The B.O.M.B. for March
It’s time to post your B.O.M.B. entries for March! The entry period is now closed and a winner has been selected! Click here to find out who it is!
When I picked the theme for March’s “B.O.M.B. Challenge” my brain instinctively went to the “St. Patrick’s Day” idea , which then morphed into a “green” thing and finally landed on “green living things as baran” theme.
So there you go… the challenge is to use only natural “green” (non-artificial) items as baran in your bento.
What is baran you ask? Baran is an item that’s used to separate foods in a bento box. Traditionally it’s supposed to have antibacterial properties as well as acting as a physical barrier between different food items. Fresh cut leaves such as shiso and bamboo are an excellent choice as long as they are green and have no pesticides. They may also assist in preserving your bento’s freshness.
Important note: The bamboo I’m referring to is the real bamboo leaves, not the “lucky bamboo” you often see on the counter of Asian shops and restaurants. Though this attractive decorative shrub resembles bamboo — this plant is the dracaena sanderiana and is not related to the bamboo species at all. I’ve read that it’s toxic to pets, so I would advise not to use this plant or any other type of plant leaves without further investigation.
Other safe choices for “living” or “natural” baran are red cabbage leaves, cucumber slices, carrot slices or any neutral tasting veggie. Your choice of “green baran” doesn’t have to be the color green at all! How about some jicama?
Another idea …instead of a silicone or paper cup, use a cucumber or lettuce leaf to cradle your food. Be creative and have fun!
The March B.O.M.B. rules are simple:
1. The B.O.M.B. Challenge starts now.
2. The last day to submit will be March 20, 2010 at Midnight PST.
3. Your submission must be a bento without any artificial baran, dividers or cups.
4. If your bento came with a matching divider or section…that’s okay.
5. Any color of leaf or veggie qualifies. Just make sure it’s fresh, clean, non-poisonous, and pesticide free.
6. You can enter as often as you like.
7. The B.O.M.B. will be selected randomly so get creative and don’t be shy!
8. Have fun!
Submit your natural and ”green” baran bento box with a link in the comments.
How fun! Thanks for the challenge
Yay! What a great new challenge!
Great idea for the new challenge!
interesting.
Hope I’m up to this challenge!
I missed the first 2 B.O.M.B and they seem so fun! I read this post and recalled that I was so happened making a bento for my boy this morning using green coral as food baran for the sandwich, prunes and candy. Just thought of joining the fun, and I hope this bento is up to the B.O.M.B requirements!
http://www.kidsdreamwork.com/2010/03/04/sid-the-sloth-bento/
Will try to be more creative and see if I can submit any other entries since now I get to know the B.O.M.B. theme
Entry #1
Hi, I love the lettuce baran! Thanks for “breaking the ice” and welcome to our blog!
fun and creative idea! i have used cucumber and lettuce as baran before, but i can’t wait to think of even more things to use!
p.s. i suspected something green was going to be a part of the theme, because i’ve been keeping my eye on your amazon store and noticing tons of green boxes in there
hehehe… yes, I ‘m always “planting” hints in the ads and articles for future fun and games. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
here’s my first entry! sesame leaf is used as a baran separating rice and my veggie/protein section. sesame leaf has the same sort of shape as shiso, but it’s much bigger, and slightly duller in color. it has a wonderful taste, too — less citrusy than shiso, more nutty. it’s used in the korean dish kket-nip (more info at http://www.trifood.com/banchan1.html), which i looooove.
here’s the bento: http://bentozen.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/ume-ladybug-bento/
Entry #2
Thanks gamene for your entry. I also like using the sesame leaf. The first time I saw “sesame leaf”, I thought they made a mistake with the sign! LOL!
Hi, drop by through Lia Chen’s blog. love the bento idea here, will drop by often..^^
Hi Rachel, Welcome to our blog! Thank you for your nice comments.
Sounds so cool! I’ll take a part for this March B.O.M.B
I want to enter with this bento:
http://shelikesbento.blogspot.com/2010/03/bento-18-healthy-bento.html
I used some cucumber halves as baran between the fish and the apples. Hopefully I will have some better ones in the next couple of days, because that is when the dinner bento’s are coming up!
Entry #3
I don’t know if this counts, but I used plain pasta as baran between my pizza and my broccoli.
http://totorobento.blogspot.com/2010/03/2262010-pizza-bento-for-friday-again.html
Hooray for another BOMB contest!
