Bento questions?

howleyshell

Where do you find your bento cutters?

And in your experience what do you look for?  The plastic ones look like they're too flimsy?

Any other advice?

 

I think my guys would dig this so I'm gonna give it a try! 

SLPgirl

I'm curious too- how is a bento cutter different form a cookie cutter? So far I've gotten all my cookie cutters at Wal Mart or craft stores. Wilton has small flowers, leaves, etc. The thing that has been so helpful for me are the little silicone cupcake holders. I use those like crazy in their school lunches in the bentos.

brightning

I have a big set of cutters from Oriental Trading that are plastic. I use those mostly for cheese, but they work on bread - I just do one piece at a time and have to work them a bit more. I pick up cookie cutters in random places and have a big collection now.

A lot of times, I think it's better to make a regular-shaped sandwich (or round/square) and then add a cheese/other decoration on top, rather than trying to make the sandwich into a fancier shape, kwim? It'll look a lot neater. I like to add tiny little details with sprinkles - round sprinkles for eyes, hearts can be noses, or bits of fruit/veg for the features.

My DD really likes it when things are put onto skewers/toothpicks and of course, I try to make them really colorful. I often tell a story when I present her the lunch ("The sandwich bear was trying to catch the butterfly when he tripped on the mountain of blueberries ..."). It also is fun when I coordinate the lunch theme to something we've been talking about that day or the library theme, etc. She always notices.

Have fun! My DD is really liking her bento lunches and just said yesterday that she was disappointed the restaurant we went to for lunch didn't have a cute lunch. Hopefully your little guys will like it, too! It doesn't have to be all-out, just one little detail can be fun and add a bit of interest.

howleyshell

brightning:

I have a big set of cutters from Oriental Trading that are plastic. I use those mostly for cheese, but they work on bread - I just do one piece at a time and have to work them a bit more. I pick up cookie cutters in random places and have a big collection now.

A lot of times, I think it's better to make a regular-shaped sandwich (or round/square) and then add a cheese/other decoration on top, rather than trying to make the sandwich into a fancier shape, kwim? It'll look a lot neater. 

The thing is that we pretty much never have sandwiches.

I like the thought of cutting fruits and veggies but was thinking the small plastic ones probably won't work too well.

I was thinking that I'd need to do what you mentioned - regular foods with smaller decorations on top. 

Does anyone sell small metal ones?  Metal cookie cutters seem fairly large in my mind but I haven't checked them out in stores recently.  Do they make smaller ones these days?

 

brightning

howleyshell:

The thing is that we pretty much never have sandwiches.

I like the thought of cutting fruits and veggies but was thinking the small plastic ones probably won't work too well.

I was thinking that I'd need to do what you mentioned - regular foods with smaller decorations on top. 

Does anyone sell small metal ones?  Metal cookie cutters seem fairly large in my mind but I haven't checked them out in stores recently.  Do they make smaller ones these days?

I often find the smaller metal ones in seasonal kits. They're often made by Wilton. I have seen the Halloween set in stores right now and it has a skull, cat, ghost, pumpkin, etc. I've seen it at my grocery store and at Michael's. For softer fruit like melons, the plastic cutters are fine. Thinner slices of apple can also be cut with plastic cutters.

My DD really likes when I give her a food (tomatoes/mozzarella or even lunch meat) on a skewer, or provied a tiny little cocktail fork for eating cut-up fruit, etc. I think the novelty of the presentation is just as fun as shapes. Or you can have a pile of strawberries with just the very top one cut into a shape, etc.

Julie004

I just bought a crap ton of small metal cookie cutters at Hobby Lobby. They had an amazing selection, I was surprised! They had everything from teddy bears to flowers to stars. These tiny ones are good for cheese or fruit, that's what I've used them for so far. We're pretty new to Bento and have been testing the waters!

jen5-03

The tiny metal ones are often sold as fondant cutters, but they are the same as cookie cutters, just smaller.