Into Bento

For years, children have dreaded opening their brown-bag lunches. Squashed peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, tiny fragments of potato chips,and bruised bananas are none too appealing! But here comes bento, the Japanese style of packing food into neat divided sections in ways that attract the eye. They call it the bento-box. The twist is in making the foods visually appealing. An added benefit is that the containers keep foods from mixing and mushing all together. Small containers also lead to packing a little from each food group, leading to less overeating. The result is a simple, healthful lunch that begs to be eaten.

The school provided lunch this year is $2.70. At 5 days a week that is $13.50 per child. $27 a week for two children. My out-of-pocket expense for one month of school provided hot lunches would be $108! The bargain hunter in me tells me I can do better. And I can definitely do better than hot dogs, corn dogs, and pizza day in and day out.

Hence, my search for bento. The concept appeals to me. I'm hoping my picky toddler will also catch on to bento and give some new foods a try, or at least give some old foods a new chance. The cute and colorful containers are the first purchase I plan on, followed by cookie cutters ranging in size, silicone baking cups, sauce containers, egg molds, character toothpicks, maybe even a wavy veggie shredder. My bento adventure starts tomorrow and I'm so excited! I'll be sure and report back how it goes.