Send along a single cupcake in a specialized container to keep frosting intact. Great for parent of food-allergic kids to send along a single safe cupcake to birthday parties without mangling the decorative frosting. Full info here at Lunch in a Box with a photo recap of BlogHer '08, including a lunch with celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, Sesame Street cupcakes, and a food blogger lunch meet-up.

Double-decker heating of multiple dishes in the microwave saves time and energy, and I created a do-it-yourself thermal donburi bento box for a child out of an adult-sized thermal lunch jar. Full lunch details, reviews of microwave stands and plate/bowl covers, and how to fake your own thermal donburi bento box are here at Lunch in a Box.

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Mild Japanese curry made with chicken, carrots, onions and purple potatoes. Accompaniments are rakkyo pickled scallions and rice. Morning prep time: 6 minutes, using leftover curry and rice.

I put together a list of online stores that carry bento boxes, accessories and tools, to complement the international Bento Store Locator (BSL) tool with Google Maps and user-generated store feedback. The updated list of online stores is here at Lunch in a Box; let me know if I've missed any big ones!

I'm really pleased with how everyone has been adding local stores to the new worldwide Bento Store Locator (BSL) with Google Maps -- thank you! The database has almost doubled in size since its launch on Monday. It's turning into a helpful tool, but it's only as good as the information that we all put into it. So please check it out and leave your feedback by adding new stores, commenting on existing stores about what sort of bento gear they stock, places that might have closed down or no longer carry bento boxes and accessories, etc. Please use the search box to check your area, not just the map's zoom function (the BSL only displays the stores nearest to the location in the search box). See the posting guidelines and a detailed Locator description; check to see if your favorite store is already there before adding as we're starting to get duplicates (that I delete).

Contents of preschooler lunch: Mini burger patties made from meatloaf mix, roasted asparagus and a lemon wedge, cherry tomato, mini pudding cup, home fries with garlic and rosemary, ketchup for dipping, and blueberries.  Morning prep time: 7 minutes, using leftovers and little burger patties I'd previously made, fried up and frozen (then stored in my freezer basket of bento food for easy access). Full details here at Lunch in a Box.

Contents of preschooler lunch: Spinach and cheese spanakopita, cherries, broiled asparagus with lemon, and grapes. It's very simple lunch using frozen phyllo spinach pies (Costco's spanakopita, reviewed here), an easy way to add variety to a meal. (See also the full list of products I've reviewed)  Morning prep time: 16 minutes, mostly inactive prep time waiting for the frozen spanakopita to cook in my convection toaster oven and cool. Full details here at Lunch in a Box.

Okay, so I'm back from school! I've still taken pictures of the bento I've made since I last posted (a hundred years ago), and I figured, what the hey, let's get them up! Some are nice, some are not, but all of them were generally yummy! :) (Except my tragic first attempts at sushi, which tasted like poo X.X) The "representative photo" is just one of my favs :D Enjoy! (Sorry for no contents-list, but it'd take a hundred years!)




( A bajillion boxes! )

In all sorts of boxes, some veggie, some not (I'm home with the family, now, so I've packed some lunches for them :D).

To mark the one-year anniversary of lunchinabox.net, I just launched the Bento Store Locator with Google Maps to make it easier for the lunch-packing community to share their knowledge of local stores in a common location. This interactive map should help readers quickly find nearby stores that sell bento boxes and accessories, check out feedback from other readers, input new stores, and leave their own comments on individual store entries. (Like a very basic version of Yelp.com, but focused only on bento gear.)  Full details and posting guidelines here at Lunch in a Box.

Because I got some adorable Enchanted sidecars for a grand total of $3.40 including tax.

Yep! I think that's a good deal. What about you? They also have spoon and fork sets, cups, and some lunch totes.
:3 just spreading the word.

The "My Hashi" trend in Japan encourages packing your own reusable chopsticks instead of using disposable "waribashi" chopsticks when eating out. Full post with video of a "My Hashi Bra" and collapsible chopsticks here on Lunch in a Box.

This is a lunch that I posted ages ago, so the point is not about something that I've made. Many people have asked about where some of us got the nori face punches (I think snappiness has them too). We either buy them from eBay sellers (not always available depending on stock) or ask friends in Japan to post them over.

I just realised that Jbox/Jlist now has stocks of both sets:
http://www.jbox.com/product/FK290
http://www.jbox.com/product/FK291

They are certainly not cheap but if you've been on the lookout for them for a long time, this could be a good opportunity to buy.

I broke from my regular speed bento pattern to make a fish-themed bento for my three-year-old son to celebrate the Children's Day holiday on May 5. Full details are here at Lunch in a Box with notes on equipment, decoration technique, new food picks that transform cherry tomatoes into balloons, and lyrics to Koinobori (the classic Children's Day song).


Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread (scales: sliced ham, eye: sliced cheese and nori seaweed, fins: cucumber peel, all affixed to the bread with cream cheese to keep the design intact in transit). The side dish container holds a cherry tomato, steamed broccoli and yellow bell pepper strips flavored with Korean barbecue sauce, and a cheese cube.

Because I really want to get started, I went shopping for supplies today!



1) Egg or pancake shapes - To make eggs look cute
2) Cookie cutters - Because there are so many uses for those
3) Wraps - Yummie
4) My temp bento box(es) - Come in 3 sizes
5) Mini supply boxes - For salads and other little add ons
6) Apple cutter - Because it is handy!
7) Spring shaped muffin tray - For muffins and little quiches
8) Paper muffin shapes - To be used as seperators

And now to get started :)

So, I have officially moved into the new house! After dealing with a very low grocery/produce level for a week and struggling to find my camera in boxes/make nice bento, I managed to cook up these this past week















As you can see, I made it to the grocery mid-week! No contents/closeups for this post, as there would be just TOO MANY PICS! I promise I'll get back into the swing of things soon, though :D

As evil_mom  pointed out, the Japanese-style discount store debuted its online store yesterday in a soft launch, offering extremely cheap Japanese household goods and bento gear. Their shopping cart function is offline for the next few days, but my initial review of the online store is here at Lunch in a Box. (Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Ichiban Kan.)

Decided on a fluke to have a breakfasty bento today!




( Contents and closeups! )

Packed myself two bento today, on for this evening's dinner, and the other for tomorrow's lunch. (I'll be getting home v. late tonight, so I won't have much time for cooking.)

First, tonight's dinner:



( Contents/Closeups )

Thought I'd have some fun with my leftover food coloring from Easter! I also tried to pack this box lighter this time, as it's been way too much for me lately.


Tomorrow's Lunch:



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Finally managed to get rid of the last of my fried rice! I'm hoping to warm up the potatoes once I get into school, but I won't die if I don't. They're yummy enough cold, too :)

I put together a list of companies that act as your own personal shopper in Japan, placing auction bids, and shipping packages to you from mail order companies that don't ship internationally. This opens up a wealth of unusual bento gear in Japan; I've included links to some major online auction sites, stores and translation tools to assist. The full post is here at Lunch in a Box.

So, I'm headed back out on the road again tomorrow, and I'm picking up my little sister on the way. Problematic, since she is both a TERRIBLY picky eater (in both texture and color), and since she gave up ALL sweets for Lent. Aaaahh, what's a girl to do?!

This is what I came up with:



( Picky, picky contents and close-ups! )

My (regular person who eats real foods!) lunch:



( Closeups/Details )

(Sidenote: Only my lunch is vegetarian, but I tagged the entry with it anyway, since one is :) )

So, I decided to make a Spring-themed bento for tomorrow, to start the season off right!




( Contents and closeups! )

Man, do I ever wish I had some cookie-cutters! XD Had to do all the flower-cutting with a paring knife, which is why they're rather messy. I like the colors in the top tier way more than I like the ones in the bottom...couldn't quite figure out what I wanted on the sides of the butterfly. Oh well! Happy Spring, folks!

Mmm, finally got around to hard-boiling eggs today!



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Figured I'd give something a little tougher a try today!



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I've posted the round-up to my first Lunch Gear Organization Event here at Lunch in a Box, with a full recap of all the ingenious entries and an announcement of the contest winner (who will receive my review copy of the Face Food bento book). Some great ideas here, thank you! 

Well, it's back to the daily grind for me! And with it, back to bento!




( Closeups/contents! )

I posted a San Francisco Japantown bento shopping update here at Lunch in a Box, covering Ichiban Kan, Sanko, Nijiya and Kinokuniya. Sanko has expanded its bento inventory, and now stocks unusual bento accessories I haven't seen locally. A few of the non-food photos are under the cut.

( Read more... )

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Mini spam musubi (teriyaki-sauced fried spam sushi), steamed carrots, shrimp, mushrooms and romanesco broccoli from a local farmers’ market.  Morning prep time: 14 minutes, using leftover Thai curry, frozen rice, leftover carrot that I’d steamed with rice in my rice cooker, leftover teriyaki spam and nori seaweed that I pre-cut for speed. Full details of this lunch are here at Lunch in a Box


The full entry is here at Lunch in a Box with two additional spam musubi lunches, and info on the cool-looking romanesco broccoli, the spam musubi, and some new animal-shaped bento cutters with tiny built-in cutters to make eyes and nose decorations

So, I'm taking the long drive back to my parents' house for spring break tomorrow, which requires that I have a bento for both lunch and dinner. So I got to pack two today, yay!

Lunch first, despite having made it second!



( Contents/Closeups )

And then, dinner!



( Closeups/Contents 2! :D )