Because I’m not my son’s personal short-order cook, I love to use dinner leftovers in our bento lunches to minimize prep time. But eating the exact same thing for multiple meals can get b...
It’s been a long time since my last bento gear shopping update, so there’s a lot to cover! Today I cover San Francisco Japantown, with a couple of new stores on the list. Highlights are t...
Once a year, volunteer language teachers come from Japan to help out at my son’s school, and do a month’s homestay with families from the school. Part of the homestay deal is that the hos...
One issue we’ve run into since my son started kindergarten is the shorter time available for him to eat his lunch. At preschool the children sat three to a table, and the teachers circulated, e...
May I just say that kindergarten bentos have been kicking my butt this year? Bug’s new school starts super-early, and I’m NOT a morning person. Most mornings I’m thankful for every ...
The holidays are a time for giving, and in the food blog world that’s come to mean the Menu For Hope food blog annual fundraising campaign, now in its 6th year. Started by Pim of Chez Pim, Menu...
While watching Shimajiro, a popular Japanese cartoon of a tiger cub that teaches kids little songs, manners and safety, I stumbled across an uncommon variation of the classic Bento Box Song (”O...
Making inside-out sushi rolls doesn’t have to be all that involved if you’ve got the basic materials and some plastic wrap on hand. Serve plain or decorated like fish to thrill your child...
A Japanese radio station asked me to do an on-air interview about bento lunches in the United States, and they seem to think that there’s a growing trend of American men who pack bentos. This m...
There aren’t many bento cookbooks written in English, so of course I’m curious when a new one comes out. I’m a big fan of Japanese-language cookbooks for their glanceable step-by-st...
Today I’ve got two lunches that represent both ends of the bento spectrum: one is fast and simple, the other is time-consuming decorative food art. My usual preference is for the fast and easy ...
My apologies to everyone for dropping off the face of the earth lately — it’s been a weird time and I’ve been going through something of a crisis. (Arg.) Time to get back on the ben...
Bento lunches are starting to attract a lot of mainstream attention outside of Japan, with bentos appearing more often in the popular media, new bento books and classes, panels at anime and blogging ...
Today’s lunch uses sausages with a back story. A couple of weeks ago I had the rare opportunity to learn how to butcher roosters from an expert: Hank Shaw of Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. You mi...
How long does it usually take you to prep and pack a single bento lunch? Unless it’s a special occasion like Valentine’s Day or Children’s Day, I usually avoid decorative food and g...
We’ve got a winner in the Kids Konserve metal lunch kit giveaway (see my full review), and some additional giveaways around the bento community. If you didn’t win this one, the company is...
On Saturday we hosted a hanami, the Japanese tradition of a picnic under cherry trees when they’re in bloom. Sakura cherry trees blossom only during a brief time during the spring and the pink ...
Like the look of a stylish metal lunch set but don’t want to plunk down the cash? Kids Konserve has kindly offered to give away a lunch kit and metal condiment container that I reviewed in full...
I know some of you are looking for alternatives to plastic bento boxes because of concerns about the health effects of food packed or heated in plastic, so I’ve been playing around with metal b...
The Lunch in a Box reader forum is going gangbusters, with over 3,000 posts a couple of months in. A few recent highlights: A step-by-step cheese character tutorial that PikaMama originally wrote for...
Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Pasta shells & cheese with sauteed enoki mushrooms, carrots, broccoli and Aidell’s chicken/apple sausages. The side car holds kiwifruit, a plum, and ras...
What food containers do you usually use to pack lunches? Although I have a wide variety of different containers for all kinds of foods and appetites, I usually wind up reaching for a bento box, a Loc...
So my news is that I’ll be speaking at this year’s BlogHer ‘09 Conference on the food blogging panel, “Identity/Passions: FoodBlogging in the Time of Recession“. This ye...
In a break from my usual “speed bento” lunches that only take about ten minutes to pack, the other week I made more of an effort for Valentine’s Day and packed a special lunch for m...
On my last trip to Ichiban Kan and Daiso discount stores, I picked up some cheap new silicone versions of bento accessories that actually make sense in silicone. I’ve started reaching for them ...
I went to my son’s Japanese immersion preschool on Friday for their Valentine’s Day program, and asked permission to take photos of the children’s lunches in Bug’s classroom a...
Here’s an ingenious specialized contraption from gadget-crazy, bento-friendly Japan. It’s a USB-powered bento warmer bag from Thanko Co. that plugs right into the USB port on your desktop...
1. Daiso Launches Wholesaler Discount Program Japanese discount store Daiso has launched a new discount program for wholesalers, resellers, and bulk orders. They’ve put their inventory up on on...
One of my basic tips for preventing cut fruit from browning is to dip the fruit in acidulated water right before packing. This will slow the browning process, not halt it. This is great, but mixing u...
Where do your bentos or packed lunches get eaten? When I started packing bentos, they were for my husband to eat at the office when he was eating gluten-free (misdiagnosed with celiac disease). Later...
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