Bento Box Saves School Lunch! Onigiri Rocks!

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Oh, wow, I am SOOOO impressed!

No, impressed isn't strong enough. Totally bowled over!!!!!!

Those lunches are AMAZING!!!!!!

[zarfkitty]

Oh, wow, I am SOOOO impressed!

No, impressed isn't strong enough. Totally bowled over!!!!!!

Those lunches are AMAZING!!!!!!

**blush**

Thanks!

[pinktroll]

Our school is selling the laptop lunchboxes as a fund raiser (charter school) for $35.00 each. For those of you who have used these, does the food ever migrate between compartments or does everything stay put pretty well? And does the small box with the lid really keep liquids like salad dressing from leaking? Nikkie

[BreeVanDeCamp]

Thank you so much for sharing these photos and the entire concept of Bento! I am very excited to start experimenting. All three of my kids will be in school come September and this will solve so many lunch issues for me. My husband is T1 diabetic so like it or not, he's getting Bentos for lunch too (minus the rice).

I love pretty food. This is right up my alley.

[buffettbride]

Our school is selling the laptop lunchboxes as a fund raiser (charter school) for $35.00 each. For those of you who have used these, does the food ever migrate between compartments or does everything stay put pretty well? And does the small box with the lid really keep liquids like salad dressing from leaking? Nikkie

I am going to bring up the Laptop Lunches as a fundraiser at DD's school as well.

I have not had any trouble with food migrating w/out lids and just being in the main container and we have had no problems with the small box lid leaking at all. I was hesitant about leakage as well but so far so good. I've used it for salsa, salad dressing, peanut butter, butter, and sour cream with no problems.

I am also confident with the Laptop Lunches ladies that they will ensure satisfaction and they have responded to EACH of my emails (they even changed my order after I submitted it because DD decided she wanted "Pink" instead of "Whimsical").

Seriously, the part of the day I look forward to most is packing DDs lunch. Oh, the small things in life...

[Mango04]

Okay I just ordered a Mr. Bento. The Ms. Bento looks way cuter, but I think I need all four compartments LOL. I'm sort of freaking out over the fact that I just spend $40 on a lunch box but I'm excited! In 5-9 days I will be joining in on the bento trend!

[zarfkitty]

Our school is selling the laptop lunchboxes as a fund raiser (charter school) for $35.00 each. For those of you who have used these, does the food ever migrate between compartments or does everything stay put pretty well? And does the small box with the lid really keep liquids like salad dressing from leaking? Nikkie

We have had no "food migration" at all. In fact I've been surprised that my food decorations have stayed in tact.

Definitely no leaking at all from the small box.

[zarfkitty]

Okay I just ordered a Mr. Bento. The Ms. Bento looks way cuter, but I think I need all four compartments LOL. I'm sort of freaking out over the fact that I just spend $40 on a lunch box but I'm excited! In 5-9 days I will be joining in on the bento trend!

Cool! If it had just been my husband and I, we probably would have gone with Mr. Bento. But Laptop Lunch is better for River, definitely.

It's good that I can use the same "procedure" to set up all the lunches so it's good that all of ours are the same.

We expect a report in 5-9 days!

[Cheri A]

Wow, I have loved looking at this thread. I have a couple questions..

Do you think that if I just used smooshed up rice that it would work without the seaweed paper and other stuff?

I saw "sushi" rice yesterday at the store.. would that be the kind to buy?

When you all say that you are using cookie cutters, are they plastic or metal? I once tried to make my kids "lunchables" and the meat would not cut right w/the plastic cutters I have. The "cheese" was great though.

[2Boys4Me]

These all look fabulous, but how time consuming is it? I HATE cooking/baking, etc. and of course I'm in charge of it here. I do bake a lot and it's edible, but the less time I can spend on lunch, etc. the better. Add to that two very "selective" eaters. If it takes more than 5 minutes I'm not sure I can get on board. Dad makes school lunches on M/W/F and I have T/Th.

[buffettbride]

These all look fabulous, but how time consuming is it? I HATE cooking/baking, etc. and of course I'm in charge of it here. I do bake a lot and it's edible, but the less time I can spend on lunch, etc. the better. Add to that two very "selective" eaters. If it takes more than 5 minutes I'm not sure I can get on board. Dad makes school lunches on M/W/F and I have T/Th.

For me it's been a HUGE timesaver. I don't go all-out with animal shapes (although I might at some point), but I have a very busy household. Hubby and I both work full time, DS goes to preschool full time and DD is going into 5th grade (is in summer programs right now). I do make an effort to keep things colorful and different every day. Even if it's the same food a few days in a row I 'package' it differently each day. This week it's been peach/blueberry/kiwi fruit salad. One day it was mixed together, one day it was on toothpick kabobs, one day it topped a green salad mix. Stuff like that.

It's so seriously easy...it's almost as though you're taking a handful of a few things out of the fridge or whatever you have on hand and tossing it into the little boxes.

