She doesn't like corn...

From Instant Upload

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!!

From Instant Upload

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...

From Instant Upload

From Instant Upload

From Instant Upload

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!

From Instant Upload

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

From Instant Upload

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!

From Instant Upload

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)

From Instant Upload

From Instant Upload

From Instant Upload

From Instant Upload

From Instant Upload

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...

From Instant Upload

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.

From Instant Upload

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.

From Instant Upload

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

From Instant Upload

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...

From Instant Upload

These are some of my favorites.

From Instant Upload

These are pretty fun, too. =D

From Instant Upload

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.

From Instant Upload

Cherry pink!

From Instant Upload

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

From Instant Upload

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...

From Instant Upload

From Instant Upload

Bento Storage - Tools of the Trade

From Instant Upload

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

From Instant Upload

From Instant Upload