A lesson in Bento
We took the kids to the Utah State Fair today. Mostly because we have a friend from Japan visiting (last summer’s exchange student). Anyway, check out what they are serving at the fair this year:
I’m speechless! Deep Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, twinkies, snickers and oreo’s. My, how far we have fallen! I didn’t try these, but did let cereal boy enter an all you can eat ice cream festival! Then, when we walked into the cow barn, Anna looked around and said, “Delicious!” I laughed so hard I almost cried.
I had been eyeing some fabulous Bento boxes for some time now. The people in Japan use these little boxes to take their meals to school or work in. I haven’t been able to find them in the States, so I asked our friend to bring me some from Japan. To further illustrate the smaller portions they eat in Japan, I filled my new bento boxes.
Wow we eat too much. This is their lunch. Actually, they do fill their boxes better than I can. Here are some cute pictures Anna found online to show how much food they put in their box.
And here are the boxes Anna brought for us. Two child sizes, one adult. These boxes are about 3 inches by 5 inches. The red boxes are intended for rice in the bottom box, and vegetables in the top box. My kids want to bring them to school, but I’m too afraid I won’t get it back.
Posted: September 9th, 2008 under Lunch.
Tags: bento, healthy, kids, Lunch
Comments
Comment from Amy
Time September 9, 2008 at 7:02 am
Thanks Cathy. I hadn’t seen either site. And a quick click on the blog roll of lunchnugget brought me to this one. http://bentoanarchy.blogspot.com/
I had no idea these blogs were out there. Thanks
Comment from Jackie
Time September 9, 2008 at 8:51 am
You should totally let them take them to school. You can always get another online. I love bento boxes.
Comment from Amanda
Time September 9, 2008 at 10:44 am
You should check out Ichiban Kan online! http://www.ichibankanusa.com/
I used to live near Japan Town in San Francisco and loved this store. They have all sorts of fun bento boxes!
Comment from Natalie
Time September 9, 2008 at 11:00 am
very cute boxes and even cuter food!
i need to get one of these boxes for my daughter’s lunch box.
oh and i have to say that as a good southern girl, i think you could deep fry shoe leather and i would enjoy it! thus, why i am trying to raise my kids different. oh and i’m pretty sure that i have finally trained my stomach to not like foods like that so i am pretty sure if i ate those foods my body would punish me!
Comment from Doreen
Time September 9, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I have so got to get to the fair this weekend. Oh nevermind the guilt and the stomach ache would probably kill me.
Comment from Erin
Time September 9, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Lock and Lock makes a Bento box. I’ve been sending my daughter’s lunch to pre-school in it, and it’s worked very well. Here’s one:
http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/lock-lock-lunch-set-bag-4-piece-bottle-blue-hpl758s-blu
Comment from Angela
Time September 9, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Those Bento boxes are adorable. I want one. And yes, we do eat too much. 
Comment from allthingspurple
Time September 9, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Oh…I love bento boxes too! I keep buying them even though I know I don’t need that many! To justify it, I pack bento everyday!!
Yea, it is a concern that the kids won’t bring it back. Happened to me once and it is my kid’s favourite too!! A Love and Berry (Japanese character) one. Good thing I manage to find it at the school canteen.
Comment from Tricia
Time September 9, 2008 at 7:19 pm
This might seem weird, but I was wondering how much you spend on groceries a month. I’m trying to get my family (of 3) to eat healthier, but am finding it expensive to buy more fruits and veggies. I currently live in Okinawa, Japan (I love bento boxes too!!) and our fruits and veggies can cost a lot (last week a watermelon was on sale for $25). I currently spend about $150-200 every 2 weeks, but want to break it up into every week. Any advice you can give me would be great!! I love your blog for eating healthy!! Thanks Tricia
Comment from Heather
Time September 9, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Come to Texas! We have fried pumpkin pie, fried coke, fried cookie dough, fried latte, fried EVERYTHING!!! It is SOOOOOOO Gross!
Comment from Amy
Time September 10, 2008 at 4:34 am
Thanks for the links to the Bento Boxes ladies. I’m so excited to get some more. And for my southern readers! WOW, I had no idea people were still deep frying things. I do remember in college some gals from the south went out to buy a deep fryer before Thanksgiving to deep fry their turkey. Until then, I had never known you could deep fry an entire bird. But Heather!!!! Fried Coke???? I don’t even understand how you do that!
Comment from Amy
Time September 10, 2008 at 4:34 am
Tricia, I think it would be very hard to save money on food in Japan. My short answer is, I budget $500 per month on food, but I almost always go over, so apparently it hasn’t been realistic. I am so ready to crack down however. Produce is expensive, but meat and cheese are even more expensive. So for the next few weeks, I’m going to substitute many of our meat dishes with beans (very cheap) and really keep track of my expenses. I just updated my “price list” where I can keep track of the best prices for food. And I will update you when I get a true result of what we’ll spend, my goals, and what food we are eating.
The best prices for some great produce for me have been in the freezer! Frozen fruit and frozen vegetables in my area are usually cheaper than fresh, and as long as they don’t add sugar, are a great part of a healthy diet. Stock up on this when they are on sale. Then make sure to use inexpensive yet healthy dishes such as beans, rice, and oatmeal.
Good luck! I promise an update in a week or so.
Pingback from An Apple a day keeps the doctor away | Healthy Food Ideas for Super Healthy Kids
Time September 10, 2008 at 7:50 am
[...] to get back into the kitchen. They make everything look so easy. And a big thanks to everyone who commented on where to pick up Bento Boxes. I’m so grateful. And for making me laugh about the [...]
Comment from jillf
Time September 10, 2008 at 8:53 am
I’m a little in the dark here. I just heard of Bento boxes about a week ago in an article in The Washington Post about making school lunches. But I STILL don’t know. What exactly is a Bento box, and how is it different from any other box?
Comment from Amy
Time September 10, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Hey Jill! OK, they are just regular old boxes… but #1, They are cuter! #2, they are smaller in size than a lunch box, thus the lesson in portion sizes. #3, many of them come with little dividers to separate your rice from your other food, or they have stacked boxes that tie together to separate your food. And they are cheap! In Japan they are like $1.00!
Comment from Heather
Time September 10, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Hey Amy,
I know Crazy Hu? Fried Coke!!! It was at the Texas State fair last year. So what they do is just pour the coke in the oil like you would a funnel cake batter and it bubbles up and fries into cripy, greasy, SO GROSS, Coke ball thingys. Who eats this stuff anyway?
Pingback from Teenagers and Bento boxes | Healthy Food Ideas for Super Healthy Kids
Time October 2, 2008 at 4:04 am
[...] My friend has tried many things to talk her out of eating out. Then she tried getting some Bento boxes. A link from a commenter Amanda led her to an online store to buy some. Here is what her [...]
Comment from nadnye
Time July 6, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Tumble to this website..
actually I’m looking for idea’s in Bento boxes and recipes..
Comment from cathy
Time September 9, 2008 at 6:58 am
Cute! Have you seen these sites: http://healthylunchbox.blogspot.com/ and http://www.lunchnugget.com/. Lots of lunch ideas packed into a bento box. Good for ideas when you get stuck in a rut (as I tend to do).