This is our routine:

1. As soon as we get home from work/school, she empties what's left in her lunchbox (if anything) and puts it in the sink.

2. I wash the containers and dry.

3. Cook dinner (usually make a little extra for leftovers). While I'm cooking, I try to do a little prep for lunch the next day, too.

4. Eat dinner.

5. Pack lunches during dinner cleanup. It's WAY easier to do the night before and saves precious minutes in the morning. Her lunch is usually leftovers, but I also use this time to toss in any fresh fruit or other non-leftover foods.

6. Fill up water bottle and store in fridge with packed lunch.

7. In the morning, I put the lunch container in the lunch carrier (we have the Laptop Lunches system) and off she goes.

It takes me about 15-30 minutes total to pack lunches for 3 people.

[zarfkitty]

These all look fabulous, but how time consuming is it? I HATE cooking/baking, etc. and of course I'm in charge of it here. I do bake a lot and it's edible, but the less time I can spend on lunch, etc. the better. Add to that two very "selective" eaters. If it takes more than 5 minutes I'm not sure I can get on board. Dad makes school lunches on M/W/F and I have T/Th.

It's actually saving me time on the food prep end. I spend very little time packing the food, even when I'm using molds and cookie cutters. The one day that I played with seaweed, I probably spent a good hour on all three lunches, but I WANTED to spend that time. It was very "zen."

If you just go with simple foods and not fancy decorations, you'll find you become more efficient than brown bag/tupperware/whatever.

[zarfkitty]

Wow, I have loved looking at this thread. I have a couple questions..

Do you think that if I just used smooshed up rice that it would work without the seaweed paper and other stuff?

I saw "sushi" rice yesterday at the store.. would that be the kind to buy?

When you all say that you are using cookie cutters, are they plastic or metal? I once tried to make my kids "lunchables" and the meat would not cut right w/the plastic cutters I have. The "cheese" was great though.

I don't need seaweed paper, I'm just using it for decoration.

Yes, get the "sushi" rice. It naturally sticks together. You don't even really need to "smoosh" it.

I'm using metal cookie cutters for cutting through corn tortillas, etc. I got them for under $10 at Williams-Sonoma. It's a tin with 12 little shapes in it. For molding the farm animals, I picked up some "ice cream sandwich molds" which are really just fancy cookie cutters, also at Williams-Sonoma for $10. They are plastic. I have cut through the corn tortillas with the plastic cutters too, come to think of it.

I saw good instructions online for using a cookie cutter and saran-wrap together as an onigiri mold. I'll have to find that again for y'all.

[taweavmo3]

YAY....just got my laptop lunches today! These lunchboxes have magical powers....I swear, my 8 year old immediately went into the kitchen and already has his lunch packed for the zoo tomorrow (perfect timing eh?)

The only hiccup is that from the picture, I thought the "whimsical" lunchbox was blue, but it's actually purple. My son still thought it was cool though....I think I'm just going to keep the purple one for myself, and order a blue one for him. I don't want some kid making fun of him for having a purple lunchbox, lol.

I also bought sushi and sweet brown rice today to give onigiri a shot..wish me luck. And who knew there was this whole Bento accesssory world out there? I ordered some cute little sauce containers and little skewers. Everything is little and cute.....it's so nice to have FUN with food!!!!

[Cheri A]

Way cool!!

Thanx for that info Buffetbride and Zarfkitty!

I checked Williams and Sonoma on the web and saw those ice cream molds...way cute!! I HAVE to have those! They didn't have the cutters on the site though. I'll have to see if I can get to the mall soon!

I looked through my cutters and used a star cutter today to cut out ham, cheese and bread for my dd. She thought it was great!

[MyOnlyHope4U]

Hi all!

Thanks so much for telling me about laptop lunches and for everyones great ideas!!! I do have a question or 2 about the system. How do the containers hold up when you reheat food? On the opposite side, when you use the icepack does it keep all the food sufficiently cold? Thank you so much for any help you can give! Im in highschool and would love to be able to use this lunchbox!!!

[zarfkitty]

Hi all!

Thanks so much for telling me about laptop lunches and for everyones great ideas!!! I do have a question or 2 about the system. How do the containers hold up when you reheat food? On the opposite side, when you use the icepack does it keep all the food sufficiently cold? Thank you so much for any help you can give! Im in highschool and would love to be able to use this lunchbox!!!

Hi!

You can use these containers in the microwave. They are also dishwasher safe if you only put them in the top drawer of the dishwasher. My husband has taken lots of leftovers and reheated them. We've also washed them in the dishwasher about seven times. So far, no warping. It's really good quality plastic. If you're using gladware or similar, you'll really see the difference.

Something I did the other day which was awesome: pack lots of chocolate chips in one of the small containers and strawberries in the other. Nuke the chocolate chips for chocolate-strawberry fondue! My lunch companions were so jealous!!

I wish I had more pics to post, but as the week got busier, the decorations weren't a priority. My little girl let me know about it too!! Hopefully I can get back into it this week.

