Top Tips
TOP TIPS from Lunch in a Box on how to pack a speedy, attractive lunch to go
(Don’t miss the Bento FAQ, the Recipes Page for organized links to all Lunch in a Box recipes, a list of Decorative Food on Lunch in a Box, and Product Reviews. The Tips section of the Lunch in a Box community forum also has many great ideas; check it out!)
- Bento FAQ
- Need for speed: A mommy’s lunch manifesto
- Guide: Choosing the right size bento box
- Guide: How to pack a bento lunch and fill gaps
- Guide: Bento gear care and maintenance
- Guide: Food safety for packed lunches
- Avoid airplane food, pack your own bento lunch!
- Hot vs. cold lunch packing considerations
- Six ways to make sure your lunch gear comes home
- Lunch containers & kitchen gear
- Microwaving in plastic
- Top 7 things to do with leftover food scraps
- Bentos and the picky eater
- A little bit about oekakiben decorative food art bentos
- Bento Store Locator (BSL) with Google Maps and user-generated store feedback
- Online stores for bento gear
- How to cut your food bills
TUTORIALS
- Curry gyoza, a leftover remake
- Decorative banana wedges
- Edible paint
- Faux salmon roe (vegetarian) & how to outsmart seafood allergies
- Fried quail eggs in a ladle
- Fruit jello cup stash
- Grilled rice balls (yaki onigiri)
- Ice cube tray sushi: Speeed bento
- Microwave mixed rice (cheater’s “fried” rice)
- “Octodogs” (octopus-shaped hot dogs)
- Sausage “rabbits” (rabbit-shaped hot dogs)
- Sausage & quail egg “sunflowers”
- Okonomiyaki cabbage ‘pancake’ or ‘pizza’
- Pasta frittata using leftover pasta
- Rabbit-shaped apple wedges
- “Rice cubes” square onigiri
- Stovetop frittata
- Scrambled egg purses
- Shumai “burgers”
- Skewered tomato/cheese “sandwiches”
- Takoyaki (octopus balls)
- Tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette, or dashimaki tamago)
- Tamarind: How to peel and eat whole tamarind
- Thin egg sheets (usuyaki tamago) in the microwave
- Zig-zag kiwi fruit
- Gear: No egg or rice ball molds? Use ice cream sandwich molds
- Gear: Cookie cutters can act as rice ball molds
- Guide: How to pack a bento and fill gaps in your lunch
FREEZING
- Magnets to track freezer inventory
- Cycle through freezer items quickly
- Baskets for freezer and refrigerator organization
- Frypan defrosting
- Corn in plastic drink bottles
- Edible ice packs
- Egg omelettes and frittatas
- Freeze canned fruit in small containers, use as ice pack
- Ginger
- Green onions in plastic drink bottles
- Ground food: Make individual portions in freezer bags
- Herbs
- Inarizushi stuffed sushi
- Nori seaweed (pre-cut)
- Pancakes
- Pasta (unsauced)
- Rice balls (onigiri & yaki onigiri)
- Rice containers for freezing
- Rice frozen in the shape of the lunch container
- Sandwiches
- Spaghetti cups in muffin tins (sauced)
- Spaghetti cups in Tupperware (sauced)
- Waffles
PACKING
- Guide: How to pack a bento lunch and fill gaps
- Avoid airplane food, pack your own bento lunch!
