You’ve probably seen them all over Pinterest: compartmentalized boxes with fruits, veggies, and other tiny foods molded into adorable animals and designs. Bento (Japanese for “boxed lunch”) lunch boxes are becoming a popular choice for school lunches, and it’s easy to see why. They include smaller portions, they’re usually fairly healthy, and kids love the fun shapes and colors.
It’s easy to put together a fun bento lunch box for your child. You can make them as simple or as intricate as you want, and use anything from mini sandwiches to last night’s leftover meatballs. Alphamom suggests using cookie cutters on soft foods to make shapes, stacking veggies like carrots into neat piles, and making roll-ups with deli-sliced meat and cheese. If you don’t have a box or container with individual compartments, you could use cupcake wrappers to separate the foods or strategically arrange them so they don’t end up all over the box by the time your child opens it at lunchtime.
Check out this post on Inhabitots for more bento lunch box ideas!
Feature image courtesy of I Love Egg on Flickr (CC BY 3.0)
Have you ever tried making a bento lunch box? Tell us about it!
