Get Bento!

Bento boxes are relatively new to me. I started noticing them in blogs about a year ago. Where I live there is no access to bento supplies what so ever, so for me, it had to wait until a trip to Vancouver brought me to the Daiso store there. Once there I found way too many things to grab my interest. They have tons of Kawaii items, bento items, stationery, craft supplies, almost anything you can think of in fact. I bought for myself a few bento supplies which my son took an interest in, which I did not anticipate. I ended up losing my bento to my boy. Fortunately for me I have friends who were willing to take my shopping list with them on their next trip to Vancouver and replace my "lost" bento supplies. Bento has become an interesting way to prepare a lunch for my son, so that he doesn't get so tired of school lunch. There are plenty of good sites and blogs on the internet to help prepare either a western style bento or a more traditional Japanese one. Some of the effort taken by these "supermoms" is simply amazing. For my son, I have stuck to more western items packed in a bento box, and this has suited him just fine. We have even had bento lunch picnics, and he has been keen for me to "get my own Bento box" so we can picnic together. It's been kind of fun...really!

Pictured here is Ike's blue bento box with felt/elastic band to keep it all closed. There are varieties of bento box with snap closing lids, just like lock n lock brand boxes. The ones pictured here do not stay closed without a band. But the bands are kind of cute, don't you think? Just like the pink bento on the top photo, the blue one has a shallow lid compartment to hold chopsticks and maybe a napkin. There are also two bottom compartments underneath. All in all it holds an adequate lunch for either me or my six year old. Then you get into the accessories...... There are sauce bottles, small chop sticks (15cm), internal dividers (I use cupcake liners), plastic grass like you would get in a sushi roll take out, and the list goes on. I have now found out about these cute wiener cutters, that I just must have.....one of these days! Now, on my project list, is to sew a bag to hold the bento box, and juice box that will inevitably be in my son's lunch.