I work at home so no fun lunch from home boxes for me though I love them. An acquaintance of mine has a bento site but I have never purchased. She was also concerned about lunch nutrition for her children and this lead to the website.

Here is a link that might be useful: I Love Obento

I want to add that a lot of the fun of bento is in the visuals. I'd love to see photos of your lunches.

I have a bag by the Built company - one of those nifty neoprene, flowery ones. I like to take stuff in containers to make a nice, fresh wrap or something of that sort. Or, left-overs to re-heat. Fruit. Compote or yoghurt.

Mme corbel: "Fruit. Compote or yoghurt." Eww. Sounds like someone's . . . on . . . a . . . diet. :-)

Barnmom: I will, but first I need to learn how to make it pretty.

Most workdays I go home for lunch....I'm only 2 miles away. Wish my knees would allow me to bike to work!

When I go on long trips with friends to quilt shows, etc. I usually pack us a tasty lunch so we aren't at the mercy of fast food on the road. This is healthier for us and I enjoy doing it. I've accumulated a number of containers that fit in a cooler so we can have fresh sandwiches, veggies, fruit, salads, pasta, and home baked treats. I also bought plastic reusable plates, bowls and cups at the dollar store and keep them in my largest soft-side cooler along with a couple of sheathed knives, plastic forks/spoons and napkins so I can pack a picnic quickly and hit the road.

I enjoyed the days of packing lunches for my two sons when they were little. But we weren't so much into "cute" then.

I have a file of Bento lunch suggestions on my work computer that I can post next week. I'm taking today off!

Teresa

I have one of the lock n' lock containers with little sections, and I really like it. I do the egg molds. They're a couple bucks on Amazon, and I have a bear and a bunny. It works best to medium or hard boil an egg and soak it in ice water just until it's cool enough to peel, then put it in the mold. Large eggs are best - small ones won't get any shape and bigger jumbo ones break. You get the best shape if you leave it in the mold in the fridge and take it out right before you pack lunch. Otherwise they sort of revert to their natural shape. They also have rice molds, which I think have sharp enough edges to also be used on sliced meat and carrots. One of my favorite sushi joints serves broccoli with teriyaki sauce in their bentos, which I love. I like the general idea of having a mix of flavors, and usually squeeze a little sriracha on the side of one of the compartments. I think something with vinegar or fermented would be a nice addition. I also use it for American food, like I'll do hummus, pita or crackers, turkey, cheese, and apple slices, or peanut butter, boiled egg, cheese, crackers, and grapes. I, too, am entranced with all the little different things, and usually find it more satisfying than a giant cheesesteak sub or something like that. And I also find that when I eat out I am much more likely to get carb overload and insufficient protein.

I have a really pretty plate I bought specifically for work. Whatever I bring, I put it on that and eat with will real flatware, not silver, but not plastic. It's still my moment in the middle of the day. So I bring it all in my insulted bag, prep it, and put it on the plate. But if I didn't, I'd probably go bento, just 'cause it's prettier. Such a girl, I am!

I live 1.3 miles (4-5 minutes driving time) from work, and so I go home for lunch and include a small nap. If I walked to work (about 25 minutes), I would have to bring a lunch, and when I did bring lunches, they were similar to the bento box style, but not as pretty. I would usually bring things to assemble at the lunch kitchen and heat items separately. If I brought shrimp udon noodle soup, I would pack the shrimp separately and add them to the soup only after I had heated it. I packed the cilantro separately as well, but at home, I would keep the shrimp and cilantro separate from the soup and only add them when serving. I would also make a pizza from Cibatta bread sliced lengthwise, buttered with garlic butter, and then added sliced tomatoes, fresh basil, and mozzarella cheese and heated the whole thing in the toaster oven. It would take about 30 minutes to assemble and heat, but it was worth it. A lot of times I would bring sushi with Japanese or Korean pickles for side dishes. Nowadays I watch People's Court while preparing my lunch at home and have time for a nap afterwards. Or I water my plants.

