Packing our Bento Box!

Bento Box Fever has hit our house!  My sister posted about her bento box, (here) and I fell instantly in love...  Libbie very sweetly bought my Nature Girl,

a bento box of her very own, and the two of us have had so much fun learning about the Japanese culture.    Come explore with me!!!

Wikipedia describes bento boxes as a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables as a side dish.   I searched many different sites, a bento box is compact and the packaging of a bento box is an art form.  Apparently there can be a sense of competition between moms to see who can pack the most beautiful and healthy lunch.  Ngoc, of Cooking Cute wrote "It is said that when you eat a bento lunch prepared by a loved one, the preparer’s feelings for you are transmitted through the food"  Her site is here, go check out her beautiful creations, you will love them!

Our bento is not so beautifully prepared, but we had a ton of fun...

Fruit for our bottom layer...

Lib ordered some adorable animal picks that I used for the blueberries, I bought the sushi at Target.

Don't you love the soy sauce bottle?

A hard-boiled egg, we love bunnies around here!  And certainly, the eggs taste better in shapes...  Check out Lib's egg mold, here...

I bought some mango pudding, sesame cakes and rice biscuits at my grocery store.  Her chopsticks fit on top of her box.

Her packed box!

I have to warn you~  this was the first time I packed her box, a school lunch is $2.50, I spent about $15 on her lunch, so much for cost-effectiveness!   I really wanted her to try some different foods to get the "full experience" of using her bento box.  She researched another culture, and had a great time teaching her friends and a few teachers about another culture, so it was worth it.  Next time I am buying some of the dehydrated squid!