Saturday, August 14, 2010

Bento Box Craze!!!

Just in time for Back to School . . .
Thanks to my friend, Becky, there is a new craze in our little town!


BENTO BOX LUNCH
Home lunch will never be the same!


My children no longer want school lunch (sorry, nice, lunch ladies). They want fun. Becky's children come to school with the cutest little lunches you ever saw and they're nutritious, to boot!

Here are some photos I snatched off of a website called Laptop Lunches (permission is granted). When you have some time, check out their gallery AND their suggestions like their Quick Reference Guide. They are full of ideas!


Another company out there is Easy Lunch Boxes. (They have fun photo ideas as well). I would love to order some of their boxes - 4 for $13.95 but the shipping is $8.95 no matter how many order - SO if any of my friends want to order with me I would love to split the shipping with someone or as many someones as I can find! . . .

Other websites include: Lunch in a box and Out of this world ideas! (some people have all the time in the world)

Pottery Barn sells cute boxes

A little history behind the Bento via Wikipedia:

Bento (弁当 bentō?) is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass producedto hand crafted lacquerware. Although bento are readily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops, train stations, and department stores, it is still common for Japanese homemakers to spend time and energy for their spouse, child, or themselves producing a carefully prepared lunch box.

So - give a little extra love to the family - send them out the door with a Bento!

6 comments:

Care said...

Another type of box at http://www.goodbyn.com/goodbyn/default.aspx

Angela said...

I'd like a set. :) thanks for the great idea!

Becky A said...

hey thanks for the shout out--I hadn't ever seen the pottery barn ones! I have a set of easylunchbox boxes and love them. my faves are Sassy boxes--available in the baby/toddler feeding section of any major store. Also Border's bookstore has a really cute robot box, but its pretty hard to come by-you can't buy them online and the nearest borders to us are in slc and logan...I have a new fave that I have been longing for at Planetbox.com. it's stainless steel and beautiful, but also much more expensive than the plastic versions...check it out...

Care said...

Thanks for all the input, Beck! that stainless steel one sounds fabulous! I love stainless! I hope you don't mind me sharing your brought about fad! I didn't know if I should put a link to your blog or not - I posted the same post on my food blog where I did link you but only our food friends look there so i figured it was safe. Can't wait to check out your input places!!!

Care said...

Oh ya - Beck - do you send the box inside a cooler to school?

Becky A said...

My kids have insulated lunch bags. I'll throw an icepack in with the box if it has something that really NEEDS to stay cool (shaped eggs, something with mayo, etc.) but usually I just stick the box in the insulated bag with their thermos.