[Cheri A]

Yummy strawberry fondue!! Great idea!! Keep them coming!!!

I'm going to go to Williams & Sonoma this week and pick up those molds. I want to try some ice cream sandwiches too

[zarfkitty]

Bento Update:

(still nothing picture-worthy; too busy!)

Today we had the most wonderful bento. I put deli meats (and cheeses as well for hubby only), almonds, grape tomatoes, baby spinach, strawberries, salad dressing and corn chips in our boxes. It was all "finger food" but it was kind of like a lunchable. I had fun wrapping deli meat around grape tomatoes and wrapping spinach around that and dipping it in the salad dressing.

Strawberries were on sale and I bought 4 pounds. I have to think of creative ways to eat them before they go bad. Maybe I'll make "breakfast bento" this week with all breakfast-y sweet things.

[taweavmo3]

I finally got to try out the Laptop Lunchboxes for the kids....they are a BIG hit. We went to the zoo and the museum this weekend, I was able to cram alot of food in, and we had some leftover for the car ride home. The only thing I need to work on is my Onigiri. I really spent alot of time on them, my daughter's are heart shaped, and one letter "E". The kids ate a little of it, but were not crazy about the taste. I used white sushi rice, I also have some sweet brown rice I might try next time.

The kids said it was too sticky, and I think it needed a good dipping sauce. Any ideas for me? I coated my dd's onigiri in toasted sesame seeds, which helped a bit. Anyway....here are some links to the piccies if anyone wants to see. My husband thinks I've lost my mind, taking pictures of food, lol.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/taw...o3/100_1391.webp

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/taw...o3/100_1390.webp

[zarfkitty]

I finally got to try out the Laptop Lunchboxes for the kids....they are a BIG hit. We went to the zoo and the museum this weekend, I was able to cram alot of food in, and we had some leftover for the car ride home. The only thing I need to work on is my Onigiri. I really spent alot of time on them, my daughter's are heart shaped, and one letter "E". The kids ate a little of it, but were not crazy about the taste. I used white sushi rice, I also have some sweet brown rice I might try next time.

The kids said it was too sticky, and I think it needed a good dipping sauce. Any ideas for me? I coated my dd's onigiri in toasted sesame seeds, which helped a bit. Anyway....here are some links to the piccies if anyone wants to see. My husband thinks I've lost my mind, taking pictures of food, lol.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/taw...o3/100_1391.webp

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/taw...o3/100_1390.webp

Yay!!! Those look really great!

Next time you make the sushi rice (white or sweet brown) put a little less water than you normally would and after it's done cooking, let it stand 10 minutes uncovered. That should help with the sticky factor. You want it to be sticky enough to mold but you can play with it a bit to your kids' liking.

Keep up the good work!

p.s. my husband didn't even blink when I was photographing our lunches... I guess he figures my mind slipped away a long time ago...

[Mango04]

My Mr. Bento arrived yesterday . The thing is huge!...and heavy when packed! Definitely not good for young kids. I had fun packing it though. Didn't do anything fancy...just carrots, broccoli, hummus, rice, beans and grapes. I really wish it had a handle so I could just carry the thing instead of lugging the big carrying case around. Ah! Oh well. I get a better work-out now on my way to work LOL.

I do like the insulation factor though. I put the whole thing in the fridge overnight and so far it's stayed cold for about 3 1/2 hours. It supposed to be good for six hours. We'll see how it goes.

[zarfkitty]

My Mr. Bento arrived yesterday . The thing is huge!...and heavy when packed! Definitely not good for young kids. I had fun packing it though. Didn't do anything fancy...just carrots, broccoli, hummus, rice, beans and grapes. I really wish it had a handle so I could just carry the thing instead of lugging the big carrying case around. Ah! Oh well. I get a better work-out now on my way to work LOL.

I do like the insulation factor though. I put the whole thing in the fridge overnight and so far it's stayed cold for about 3 1/2 hours. It supposed to be good for six hours. We'll see how it goes.

Excellent! So how did it "feel" to eat out of it? One of the first things I noticed the first time I used my laptop lunch was that it was so much better than baggies or gladware. It felt like a real meal. I really looked forward to eating lunch. (and I also enjoyed my self-righteous environmentalism since I didn't create any waste with lunch.... but I'll get off my soapbox now.)

[Mango04]

Excellent! So how did it "feel" to eat out of it? One of the first things I noticed the first time I used my laptop lunch was that it was so much better than baggies or gladware. It felt like a real meal. I really looked forward to eating lunch. (and I also enjoyed my self-righteous environmentalism since I didn't create any waste with lunch.... but I'll get off my soapbox now.)

I also enjoyed the environmentalism aspect and it's great not having to carry a messy plastic grocery bag full of full of random sloppy tuperware containers and baggies and such. I might pick up a laptop lunchbox in the future. The whole visual presentation of that one is really appealing, even though I only make lunch for myself

[mamaloca2]

Thanks so much for introducing me to this fabulous lunchbox! I bought 3 and can't wait to try them out!