hapa bento

UPDATE: Entry phase is now closed and the voting begins here on Facebook!

Woo hoo!  It’s Back-to-School Bento Contest time!  UPDATE:  See below for new dates!

But first… today’s Back-to-School bento is filled with yummy Lazy Tuna Sushi. The basic recipe is here.

And  as you can see the recipe can be modified to suit your tastes.  This time I left out the scrambled egg and bulked up on the tuna.

The very roomy bottom tier allows for a whole boiled egg which I molded into a fun fish-shape, zucchini, carrots and cherries!

Yes… my bento box collection has a new addition thanks to our friends at Japanistic.com

Isn’t it adorable?  And very versatile too.  I can think of many ways to pack this cutie!  How about a sammy in the bottom tier with fruit on top.

More information on about this adorable Elpha 2-Tier Onigiri Case along with other cool bento items can be found on their site.

What?  You say you’d like to have this box for your very own?  Okay… here how you can win one:

Win this bento box with matching travel chopsticks!

Contest Rules:

1. Contest is open to US mailing address only.
2. Post a photo of  your bento creation on my hapa bento flickr group.  Add “hapa bento contest” in the description.
3. If you are not a member of Flickr then email the photo to me or add to the comments below and I’ll post it for you.
4. You can enter as many bentos as you like, but only one of them will be selected for the final voting.
5. The bento entry must be a recent creation.
6. Charaben or kyaraben is accepted but not required. Your bento entry does NOT need to be cute.
7. Entries will be accepted from now until Sept. 2, 2011   Extending until Sept. 9, 2011
8. All selected bentos will be accepted for final voting.
9. Voting will take place Sept. 10, 2011 through Sept. 16, 2011.

I can’t wait to see your bento entries!

Good luck and have fun!
For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

Another Back-to-School bento idea for today’s post.  How about ravioli and sausage? Yes!!!

And packed in one of my most favorite Elph boxes from Japanistic.

Today’s bento is filled with mushroom ravioli, vegetarian sausage, asparagus, carrots, bit’s of smoked mozzarella and a cherry tomato.

If you decide to pack a similar bento just remember to keep things light and not add too much sauce.  And you can add almost any type of vegetable if asparagus in not a favorite.

For more ideas visit my Back-to-School page for tips and suggestions.

Also, I’ll be announcing a contest in a  few days where you will have a chance to win a cute bento box from our friends at Japanistic!

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

Walking through the grocery store the other day and I spied this super-adorbs sandwich box in a “Back-to-School” display!

Yikes! It is THAT time of year already?!

So the bento-nerd in me immediately went for it!  I checked every sort of box and container for it’s “bento-worthiness”…

Lo and behold this blue with robot sandwich box is a perfect candidate for the first “Back-to-School” (BTS) post for 2011!

But what did I pack in this sandwich box?

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Did your teen-ager declare herself a vegetarian and refuses to eat food bought from the school cafeteria? No problem, pack her a meat-free bento lunch!

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More  ”back-to-school bento” using the ever-popular sandwich box!  There’s a specific reason why I like using this style of box. Read the rest of this entry →

Today’s back-to-school bento contains items that are near-and-dear to my heart.  When I was a kid,  we called our packed lunches, “home-lunch”!

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I don’t create many cute bento box lunches, but if I had a little tyke, I’d probably pack a school lunch like this one!

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Today’s Back-to-School bento features a “no nonsense” approach to packing your child’s lunch.  No cuteness allowed?  No time to stock your “bento-stash”?  This bento style may help you.

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If you’ve been following my other series…  “How to Pack a Bento”‘ ,  I’m  happy to announce  that I’ve combined it (for now) with the “Back-to-School” series with this new step-by-step video!

Details on this bento are posted here   which  explains a bit more about it’s  contents and a few important tips about packing bentos for school.  I also posted a recipe for the Chicken Tsukune here.

This bento is featured on “Coffee and Vanilla”  roundup!

And on:

Here’s the first of our series of  back-to-school bento lunches!  But before we jump into the foods and fillers there are some guidelines that may be helpful for those who are new to packing bento box lunches. There’s also a special surprise!

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Our local farmers’ markets have inspired me to try some new things for lunch.  Today’s bento is a sandwich featuring portabella mushroom with melted cheese!

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