Entry #4
I used lettuce in my dinner bento between the Foo Yong Hai and the fruit
http://shelikesbento.blogspot.com/2010/03/bento-20-noodle-dinner-bento.html
Entry #5
second entry – cucumber slices and pea pods for baran! http://bentozen.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/squirrel-bento/
Entry #6
raw baby spinach as baran!
Here is my 1st entry:
http://bentofun.info/2010/03/bento-fun-114-see-no-evil-say-no-evil-hear-no-evil/
No barans!
Entry #7
Debra, this is my first ‘green’ baran entry : http://www.mybentolicious.com/2010/03/bentolicious-068.html
Entry #8
Hi! Here’s my first green baran entry. I used part of a spaghetti squash as a container for quinoa, and also made use of fresh kale and scented geranium leaves. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ehmeelu/4420671839/
Entry #9
I finally got my act together to post a B.O.M.B. entry! It’s not terribly exciting, and I might have “borrowed” one of your ideas for baran…but that’s just motivation to make my next entry even better!
http://twentysomethingreview.blogspot.com/2010/03/bomb-entry-1-for-march.html
Entry #10
Hi Debra,
My second entry, with lettuce as baran!
http://bentofun.info/2010/03/bento-fun-116/
Entry #11
Debra, here’s my second entry for ‘green’ baran challenge :
http://www.mybentolicious.com/2010/03/bentolicious-069.html
Entry #12
Hi hapabento!
This is my first entry in a bomb challenge ever! i had some entries for last month, but i never got around to submitting them.
My baran are carrot leaves!
http://discojing.com/carte-postale-de-centrafricaine/
Entry #13
Green Baran ftw!
Lettuce leaf, actually one I use nearly EVERY day
http://happylittlebento.blogspot.com/2010/03/gyoza-bento.html
Entry #14
Fresh mint baran!http://bentobird.blogspot.com/2010/03/blue-hyacinth-and-mint-bento.html
Entry #14
Not sure if this qualifies as an entry as tempeh is not technically a vegetable!
http://notabrownbag.wordpress.com/2010/03/13/bento-24-tempeh-two-ways/
Entry #15
Here is my third entry for ‘green’ baran : http://www.mybentolicious.com/2010/03/bentolicious-070.html
Entry #16
Hi Debra ^-^
This moth I finally can enter the contest, too
So here is the link to my bento with green baran “Chinese cabbage”
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2776/4434035715_347f0fa860_o.jpg
Entry #17
Hi!
Here’s my second entry, featuring cuke baran: http://bentobird.blogspot.com/2010/03/rainy-sunday-at-eden-center.htm
Entry #18
A real challenge. Here is my entry. I’m not sure if it would be considered a real baran or not. You be the judge.
http://allingoodfood42.blogspot.com/2010/03/bento-11.html
Entry #19
my entry here
Entry #20
Here is my B.O.M.B entry – my St Patrick’s Day one – I used Brocolli to divide the Leprechaun from his Guinness, how cruel!
) LOL http://blog.bento-box.org.uk/275/leprechaun-bento/
Entry #21
Hope this count too … my last entry : http://www.mybentolicious.com/2010/03/bentolicious-073.html
Entry #23
In the nick of time I’m entering a few of the bentos with non-plastic baran, I made this last month. I use veggie baran most of the time, but finding cupless bento for entries proofed a bit harder.
1° Tuna bento had cucumber baran
2° Wortelstoemp bento had red lettuce baran to separate the fruits from the veggies and I think the cauliflower would qualify as baran as well
3° Pasta Salad bento #2 had the faithful cucumber baran
4° Lemongrass scampi bento had a carrot and a red lettuce baran.
5° St Patrick’s Day bento #1 had a cucumber and green lettuce baran.
As you can see they are not very spectacular, but I hope they qualify as entries
Entry #24, #25, #26, #27, #28
This is mine with carrots as baran:
http://blebt.blogspot.com/2010/03/bento-16.html
Entry #29
I used slices of kiwi and pineapple for my baran:
http://itsnotallbento.blogspot.com/2010/03/dinner-bento-03152010.html
Entry #30
This is my second entry:
http://itsnotallbento.blogspot.com/2010/03/bentos-03172010.html
sliced apple baran
Entry #31
This is my third entry
http://shelikesbento.blogspot.com/2010/03/bento-22-poffertjes-bento.html
Entry #32
And my forth one
http://shelikesbento.blogspot.com/2010/03/bento-23-st-patricks-day-bento.html
Entry #33
This is my second entry
http://allingoodfood42.blogspot.com/2010/03/bento-12.html
Entry #34