Any Bento Box users out there?

[Bento_Box_Lunch]

I just purchsed an Bento box and I am using it to control my lunch calories. anyone else out there using a Bento Box? I would love to share luch ideas!

[TheRia247]

I am actually in process of getting one tomorrow 🙂 I just went grocery shopping today specifially with bento lunches in mind. I lived in Japan for a bit and I really miss making my bento lunches for work! 

[CrystalG]

Now Im curious and will google Bento Box.

[Bento_Box_Lunch]

Here are some ideas I have been collecting. http://www.pinterest.com/alineclick/bento-box/

[Upintheair]

Where did you buy your Bento Box? Thanks

---

@Bento_Box_Lunch wrote:

I just purchsed an Bento box and I am using it to control my lunch calories. anyone else out there using a Bento Box? I would love to share luch ideas!

---

[Bento_Box_Lunch]

I bought my Bento Box on Fab.com. Search their site for Bento and you will find the brand Monbento made in France (go figure). I have had it about a week but so far I love it!  If it is your first Fab purchase you might get an additional discount at checkout. At least that is what happened when I bought mine.

[TheRia247]

I just found a japanese market near me and stumbled on a nice one there. You can also get them off of amazon! I plan on doing that in the furture, because sometimes they can be a bit expensive and you can find sales on there pretty nicely!

As for recipies I found this website while I was living in Japan. Saved my life 🙂 http://justonecookbook.com/bento-how-to/   She is really helpful, and I really like her recipies. 

[podell16]

Thanks for sharing this post and web page.  Love the receipes and can't wait to try them.

[runuclevergirl]

I love my bento boxes!  You can get some really nice ones on Amazon.  There are also a couple of good books, including one by the authors of this blog: http://justbento.com/ and this blog: http://www.bentocentral.com/

Onigiri are great to learn to make and not hard.  My 11-year-old daughter loves them.  It doesn't take much to cook up a couple of frozen dumplings from the asian market in the morning.

Mostly I just put leftovers in the bottom and salad, edamame, nuts, crackers and cheese, hummus and pita, carrot sticks, or other snacky things on top.

One tip that I'll pass along: you can get tupperware containers for sauce, dressing, or hummus that will FIT in a bento.  Here: http://www.amazon.com/Tupperware-Smidget-Container-Each-Assorted/dp/B001E3DMXY/ref=pd_bxgy_ba_img_z

[SunsetRunner]

I LOVE bento boxes. They've been in use for me long before I actually cared about how much i was eating. I have three siblings, if your leftovers aren't clearly marked, they may get eaten. I started to pack a bento box while i was packing away leftovers from dinner - at least i'd know i would be able to grab one quick meal. 

I've recently fallen out of the habit of using them... I should probably pull them out again, i hadn't really thought about using them to control calorie counts. 

I live in an area with japanese grocery stores and such, so I always bought bentos and accessories at Diaso (basically a dollar store) or Mistuwa (the japanese grocery store i go to). Daiso has a website but they want you to buy in bulk - but it could be handy for some of the accessories. I know i was -always- loosing the elastic straps to hold them together. 

If you haven't used them before, these things were great for packing sauces (and it might not be bad to get these in bulk, cause while you can kinda clean them, some of them clean better than others, and some stuff cleans better than others), and i used these for thicker condiments like ketchup or ranch.

They limited the amount of condiments, since i was always throwing out stuff when i used anything else. Now i can see that being a good way to keep myself from using too much soy sauce and dips and stuff. 

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS SOONER?!

[Cindy1]

I bought a couple Bento like boxes (I'll call them that because they are really just a divided container and have nothing to do with Japan) a while back.  They are great for packing lunches, whether they are traditional Japanese foods or more North American.  I just like that I can put a whole lunch in one container (for the most part, sauces don't fit inside mine and have to be kept separate), and send a really decent lunch with my daughter.  I don't find I use them much for me though, and I'd love to.

[Bento_Box_Lunch]

Today I put a wrap in the bottom with lettuse, chhese and lunch meat. I warmed it up first before adding the lettuse and it stayed nice and soft in my bento box. No dressing needed. On the top I put cherry tomatoes, a few tiny cookies and pumpkin seed mixture from my Nature Box order. With a bottle of water and I am stuffed!

[TheRia247]

Super jealous you have Daiso Market near you q.q I wish! Yea good call on the sauce containers. I remember the first time I discovered them. I was pretty excited, espically cause you can get cute ones like this :

http://www.amazon.com/CuteZCute-Bento-Container-Dropper-Animals/dp/B0011NGT0U

There great for kids lunch boxes, or if your like me and you like when all your stuff has faces on it 🙂

[Upintheair]

Are there any Bento boxes which are leakproof. I have not found any.

[SunsetRunner]

---

@TheRia247 wrote:

Super jealous you have Daiso Market near you q.q I wish! Yea good call on the sauce containers. I remember the first time I discovered them. I was pretty excited, espically cause you can get cute ones like this :

http://www.amazon.com/CuteZCute-Bento-Container-Dropper-Animals/dp/B0011NGT0U

There great for kids lunch boxes, or if your like me and you like when all your stuff has faces on it 🙂

---

Yeah, its one of the perks to living in San Jose, where i was one of three actually white kids in my graduating class! xP I sometimes pretend that the only reason that so many of my things have faces/are super cutesy is because "its cheaper to buy them at diaso, so you have to get what you can get", but really, its cause deep down inside, i'm all of about 5 years old and want the cute things.

[SunsetRunner]

---

@Upintheair wrote:
Are there any Bento boxes which are leakproof. I have not found any.

---

I had one, but i don't know what brand it was. I spent about $20 on it, and it was worth it. 

This is the one i use most of the time: http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Traditional-Rabbit-Moon-Bento/dp/B003VM8P92/ref=lp_2457292011_1_15?s=...

but i don't put leaky things in it when i can help it. Though i think i have packed curry in it just fine.. But i don't tend to have liquidy things.

I don't know which brands are good in bento boxes, but i can tell you that i would trust anything Zojirushi makes. Though you will pay out the nose for them.... $50 bento boxes... sheesh!

[Cindy1]

Go Green and Yumbox have leakproof bento boxes.  I'm not sure if you can get them on Amazon, but Fenigo.com has both.  There might be some others.  They also have Laptop Lunch which I believe is leak proof and adjustable, as you put individual containers inside the main one.

[LisaMets]

What is a bento box?

[SunsetRunner]

A bento box is a Japanese lunch box. They are kinda like Tupperware that stack well and sometimes have removable dividers. They tend to be on the smaller side.

[Bento_Box_Lunch]

Mine is sort of leak resistant I would say. I just make sure any real liquids are either in a sauce container or I would put it in a thermos I suppose. Directions are to drain any extra liquids off the food first (such as coleslaw) and the way my box sits in my bag I am just careful not to tip it over.