TipSheet : Bento Boxes for the Preschool Set

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Bento Boxes for the Preschool Set

Newsweek

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).

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Posted By: fabricdragon (June 26, 2008 at 4:53 PM)

not just for kids..

as an adult i find bento boxes are great for portion control, and making everything pretty encourages me to slow down a bit and enjoy each bite. A bento is just a Japanese style lunch box, so don't get intimidated, while the really fancy ones are true works of art (just see the book "Face Food" if you don't believe me) they can be fast, basic, and easy...and loads of fun.

If you want to get an idea of whats available in the boxes themselves, just type "Bento Box" into your favorite sales /auction site, or search engine. I have bento boxes that are cute (Hello Kitty and one shaped like a hamburger) and boxes that are elegant enough to be displayed as artwork, its all out there.

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Posted By: GustoMaybe (June 15, 2008 at 8:46 PM)

Nice article, but how do you actually prepare the foods that are supposed to go into the bento boxes? For that, I highly recommend "The Manga Cookbook" at http://www.mangacookbook.com

It's got an entire section called "Buld A Bento." Yummy!

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Posted By: MilaXX (June 12, 2008 at 2:04 PM)

@kim

Nothing extravagant about bento lunches and definitely not just for kids. I have been packing bento lunches for about 3 months now. It's a great way to control your diet and watch portion control. It's all in the prep work. Spending and hour on Sunday evening prepping food for the week, means I spend less than 15 minutes a days preparing a nutritious meal (and snack).

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