Lars

I am fascinated with the Bento box.

"--- the best of nature's handiwork in a limited space -----" The Japanese aesthetic sensitivity

It is all consistent with other forms of Japanese art, Karesansui, Makunouchi, Kyaraben, Ikebana, bonsai, sushi, ----- calligraphy and ink painting.

dcarch

Those bento sites are so fun to look at. I just love the little shapes of compressed rice. I don't remember any brown rice in them, but I bet it was there. At least it would be more nutritious. I haven't purchased a bento yet, but it's gonna happen. There are no japanese markets anywhere near me.

I found a blogger who makes salads in a jar for her lunches. It looked so good I started to do it too. I shred a big head of romaine, add shredded carrots, minimal onion, cukes and maybe some black olives. It gets divided up into my plastic bowls with lids (I can't be trusted with glass jars). Salad dressing goes into little plastic containers. Another little container with sunflower seeds is kept in my lunch bag. Wha la. Lunch for the week.

I'd like to make some good salad dressings. I'll be searching here for some recipes. Bet you all have some great ones!

There are so many good choices these days for "boxes" to hold your lunch or insulated "bags" that you don't have to resort to a brown paper lunch bag - unless that is what you want. I recently bought an insulated vinyl lunch bag with handles from Thirty-One, a tote/purse/etc. bag company. Several co-workers and friends are selling their products in home parties (which I don't do). I just place my order with one of them for the next time she orders. Their products are well made and reasonably priced.

My colleague at works has a round thingie, more like the Indian lunchboxes, a series of round insulated dishes that stack and are latched together. She basically eats her way down the stack as the day goes by. As for myself, I am too cheap, I just use old deli and yogurt containers and pack them all in a mini-cooler that was originally designed for a six pack!

My lunches are left overs, as well as parts of GREAT meals I prepare just for myself.

So, mine are more like brown bag.

Somehow I never manage to cook "just for one". Thus, lunch for in a few days is created.

I just freeze, and take to work, heat in the microwave and enjoy. :)

Moni

I envy those of you with long lunch periods. I live 3 miles from work, but with just 30 minutes for lunch, I don't go home. So, I take my lunch. It is almost always a salad, some nuts, and a piece of fruit. Sometimes I take a sandwich. I would love to be more imaginative, but I don't want to take any time out of my 30 minutes to microwave or otherwise prepare my lunch. Since I don't leave the workplace physically, I take a book and read while I eat, and leave mentally. I want as much of that 30 minutes inside my book as I can manage, so that's why my lunches are simple.

That being said, I've gotten more interested in Bento boxes at least for my grandson, and maybe for me, too. My grandson's preschool teacher, according to my DIL, encouraged, actually encouraged them to pack Lunchables for the kids because it's an "activity." Can you believe that?! My DIL and son are both so into packaged foods that they went for the idea. I pointed out to them how expensive that was, but they thought it was just as expensive to buy the parts separately. Whatever. I encouraged them to look into Bento boxes. Maybe I'll do it for them and get him one for Christmas. Of course, there's work involved in packing them, which DIL probably wouldn't go for. Oh, well.

Sally

lpink, I think the stainless steel, round stacking containters you are referring to are called 'tiffins'?

Here is a link that might be useful: Tiffins

We do home lunches here, for work and school.

The boys take Ziploc containers that have a sandwich well, a small square well and a small rectangle well and one lid.
Some days it's sandwiches a few chips, a couple cookies and a bit of fruit. Other days it's a pizza roll (think cinnamon style but with cheese, sauce and meats). My youngest loves cheese and crackers..so that'll go in.

My husband takes a lunch box with breakfast, either a homemade sausage egg and cheese english muffin or a dish of breakfast meats, left over italian sausage, steak, pork roast/chop, scrambled eggs with cheese, roasted/fried potatoes or grits.
A small container of fruit.
Then for "nibble" time he has a dish of kettle potato chips, and a home made "sweet".

