She doesn't like corn...

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She brought her bento home from school today completely empty... except for the corn! She doesn't complain about it, but she doesn't eat it!

Busy busy busy!!

I have been one busy beaver lately!! Not too busy to make bentos for my sweet daughter every day, but apparently too busy to post them to the blog!! Things will settle down after this month and maybe I can get caught up. In the meantime, here's her bento for today!!

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Tools of the Trade: Silicone Cups

Some people use paper cups in their bentos, but I like the silicone. Easy to clean, they don't get soggy, and best, I don't have to throw them away or buy more! Woohoo! Here's a peek at my silicone cup collection...

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These cups are simply Wilton cupcake cups in flower shapes. They come in several shapes. Unfortunately, because of the lip around the edge, they don't fit in many bento boxes. Still, they're fun!

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These shaped silicone cups I use all the time, at least the stars and flowers. They came from World Market and are pretty inexpensive.

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Or, there are your standard cupcake cups in silicone. These are good, too. You can get them just about anywhere. And this? Well, it's an ice cube tray and I haven't yet figured out exactly what to do with it, but I like it. LOL!

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This week's lunch bunch

This week you get all the lunches in one big bunch. I timed myself as I made bentos on Sunday... took me 30 minutes to make these 5 bentos, so approximately 6 minutes each. That wasn't even working quickly, that was just making them at a leisurely pace. I definitely like making them in a batch, because it would take longer than 6 minutes to make them each morning, I'm sure. Here's the lunch bunch for this week... (in no particular order)

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Tools of the Trade: Bento Boxes

I have a lot of friends ask me where I get my bento boxes. I have gotten a few of them from the internet, but the website I used is no longer functional. The rest I got from Daiso in Washington, and, unfortunately for most of us, they only have stores in WA and CA. The good news is that I will hopefully have a chance to go to Daiso in November, and will be picking up extra bento boxes for those who want them.

Here's the basic anatomy of a standard bento box...

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A bento box typically has 2 stackable food compartments, each with their own lid. Many bento boxes are oblong, though they come in many shapes and sizes. Many also have an additional lid under which utensils can go.

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One nice thing about stackable bento boxes is that they are also nestable, which is space saving for storage. That also means that if you just want to use one layer of the bento box, say, for a snack instead of a meal, you can.

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When using both layers, one stacks on top of the other, and the layers are held together by an elastic strap (not pictured).

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Of course, as I said, bento boxes come in many shapes and sizes. I am one for more standard boxes, so I don't have all the cute novelty ones. It would be fun, I just don't. Here are the bento boxes I have...

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These are some of my favorites.

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These are pretty fun, too. =D

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This was one of my first bento boxes and the only one I've ever had break. The lid has a crack in it. I should probably get rid of it, but I haven't.

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Cherry pink!

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I actually have a couple of these, one in yellow and one in pink.

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These are the oddest shaped bento boxes I have. Not all that odd, but I probably use these the least, since they are the least standard I have. I like standard. =D And here's how I store my bento boxes...

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Bento Storage - Tools of the Trade

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When we built our house, I knew that I was going to want to have a cabinet for bento storage. I have lots of bento supplies that I use regularly, so it just made sense that they have their own dedicated home. It's one of the nice things about designing your own house. =D This is my bento cupboard.

I have 3 clear bins of bento boxes, one of cookie cutters, one of silicone cups, one of smaller containers, and 3 divided containers for smaller pieces. And, of course, I have them labeled because I *heart* my label maker!

Strawberry Kiwi

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I *heart* bentos...

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Apple Applause

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Very fall!! Apple shaped cucumbers, leaf shaped crackers, and leaf shaped tortilla sandwiches.

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Quick Take..

I was in a hurry one morning and didn't have a bento made for her. Here's what she got...

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Fall is here!!!

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Tools of the Trade: Cutters...

In my bento supply cabinet, I have 2 kinds of cutters... Sandwich cutters and Cookie cutters.

Sandwich cutters are easy to find, for the most part. I have picked up these ones from Walmart, Target, and Albertsons. They're at pretty much every grocery store:

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The downside to these is that sometimes they don't fit well into the long, skinny bento boxes. The hearts and butterfly do okay, but the other two require a more square container.

I also have this sandwich cutter, which I like better for bentos. I have seen other variations on this idea, but none that have been easy for me to come by, so this is what I have. =D

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It cuts 3 animal faces and a heart at the same time. I would like to get more of these. I don't often use sandwiches in my bentos, though, so I don't know if it would be worth the investment. 

As for cookie cutters, I have some bento-specific cookie cutters that I bought at Daiso. They're really nothing special, though. 

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Maybe my FAVORITE cookie cutters right now are the new cutters I got. They're spring loaded pie crust cutters from Norpro and I originally thought I could use them for sandwiches. I've found, though, that they work GREAT for stacks of sliced cheese!

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I also have picked up cutters designed for fondant in the Wilton cake decorating section. Honestly, I rarely use these, but I thought they were cute!

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Pretty much any small cookie cutter will work for bentos, as long as it doesn't have any teeny tiny intricate spots for food to get stuck and break off. Here's more of my collection...

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Metal cutters are perhaps the nicest, because they cut easily through meat and vegetables. 

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I store my bento supplies in clear shoebox size containers in the bento cabinet. Some of my smaller cookie cutter sets I group together in small containers to keep the pieces together. Everything else gets tossed in randomly.

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Bento*riffic on Etsy!!

Bento*riffic, the etsy shop is LIVE!!! I have been sewing up a storm and making bento straps and they are making their way to an etsy shop near you! Woohoo! Check it out and let me know what you think! You can find me here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/elizabethwickland

A Hearty Picnic Bento

Eliana had a friend come over after school on Friday, so I put together a couple quick bentos so they could take them to the pond for a picnic. Because it was just a quick bento, I decided to bust open the single-use bento boxes I got at Daiso last time I was in WA. I originally got them for a workshop I was going to do, and then that fell through. So today I pulled them out to use.

I was surprised at how flimsy they are, but then again, they are one time use things. They are recyclable, which is more than I can say for ziplocks, so I am still good with it. They don't have any sort of closure, so I used a couple of those shaped rubber band "silly bands" that my daughter is so excited about. Worked like a charm.

I wouldn't use these for every day use, but for a workshop where I teach others some tips and techniques for packing bentos, I would use them. I have one of those dancing around in my mind right now, waiting to be planned, but we'll see when and how that will come together.

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Heart apple, heart sandwich, and carrot slices.

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Bento Straps

Once upon a time I bought a couple bento straps. I bought the cutest one I could find (the heart) and a two-pack of another strap.

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That's when I decided the world needed cuter bento straps. I tried my hand at several designs after looking online at what I could purchase if I lived someplace like Japan or Singapore.

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Ribbon with elastic. Cute, but there are definite limitations to the stretchiness of them. Still, they're functional and I use them regularly.

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Elastic with shaped buttons. These have become by far my favorite. The downside I found is that I don't particularly like white elastic. I found some black elastic, too, but was done making bento straps by that time, so it didn't happen. White elastic is fine, but as you can see by the pink and green bento straps, it gets dirty. Ellie tends to put the straps into the bento box, so food gets on it. You can wash them, but jello just isn't that forgiving. Still, very functional, and pretty stinkin' cute if I do say so myself.

So now I have found a source for some elastic that is fun and there are actual serious plans to open that etsy bento shop I thought about before. Now I'm just trying to figure out how much it really costs to make a bento strap and what a fair price to sell them for is.

Decisions, decisions...