<soapbox>
I have come here to wax lyrical about bento style lunches. I picked up on this idea about a week ago, and for the first time in years I have made my own lunch for work every day for a week, and none of it has involved bread or any form of sandwich.

My inspiration comes from sites like LunchInABox and VeganLunchbox, which are chock-full of attractive and healthy lunch boxes and suggestions.

The biggest turning point for me, apart from the inspiration, was buying a plastic lunch box with several small compartments and sealed mini boxes. This makes it possible to have a little bit of many things, rather than trying to find one large portion of a single thing. I'm really excited about making my lunch at the moment, and I haven't spent anything extra since Sunday so I have saved about $35 already this week!

Today's lunch was:
- left-over poached chicken in barbecue sauce, a small portion that I would normally have thrown out as "not worth eating"
- a rice ball (I made a bunch of them last week from left-over rice and put them in the freezer - just bung in the microwave when required)
- a small handful of roasted peanuts in a silicone cup
- a large handful of cherry tomatoes in a silicone cup
- some cheese crackers from the bottom of a packet
- one chocolate biscuit from the bottom of a packet

All those things are food items that I would have eaten mindlessly while standing in the kitchen just to get rid of them, thrown out, or let dry out/go off uneaten in the fridge. I know it sounds really basic, but it just didn't occur to me before last week that it was possible to put them all together to make a filling and delicious lunch.

I'm also very pleased that I have gone a week without eating bread. I love bread and toast, and normally eat way too much of it, but I haven't even missed it this week. I'm getting my carbs alright, just not from that source.

So in conclusion, go bento! Office lunches (or school lunches) don't have to be difficult, boring, or costly. Yay!

</soapbox>

Yep, I love making bento lunches. I've made a ton of great, cute ones and posted some pics in our food forum. I've been to the websites you listed before, and while those are cute, they're nothing like what the Japanese make. Some Japanese bento lunches are truly works of art.

We have a food forum? I do apologise - I should have posted it there, but I wasn't aware that it existed. I have Perfume and Life bookmarked and never go anywhere else. Anyone know how to move this to the right place?

I am well aware that what I am feeding myself is just bento style, and not anywhere near the standards of the Japanese. But it's a good start

A great site is www.laptoplunches.com.

I got my kids' lunchboxes from there. Good quality and lead-free, etc. etc.

I also recommend Klean Kanteen. It's a stainless steel (BPA-free, and shatterproof!) water bottle. http://www.kleankanteen.com/

Okay, call me uninformed but what does 'bento' mean? Is it the silicone cups?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento

Showing my ignorance once again--could you guys enlighten me and explain how Bento is different than packing lunch in Tupperware or Rubbermaid type containers?

You should only microwave in glass. Plastic is okay for cold lunches. Since I prefer hot lunches, I buy the pyrex bowls with lids from Target. They won't leak when you carry them, either.

Bento boxes are for Japanese meals served in a box with various compartments. I think they originated as set meals to serve to train passengers.

Click to view attachment

The classic bento box is made from lacquered wood, and all the various foods are meant to be eaten at room temperature. Ok, if you order a bento box meal at a Japanese restaurant, some foods may be hot, and the rest room temperature.

Well I suppose on one end of the spectrum it is just a containerized lunch. But on the other end of the spectrum, there is a lot of effort towards choosing foods that have a variety of pleasing colors, tastes, textures and visual appeal:

Check out this photostream on Flickr





Me? LOL right now with my (utter lack of) skills I'm more in the "containerized lunch" category. I got the Laptop Lunch bento boxes for two reasons: to reduce unnecessary waste and to encourage my picky eater children.

The bento boxes have been a great idea to reduce waste. With two kids, I was going through six Ziploc baggies a day for their school snacks and lunch, plus four mini water bottles or juice boxes. Wasteful and not good for the environment. Now I use plastic baggies very rarely, and the stainless steel water bottle eliminates the water bottle waste (I was becoming concerned anyway about the chemicals in the plastic water bottles).

My kids also like the novelty of the boxes, and I've been able to get them (sneaky!) to try new things. Things just seem to be a lot more appealing to my kids when it comes in the bento. ::shrug:: hey whatever works, huh?

<<<<<My kids also like the novelty of the boxes, and I've been able to get them (sneaky!) to try new things. Things just seem to be a lot more appealing to my kids when it comes in the bento. ::shrug:: hey whatever works, huh?>>>>



The Marketing people at Oscar Mayer got a hold of this idea (small compartments w/various offerings) and kids when they
came out with their 'lunchables' which I think kids loved, rather than another sandwich and fruit brown bag --- but how much
better is the bento idea -- w/o nitrate filled lunch meat, processed cheese cubes, and hydrogenated fat crackers ??!!! -- in
a cheap (read thin plastic) container --- and it's premium-priced, to boot !!

Besides all the things you mentioned, the sodium content for many of them is way too high.

Thanks GD, I knew I was forgetting something --- sodium out the yinyang ;-)

My 11 year-old son tries to convince me to buy Lunchables, but I rarely do, for all the reasons you list. Bad nutrition at a high price? Not!

I think what he's really drawn to is the bits-of-food-in-small-compartments. The plastic bento box idea is a good one. I'm gonna try it...