Bento lunch??

christen115

I'm not understanding what this is....please explain

Also I'm noticing a lot of children have already gone back to school. My DD doesn't start until Sept 1st.

christen115

NM I googled it. The containers are cute but who has that kind of time in the mornings to prepare that? TG my DD isn't picky and will eat anything for lunch.

fauxshelley

Bento lunches are not practical, time wise.  They are for SAHMs with time to be crafty.  I am a single parent and work full time.  I refuse to feel like a less than mom because I don't make animals out of sandwiches.  

Poonico

Our kids are great eaters, so I have that in our favor too.  We pack lunch for our son.

I have not done any bento lunches (yet - I may play with it, who knows), but from what I've seen through all of my browsing is that bento is more than just cute lunches.  They are full of very healthy foods, and a variety of them.

I'm not one to make things cute so that my kids will eat them.  I expect them to eat what we serve, within reason.  I would however be happy to do it sometimes to be fun

Poonico

StarAnnice:

I'm interested in seeing what the sides are, though.  I usually just throw in a baggie of mini-carrots or a tube of go-gurt.  So, I'm sure I could use more ideas in that department.

Finding more items to put in his lunch is exactly why I started looking at them so much.  They are cool and all, but I was looking for ideas of the foods included.  I have started a little list to work from.

christen115

I def agree that they aren't practical, my DD eats a sandwich regardless and I don't need to make it look like a little bunny. Whatever I put in front of her she'll eat.

DD eats a healthy lunch daily, I always pack a fruit/veggie, yogurt, organic chips. I never send her to school with cookies, fruit snacks, candy, etc. I'm grateful that she isn't into sweets and that could possibly be because I they are never in my house, lately yes and she still doesn't even want them.

So I guess she does eat bento lunches (if that's what healthy meals are called haha)

Ooglybear

Eh, I don't think its just SAHMs with too much time on their hands. Not everyone does it as elaborately as the bento bloggers do it.

DandelionMom

My kids build theirs the night before.  For us it is much faster than doing all the plastic baggies.  And I love that there is so little trash. 

But we're not traditional sandwich people and we can't use most prepackaged lunch foods (gluten-free family) so that could be why I find them so much easier than a bagged lunch. 

*itsmepin*

bento, bento box ['b?nt??]

n pl -tos

a thin box, made of plastic or lacquered wood, divided into compartments which contain small separate dishes comprising a Japanese meal, esp lunch

[Japanese bento box lunch]

 

definition for you, just in case you are too busy to know what a bento is. It can be elaborate or it can be simple. It takes 5 minutes to make 2 kids bentos in the morning by myself for 2 screaming preschoolers before 7:30 am trying to get them to school on my own, because my husband works 70 hours a week.

 

::smacks forhead::

hc_dict()

fauxshelley:

Bento lunches are not practical, time wise.  They are for SAHMs with time to be crafty.  I am a single parent and work full time.  I refuse to feel like a less than mom because I don't make animals out of sandwiches.  

joseysbride

fauxshelley:

Bento lunches are not practical, time wise.  They are for SAHMs with time to be crafty.  I am a single parent and work full time.  I refuse to feel like a less than mom because I don't make animals out of sandwiches.  

Seriously?  First of all, I don't think the point of a bento lunch is to have your food cut into shapes of animals.  Having nearly 2 full-time jobs and not much help with the kids from my husband (because of his job), I am the last person with extra time, but I find bento lunches to be awesome because I am not wasting a ton of ziploc bags or whatever and the assortment of food and getting the lunch together keeps my daughter interested in eating healthy things.

*itsmepin*

joseysbride:

fauxshelley:

Bento lunches are not practical, time wise.  They are for SAHMs with time to be crafty.  I am a single parent and work full time.  I refuse to feel like a less than mom because I don't make animals out of sandwiches.  

Seriously?  First of all, I don't think the point of a bento lunch is to have your food cut into shapes of animals.  Having nearly 2 full-time jobs and not much help with the kids from my husband (because of his job), I am the last person with extra time, but I find bento lunches to be awesome because I am not wasting a ton of ziploc bags or whatever and the assortment of food and getting the lunch together keeps my daughter interested in eating healthy things.

 

amen sister!

OctoberBrideNYC

I am a fulltime WOHM mom and I would argue that they are practical.  You have to make the lunch ANYWAY, right?  The bentos I make take me no more than 10 minutes.  I know that for some of you whose kids are not picky eaters, you don't see the sense in making them, but my older daughter is 5% for height and weight - consistently dropping over the years.  She was barely eating anything.  I started doing them to make lunches more interesting for her. . .and it worked.  Think about the hoops you have or will jump through if your child/ren need homework help or PT or something like that.  In our lives, this is the same thing, different flavor.