Bento Trail
Today was another sick day for me. The kids are much better, though. I could have cried with relief when Scott told me he was staying home from work today to take care of everyone. Here at the darkening end of the day, I think I’m finally seeing a glimmer of wellness in the distance. I still have no voice and a cruel cough, but I’m getting better. Hurrah.
Sick or no, we took a fun little spontaneous stroll through an interesting topic today: bento boxes. In Harvest Moon your character is given a box lunch every day, and Rose was curious about what exactly a box lunch IS, and I told her about bento and starting looking up links, and oh my, the internet is a wondrous thing.
Links we enjoyed:
Anna the Red’s Bento Factory. Amazing site. What an artist she is. My girls are Mario fans and loved her Super Mario Galaxy characters. But my favorite were the totoros and—here’s one for all my kidlitosphere friends—her tribute to Where the Wild Things Are.
This isn’t a bento but it may be the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life, EVER. (Remind me to tell you someday about my family’s deep affection for My Neighbor Totoro, which I think is my favorite animated movie of all time.) (You see how Totoro brings out the extreme declarations from me.)
Bento Box has some good background, especially the page about bento staples.
Loved the FAQ at Lunch in a Box…and every other page we went to!
Cooking Cute is everything its name promises.
You could spend all day oohing over the bento photos on Flickr.
We are almost always home for lunch, but these beautiful pictures give me much food for thought (ba dum bum) about simple ways to bring more beauty to the table and make healthy foods appealing. Not that all of the links above are about simplicity…there’s some pretty elaborate artistry happening there. But the principles are worth pondering.
Laurie M says:
Did you find
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
she reviews lunch boxes
and shows food in them – Healthy vegan food
I like her blog.
Glad you are on the mend
Laurie
On June 15, 2009 at 9:44 pm
GailV says:
I’m practically speechless with delight to discover the Totoro cream puffs, Totoro rice, and Totoro quail eggs (not that I’ve ever seen a quail egg, but you never know). I hadn’t even realized I should be looking for these things.
On June 16, 2009 at 3:40 am
Yvonne says:
My Neighbor Totoro–our family adores this movie. Actually, my oldest dd has watched everything in this vein she can get her hands on: ie Kiki’s Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky. Thanks for the link!
I’m glad you are feeling a bit better.
On June 16, 2009 at 5:57 am
Penny in VT says:
Sorry you’ve been sick Lissa, it always amazes me how you can be so interesting, even if you’re feeling down and out!
One of the nice things about taking an internet break, I’ve found, is that I get to enjoy a huge load of awesome Melissa Wiley posts when I return. I’ll be smiling and looking things up and thinking of you all day!
Be well, and be more well…
On June 16, 2009 at 6:33 am
Sarah N. says:
We’re huge Totoro fans here. It’s our favorite movie night dvd. My 5yo has a laptop lunchbox (http://www.laptoplunches.com) which is in the vein of a bento and she loves it. I rarely put in the time to make her lunch cute and creative when we pack it but it’s fun to have all the little compartments anyway.
I’m glad you’re feeling better.
On June 16, 2009 at 7:19 am
Sheila says:
Oh my GOODNESS, I have an intense urge to start carving up my vegetables after looking at the Red blog (all I can think about it how to make a Totoro using rice – I’ve forgotten her name even I’m so excited).
That was so incredibly cute. My Totoro fans will love that. I too had no idea such things were out there.
On June 16, 2009 at 8:40 pm
jkubenka says:
Oh, go to ichibankan.usa and buy some little, cute and cheap bento boxes. We use ours all the time; I pack snacks in them, sometimes a real lunch. That way, if I am out and about and doing a field trip with my daughter or errands or whatever, I have something.
I am not nearly as artistic as these websites, given that my daughter eats very healthy foods but also very plain foods, and mixing things up is a bad thing, in her opinion. 🙂
On June 17, 2009 at 2:55 am
Beck says:
My kids have bento boxes!
Yep.
Sometimes I even pack them cute.
On June 18, 2009 at 3:05 pm