How can I find time to make these super-arty lunches

astep70uk

Seraphina - I go back to work in September so I'm looking forward to the reaction! I work as a web systems developer with a load of blokes so they'll probably think I'm nuts, or just like the hubby 'too much time on my hands'

I'm looking forward to getting myself a nice bento box and having a packed lunch I'll actually look forward to. I just used to take a sandwich and a yoghurt which was really boring and uninspiring

lil_me

Wow those are great astep, loving those ideas, wonder if I dare risk changing my sons

astep70uk

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

Astep70uk, those little sausage 'ghosts' (or octopi?) are quite possibly the coolest things I've ever seen

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

They were supposed to be octopus!!! :rotfl:
Actually, they do look more like ghosts!!

Dead easy to make - herta hot dogs cut in half, put slits in the bottom for legs and plunge in boiling water until curled. Remove from water and let cool, then gouge out eyes.

seraphina

I too, used to be a sandwich and a yoghurt person. Got fed up having the same old things every day of the week - it doesn't help that DH is a meat eater and I'm vegetarian. He tends to have ham etc in his sandwiches, and I'd make hummus and have hummus salad sandwiches every day for a week in an effort to avoid throwing out half pots of hummus!

It's a great way of using up odds and ends because I only ever need a little to squash into the end of a box:D It's gotten to the point where I have to give a guided tour of my lunch in the canteen every lunchtime - everyone else then seems a bit deflated and goes on to complain about their over priced canteen meal:rotfl:That stopped me worrying about what they thought!

I'm afraid I have given in and purchased a thermal bento - will let you know how I get on!

astep70uk

Here are some of my favourite bento sites
Be warned - eObento has the BEST bentos EVER!!

eObento

Bento Yum

Flickr Bento Boxes

astep70uk

Ah seraphina - a thermal bento. I was looking at these, but we have a microwave in the office at work so wasn't sure if I'd benefit much.
Let me know what they're like though :T

Mrs._Irwin

Oh my God, I've spent two hours surfing bento since I started reading this thread, how had I not heard about this before?!

Mrs. Irwin

pavlovs_dog

aurora_borealis wrote: »

Like this



I decorate my daughter's sandwich with a nice shiny piece of foil

I should try harder

bit slow on the uptake here but its just dawned on me how much foil/clingfilm etc i get through with my lunches, and these boxes show just how unneccessary it is. the more i think about this bento business, the more it appeals

Quackers

astep70uk wrote: »

Before I got my goodies, I just used a divided sandwich box from Matalan which cost £2.50, and I used foil pudding basins for dividers.
This was one of my first bentos:

:T That's fabtastic

My eldest daughter (15) uses one of these boxes from Matalan and they are really good but I've never done anything that fantastic in them. Maybe I need to spend some time over the summer practising and by September I 'might' be as good as you



My youngest (12 - going on 26) doesn't do lunchboxes - they take up room and aren't cool apparently. She has squished sandwiches and soggy strawberries along with a packet of crisps almost every day :rolleyes:

pavlovs_dog

well some observations after trawling through numerous online bento sites:

1) i cant use chopsticks for love nor money. and believe me when i say it's not through lack of trying :eek: something like THIS would be ideal for me; knife, fork and spoon in one. they have high st stores if you dont want to pay P&P, there are also loads on ebay.

2) lots of the UK/US bentos seem to favour cheese & crackers, the cheese coming in a prepacked form (think babybel or other purchased minature). save yourself some money by buying a CHEESE SLICE and slicing cheese off of your main block LIKE THIS PERSON. with soft cheeses (philidelphia, dairylea etc), will it work out cheaper for you to buy a big tub and decant rather than individual servings? (on a totally unrelated note, i had no idea you could get chocolate covered sunflower seeds until i came across that bento on flickr! how excited am i :rotfl: )

3) chopped rolls, whether they are of the tortilla variety or the 'rolling pinned until it's flat' variety are an attractive, filling alternative to sandwiches.

4) with sweets/dried fruit/ nuts, buy a large bag and decant rather than buying individual mini servings to save money long term. ( i've recently discovered that holland and barrat are considerably cheaper for the latter two than my local supermarket).