hapa bento

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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I received an email asking if a “real” bento box is required to qualify as an official bento lunch?

The simple answer…no!

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Ham blossoms!  A simple way to dress-up a bento lunch without special tools.  All you need is a  knife!

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You may of noticed that lately I’ve been packing our bentos with kongbap.  A Korean mixture of rice (brown or white) along with beans and grains.   Read the rest of this entry →

As this compilation photo demonstrates…there are many different styles of bento boxes and fillings to choose from.  And if you’re a beginner, you may have some questions.

If you are new to packing bento lunches… here’s some help.

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School is not yet in session in our area—not until after the “Labor Day” holiday.  So unil then, I’ll  post a few more back-to-school bento examples.

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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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As you know, I lost all my media in the recent “failure to back up” pc fiasco!  But I won’t dwell except to say that the new “movie maker” application on my new pc is much easier to use…so let’s move forward with another video on “how to pack a bento”!

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Continuing our video/slideshow of “how to pack a bento” with this quickly made bento lunch using leftover pancit (Filipino fried noodles) from a party!  I also reached into my bento-stash of hardboiled eggs  to provide extra protein.

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