Then I found a blog (and I wish I still remembered which one it was) that just used plain, ordinary European food, like I am used to, cut into tiny pieces and fit into a box. She even sometimes used simple Tupperware for her boxes. It gave me hope, and I timidly ventured into the world of bento.
I am BY NO MEANS an expert. And I also by no means stick just to bento. When my daughters, Feebz and Lolly, were only little, I loved taking the time to make adorable little toddler-sized bentos. And when Feebz started school last year, I had all the best intentions of keeping it going. Her first day's lunch (top tier of her bento box) was this:
(One for Lolly, one for Feebz.)
But as the days passed, and I realised I had to make lunches every day, I soon confessed that, try as I might, I was not SuperMom, and could not face doing this every day. So I settled for just ensuring that I sent her to school with healthy, varied meals. This I could do.
And this is what I've started this blog for. To give other parents ideas for lunches, and I certainly hope it will give other parents an opportunity to share their creative lunch ideas with me!
Now, I've titled this 'Getting Started' for a reason. Particularly if you are interested in bento, there are so many cute and interesting accessories out there, that it can be overwhelming to get started. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking you need it all before jumping in, but I'm here to say YOU DON'T. I've been collecting bento accessories for about four years, so I have accumulated quite a few things for making my lunches exciting, but to start with all you really need are:
-Some boxes. Plain plastic sandwich boxes or clip-safe style boxes or even simple leftovers tubs are fine. -A few cookie cutters. -A few small plastic tubs (the ones used for storing baby purees are fantastic) and maybe some silicone cupcake holders to use as dividers.
When doing your shopping for the week, stock up on small things that can get quickly thrown into a box around your main meal (which for me often ends up being a sandwich of some sort), like blueberries and raspberries, cocktail sausages, cherry tomatoes, olives (if your kids will eat them, mine won't), etc. But beware of foods that are soaked in syrup or brine, as they can leak onto other foods if not dried properly!
I also like making 'lunchable'-style lunches of crackers, cheese and ham, which is simple, but again, remember that if you are packing crackers with something moist like ham, you will make the cracker go soft. Always pack dry with dry and wet with wet.
Traditional bento almost always includes rice. As much as I'd love to be so traditional, rice very rarely makes it into lunch, though I have been trying different ways of getting it in. Rice moulds are fun, and so is colouring the rice with food colouring and using it as a background for a decorative bento. But for those of you like me, it's best to just forget traditional. I don't claim to be writing a bento blog; it's a lunch blog. I just happen to use bento boxes sometimes to pack my lunches in.
One more (big) thing. I rarely pack sugary snacks in my kids' lunches, except for fruit and yogurt. Sometimes I'll put in a small treat, like a cookie or a piece of chocolate. In general, I try to keep lunches to things like this:
-Main meal (chicken, sausage, sandwich, pasta, etc)
-Fruit
-Vegetables
-Cheese
-Sometimes crisps (if baked, not fried) or crackers
-A 'dessert' of sugar-free jello or homemade yogurt (store-bought if I'm out of EasiYo!) or something homemade like a cookie
-Drink (always 100% fruit juice, not juice drinks, and always a water bottle outside the bag)
If I pack raisins, treats or store-bought yogurt, that is the 'dessert', as these things are packed full of sugar. I know kids need fuel for the day, so I prefer to carb them up with natural sugars like fruit. Homemade yogurt has sugars in it, yes, but the benefits of the live bacteria, to me, outweighs the disadvantage of sugar. Not to forget that bread, crisps, crackers and pasta are all full of carbohydrates too. Lunches without a traditional 'dessert' will not be depriving them of carbohydrates, to be sure!
So, there's some wee start-up tips. If you make a fun lunch, take a photo and post it for all of us to see! It's not like you have to do this every day; if you find one morning that the mood strikes you, go for it. Then let me know how it turns out! Did your child eat it? Was your child excited about it? And don't forget - fun lunches can be for grown-ups too! What would your partner think if you sent him or her into work with little heart-shaped pizzas or star-shaped burgers?!
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