bento!

[shalna]

I know, I know, I never post...

Anyway, I've become very curious about bento boxes. Anyone here use them? Any suggestions for where to buy a cute one (apparently Finnish stores don't have them, not even online stores) and where to find nice recipes and ideas for a bento lunch online? Any favourite bento cookbooks?

annabattista? Anyone else?

Comments

[annabattista]

Yay, a new bento obsessive!

This website does all kinds of awesome bento boxes: http://www.jbox.com/category/819

If you don't want to pay the silly postage costs though, you could try this French website: www.monbento.com. I got the MB original - not sure what size you're looking for but bear in mind, those are larger than traditional Japanese bentos, and most of the times I only use one tier because I struggle to fill it! It's worth checking the volume, most bentos are between 500-700ml but the ones on Mon Bento are 1L!

You may find that a traditional bento box doesn't hold a lot of food but it all depends on the way you pack it, and even though I'm a big eater I'm very happy with a 600ml box now. It did take me a while to understand how to pack it right for my needs!

My favourite website is www.justbento.com, and its sister Just Hungry, they have plenty of tips for beginners. LJ used to have a really active and brilliant community, Bentolunch, it's not so active these days but the archives are well worth a trawl!

Bon appetit!

[shalna]

Hee, a bento obsessive in making, I suppose... :)

Thanks a lot for all this info! I ended up ordering a cute 600 ml bento from kawaii shop Modes4U. Right now I plan to use my bento for my snacks, probably not for my lunches. I feel I should plan my snacks better or I'll never eat enough veg and fruit. I hope having them chopped and ready to eat in my bento would make sure I'd actually eat them during my day at home with my son.

I may start preparing bento lunches when I go back to work next year and Just Bento & Just Hungry seem to have the kind of things I'd like. I ended up ordering the Just Bento cookbook too and can't wait to receive it, as well as my bento! I'll take a look at the Bentolunch archives too. :)