish!
This bento was entered into a competition on Not Exactly Bento
Bento 33 – Zen Garden August 7, 2008
I am really happy with how this bento turned out. I think it’s reminiscent of a zen garden. I used fresh green beans and red potatoes for the main part of this bento – it is the part that reminds me most of a zen garden. The green beans are like the sand and the potatoes like the large boulders. Then there’s some tomato and vermicelli noodles with a fresh basil leaf. For dessert I placed some peach slices on top of a pile of pineapple.
This bento has been entered in a competition on Not Exactly Bento
