By Tina Peng
Trying to keep Johnny from trading his apple for a bag of chips? A small subset of overachieving American parents have started sending their kids to school with bento boxes, packed meals that emphasize portion control and nutritional balance. The boxes meet guidelines set by Japan’s food pyramid: three parts grain (usually rice), one part meat and two parts vegetable—no junk food, no candy and as little oily, greasy food as possible. Deborah Hamilton of lunchinabox.net goes the extra mile by making faces out of cheese, and bunnies out of apple slices. But novices can easily jazz up sandwiches, pasta, salads and stews with toothpicks or colorful fruits and vegetables. “It’s just a compact, balanced, visually appealing lunch,” she says.
Buy traditional boxes at jlist.com and ichibankanusa.com, or use shallow plastic containers like the three-piece Lock & Lock ($6.99; heritagemint .com). Other useful accessories include silicone baking cups to use as dividers, and thermal containers, like the Nissan Stainless Steel Food Jar ($19.95; amazon.com).
