Momma makes lunch

Part of my daily duties is to make bento for my boys.  Bento is a lunch box typically filled with rice and little bits of a variety of foods.  Bento boxes come with a separate compartment for the rice so it doesn't get soggy.  This is the largest compartment in the box.  My son's bento box is one level, so it has one large compartment for the rice and two small compartments for the vegetables and protein.  My husband's box is two levels, so the rice sits in a different tray nestled under the other one.

Miso pork, roasted potatoes and carrots, pickled daikon and carrots,

cherry tomato, tofu and veggie patty, simmered spinach salad

I typically assemble their bentos at night before going to bed, except for the rice.  If we don't already have rice cooked (our rice cooker has a stay warm function so they often eat leftover rice for lunch), I set up our rice cooker to make the rice in the morning (using the timer function).  This way, all I have to do in the morning is add rice with furikake (rice seasoning) and umeboshi (pickled plum) to their boxes in the morning and they are ready to head out the door with their mid-day meal.

Pumpkin wedge, corn and soybeans, deli vegetables,

walnuts and dried fish with honey, sausage, lemon chicken, meatballs with glaze

Every day I try to give my boys heathy bentos made with love and attention.  In order to have enough variety, I will use bits of dinner and then raid the freezer to balance things out.  When I make a dinner that compliments bentos, I will make extra and freeze it.  Right now I have takoyaki, chicken meatballs, and fried chicken in my freezer to bulk up their lunch.  I also make little stuffed peppers (Japanese peppers are much smaller than American bell peppers) that freeze beautifully for later use.

I also try to keep some extra proteins in the freezer.  My son loves when I add little sausages.  I recently found tiny fish that I grill in my stove before putting into the bento box.  Whenever my favorite fishcake vendor comes to the shopping center, I stock up and put these into bentos as well.

But I am not perfect (not by any stretch of the imagination).  I also have purchased frozen foods that I put into their bento boxes.  There is a section in the store freezer solely dedicated to bento sized portioned foods.  I just try to make sure it isn't all fried, because a lot of what is available is fried or completely lacking in any nutritional value.  I currently have lemon chicken, tofu and vegetable patties, as well as vegetables in little cupcake papers.  I also buy cooked vegetables in the deli - a lot!  Who has time to make all the side dishes?  I don't and I'm a housewife!

In addition to their bento boxes, my son has a little fruit box that I include strawberries, pineapple, apple slices with lemon juice, or whatever fruit I have on hand.  He loves fruit and it is the only permissible sweet/dessert allowed in school bento boxes.  I used to put the fruit into his bento box, but he has asked for more and more food, so I had to graduate to a second box!

So, why don't I just make him a sandwich and put it in a bag with an apple?  It just isn't done here.  Period.  Bento boxes are standard.  They aren't always as fancy as what I do.  Of course, there are also those that "compete" on the cute level that I don't even attempt.  Some of the moms make sandwiches for their kids and put them into the bento box (typically cut into long rectangles), but I prefer to just go with the flow and not be the topic of the teacher's room gossip.  After all, sandwiches are not as healthy as a bento, according to most Japanese people.