Getting Started

The story: Back in 2008 I went returned to school. I had been taking some time off and finally got off my butt and reapplied for college. At the time I had also been slightly interested in bentos. I had seen pictures on the internet and oh gosh weren't they so cute? So I bought a box with the hopes of keeping it up.

This is an old photo in internet years

Unfortunately, at the time I was living (somewhat illegally) in a dorm apartment with my boyfriend and five other guys. This made cooking somewhat of a challenge and the added fact that I had no transportation to any grocery store helped to impede my bento making. I managed a few weeks of boxes but eventually I fell back on bologna and cheese sandwiches or buying whatever food I wanted from the school cafeteria. My bento box was stored away.

Two years later and I'm living (much less illegally) with my boyfriend at his parents' house instead. The commute is longer but there's a lot less mess in the kitchen for me to contend with and the grocery store is right around the corner, making for awesome convenience. And with our days combined I'm usually stuck at school for 10 hours, leaving me stuck there for both lunch and dinner. Having gotten sick of spending upwards of $5 a day for greasy cafeteria food, the bento bug bit me once again. But this time I was going to need a much bigger box, one enough for two meals.

After a lot of searching online I found a 950ml box. It was the biggest I could go before getting into manbento (not cute) or jubako (just too big) territory. And it turned out to be the perfect size. I can fit my lunch and dinner inside. And on the days I just have lunch I only have to use one layer or pick up my old friend, the monokuro boo box. Seven weeks into school, just over the halfway of the semester mark, and I'm still going strong.

I'm actually quite proud of myself. I'm a very picky eater so it's tricky to find food that I like that goes well in bentos. Before I was known to eat five or more bologna and cheese sandwiches a week sometimes, with little variation. But with my bentomaking, while sandwiches do pop up about once a week, I am eating a much bigger range of food, including my fruits and veggies.

So this blog will mainly be my experiences bento making. There will be daily bentos, a recipe here and there, bento goodies and tips, and whatever other little things that may end up here. Hopefully you'll enjoy my lunchtime journeys.