Posting Again

Okay, so it has been weeks and I apologize - especially to those who keep mentioning my delinquency. The girls both bought their lunch today, so I was the only bento bringer. I thawed out some frozen peas and made a quick green pea salad, threw in the half of a pork chop from last night, some cauliflower and fruit and voila! Lunch is ready. It isn't thrilling, but it is kind of pretty and healthy.

Just Bento

There is a great post about the philosophy and practice of bento over at Just Bento. Maki discusses what bento is, talks a little about the art of charaben (the very decorative, elaborate bentos) and about making a box lunch. If you are interested in bento at all, I recommend looking this over. This site is a great reference and a fun read.

Bento and Distraction

I have been making bento lunches right along, but having time to take pictures has been problematic. This has been a weird couple of weeks, but I am back now. Here is a picture of just one distraction that occurred - her name is Luna and she joins Chloe, Sandy, Maggie, and Linus at our house.

 I love all the little fun things that set bento apart from a boring lunch. I took a quick photo this morning of some of the fun little touches that can go into a bento to make it a little more decorative with no real effort (Cause little effort is important on a busy morning, and aren't they all busy mornings?)

Here are some picks of various sizes and shapes - including my newest acquisitions the pandas and the mini forks. Also pictured are a few sauce/dip holders. These are lots of fun and perky to put in a bento.

And Veronica's bento for today is a quick one. I put the chicken in the toaster oven just before I hopped in the shower; took it out shortly thereafter so it could cool - critical to put things in a bento after they cool!

So she has chicken nuggets, carrots and ranch, strawberries, ketchup (in the blue), Hot and Spicy Cheese Its, and a few Teddy Grahams. Not a lot of prep time, but she will eat it and I managed to use the little fork picks that I just got.