- Hot vs. cold lunch packing considerations
- Edible ice packs
- Tips for packing smelly food
- Top 7 things to do with leftover food scraps
- Pack a “rice lid” on top of stew/curry in a food jar
- How to use a donburi bento box for stew/curry
- Prevent fruit from browning
- Freeze canned fruit in small containers, use as ice pack
- Curl noodles into nests for easy dipping
- Keep rice warm and soft in a food jar
- Glad Press’n Seal creates a lid on sub-containers
- Pre-fill sauce containers to save time
- Make a clean “handle” on chicken drumsticks with decorative aluminum foil
- Edible glue: How to anchor food decorations
- How-to: The furoshiki purse-tie
COOKING
- An organized list of all the cookbooks in my kitchen
- Double-decker microwaving
- Frypan defrosting
- Make-ahead tips from Japanese magazine
- Multi-boiling
- Multi-broiling
- Multi-frying
- Multi-grilling
- Rice cooker doubles as steamer
- Cut slow-cooking foods small and thin for faster cooking
- Use individual coffee creamers in scrambled eggs
ORGANIZING
- Make magnets to track freezer inventory
- Get accessories under control with Ikea organizers
- Blog event round-up: Organize your lunch gear
- Reorganize lunch gear with bookcases and plastic baskets
- Baskets for freezer and refrigerator organization
- Kitchen Reorganization Series: Spice cabinet
- Kitchen Reorganization Series: Pantry
- Kitchen Reorganization Series: Refrigerator and freezer
- Kitchen Reorganization Series: Remaining cabinets and garbage containers for the prep area
EQUIPMENT (see also the Product Reviews page for links to reviews of bento gear, cookbooks & food items)
- Guide: How to care for your bento gear
- Bento Store Locator (BSL) with Google Maps and user-generated store feedback
- Online stores for bento gear
- Antibacterial food cups & dividers
- Baskets for freezer and refrigerator organization
- Cheap lunch containers at Target reviewed
- Collapsible sandwich case
- Combination bento box and collapsible sandwich case
- Convection toaster oven
- Cookie cutters can act as rice ball molds
- Cookie cutters: Graduated size sets for decorating
- Customize bento box decorations
- Decorative aluminum foil
- Disney Cars bento box & lunch bag
- Donburi bento box
- Egg mold substitute: ice cream sandwich molds
- Egg slicer (for fruits and vegetables)
- Electric kettle vs. stovetop kettles: A Race
- Extra-thick aluminum food cups for cooking
- Fish grill (stovetop)
- Flowerpot smoker (making an insulated smoker out of flower pots, a la Alton Brown)
- Food cups for fried food (absorbs oil)
- Food jar
- Food picks to make vegetables into balloons, umbrellas, rings, flowers, etc.
- Fit & Fresh: Salad container, and soup/salad container
- Flexible ice blanket: cut to make mini ice packs
- Glass bento boxes and microwaving
- Ladles act as tiny pots to fry quail eggs or boil vegetables
- Metal bento boxes
- Metal bento boxes (how-to and cooking)
- Microwave mini steamer
- Microwave plate/bowl covers and stands for double-decker heating
- Mini cooling rack
- Mini frying pan
- Mini pot for deep frying
- Mini strainer and bowl for draining/cooling
- “My Hashi” personal travel chopsticks
- Nesting and stacking bento box set (Thomas the Tank Engine)
- Oshibori wet hand towels (make your own from common items)
- Pastry bag tips as cutters
- Plastic drink bottles for freezing: Green onions or corn
- Plastic wrap in different colors
- Plastic wrap for microwaving and high heat
- Rice containers for freezing
- Rice cooker doubles as steamer
- “Rice cuber” square onigiri mold
- Silicone baking cups
- Slicing multi-tool (mini-mandoline)
- Takoyaki makers (octopus balls)
- Thermal lunch jar shootout (Mr. Bento vs. Nissan Thermos vs. no-name knockoff)
- Weird Pokemon lunch bag cloth
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
- Additional bento stores in SF
- Daiso opens store in Newark, CA
- Hakoya-brand bento boxes at Kamei in SF
- SF Bay Area bento gear shopping guide
- SF Bay Area ethnic markets
- Sanko in SF Japantown has good quality boxes
- San Francisco Japantown bento shopping update (Sanko, Ichiban Kan, Kinokuniya, Nijiya)
SHOPPING
- How to cut your food bills
- Bento Store Locator (BSL) with Google Maps and user-generated store feedback
- Online stores for bento gear
- Online coupons for lunch gear
- SF Bay Area bento gear shopping guide
- SF Bay Area ethnic markets
OTHER
- Allergy restrictions in school lunchrooms
- Ichiban Kan online store accepting orders, and products for the lunch packer
- Lead-free FAQ link
- See the Product Reviews page for links to reviews of bento gear, cookbooks & food items
NEWS
- Bento lunches on live TV news (FOX40 Sacramento)
- Bento lunch news with NHPR’s Word of Mouth and St. Petersburg Times
- Bento community news with Stars & Stripes
- Press and Awards page with updated media articles
- Lunch Blog Events listing page with updated lunch contests and events
RECIPES