I take leftovers. If I don't have my oval corning dishes available. I will take mine in plastic, but also grab a small plate and then nuke it all on the plate..I also use "real" utensils. I take a fork and/or spoon.

Bento Box Ideas:

4 parts rice/noodles, 3 parts vegetables, 2 parts meat, 1 part dessert or condiments
may include a snack item for mid-morning or mid-afternoon

Rice/noodles:
fried rice
lo mein
regular rice with sauce
sesame noodles
pasta salad

Vegetables:
carrot sticks
squash
celery sticks
snow peas
cucumber slices
sugar snap peas
grape tomatoes
slaw
bell pepper sticks
marinated vegetables
steamed broccoli or asparagus
lettuce
green beans

Protein:
Ham/cheese roll-up
hard boiled eggs
salami, pepperoni, sausage
Turkey/cheese roll-up
egg salad
tortilla spirals
meatballs
pimento cheese
string cheese
cheese cubes
sandwiches
shrimp
chicken salad
leftover cooked chicken
tuna salad

Fruit:
berries
cooked apples
peach slices
banana slices
cubes of melon
applesauce
sliced apples
pineapple

Other:
crackers & cheese
crackers & peanut butter
cookie
candy
chips & hummus
olives, pickles
dip for veggies
salad dressing

For years, I packed lunches for myself, DH and kids about 4X a week. When they were playing sports, it was often the main meal of the day. We used small soft sided insulated lunch bags with food in generic plastic containers. DH and I had lidded Corningware soup mugs we could heat in a microwave.

I still had a document on my computer that I posted on the CF about 10 years ago so here are some of the lunches we had in those days. In addition, we'd have some type of fruit or dessert but they're not included.

-Margarita scallop salad (grilled scallops w/a corn salad)
-Grilled portabella and eggplant salad w/sesame ginger dressing
-Hummus w/pita triangles and a Greek salad (and sometimes a grilled stuffed kibbee with it)
-Ham and cheese on mini-bagels with chicken rice soup
-Tomato and mozzarella salad with a couple of slices of French bread and some salami
-Tomato stuffed with chicken salad, crackers
-Baked chicken breast, baby carrots and sugar snap peas with dip
-Caponata and some slices of smoked provolone
-A fruit and cheese platter with rolled up slices of ham and turkey and assorted crackers
-Shrimp and asparagus salad with mustard-dill dressing, bread soldiers
-Cream cheese, blue cheese, horseradish and dried beef spread with garlic melba rounds, pepper cabbage
-Cold salmon with a container of yogurt, cucumber and mint sauce and green beans cooked with tomatoes and onions
-What we call Italian tuna salad (tuna, little cubes of tomato and onion, mixed with basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar), thin slices of French bread
-Stuffed onions or eggplant or zucchini (good use for leftover meat) and marinated mushrooms
-Shrimp and corn salad with mini corn muffins
-An avocado stuffed with crabmeat salad with breadsticks
-Barley salad topped with sliced London broil steak
-Gingered carrot soup with cucumber and onion sandwiches

Ruthanna, may I come to your house for lunch, please? :)

/tricia

Tricia, could you swing by for me on the way over?

It all sounds good, Ruthanna! Could you please post your recipe for pepper cabbage? Is it a traditional Penn. Dutch recipe?

Thanks!
Teresa

Theresa, this recipe is identical to the way I make it when I do make it myself. I always let it marinate at least overnight.

However, there are these old heavy electric shredding machines about the size of a wringer washing machine that give the cabbage and vegetables a really fine texture that I can't exactly duplicate. So I usually buy it by the pint or quart at one of the places I know makes it that way.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pepper Cabbage

Thanks, Ruthanna! I wanted as authentic a recipe as I could get and I knew you could provide me with one. This is very similar to the Claremont salad or deli "health" salad that I love. But the pepper cabbage is more finely chopped. I'm looking forward to making this on the weekend.

Teresa