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Do you find your child returning home with a half-eaten sandwich, a somewhat nibbled carrot or a squished banana? Are you under the impression that feeding healthy food to children is tougher these days? Wondering about the ways to encourage your child to eat nutritious food? Using a bento lunch box can do the trick!

Eating healthy is definitely important, but, it is easy to make wholesome food as tempting as fasting food. Bento boxes are the ideal combination of aesthetics and functionality, making them the best companion for school children and office-goers. Unlike some of the other food containers, packing a bento box is just as easy as preparing lunch. Be it veggies, meat or any healthy food, a Bento lunch box in Australia can be packed with anything and everything.

Wondering how to make a nutritionally balanced bento meal? Here’s everything you need to know!

How Much Can You Pack In A Bento Box?

No matter how small a bento box may seem, you can fit a great amount of food in there. The multi-compartmentalisation of these lunch box let you fit several snacks and mini-meals into one compact food container. Not only do these boxes contain enough food to get you through the work day, but they can even be fun to eat from. And, if you pack the food nicely by leaving no gaps, these food containers can hold a plateful of food!

How To Pack Your Bento Box?

Step-1

Start with the basics

Start packing the lunch with carbohydrates and protein. The multi-compartments of Bento box in Australia prevent the food from getting soggy or tasting bad due to other food items. Ensure you pack the food nicely without letting the food mix together.

Step-2

Fill up veggies

The benefits of eating green vegetables are known to all and thus you should pack at least one or two vegetables while packing lunch. Use a variety of colourful vegetables to make it appealing to your kid. This will help you make veggies a part of everyday lunch.  

Step-3

Add some fruits

A little touch of colour can make the lunch fun and interesting for your child. Including some fruits, preferably in red, yellow or orange, can make for an attractive presentation. Fruits like grapes, oranges, peaches can be the ideal way to add pops of colours.

Bamboo and all things made from bamboo have been under the limelight for a long time largely because of the sustainability of the material. Bamboo is long-lasting, resistant to water and its leaves have medicinal qualities. Food containers made of bamboo are therefore very popular and one of the most stylish items among them is the bamboo Bento boxes.

You can go to any online shop like Katachiware and buy one of your choice! Read more about bamboo Bento Boxes

Bamboo Bento boxes are not a burden on the environment and are handcrafted with loving care. Food stays very well in the several compartments provided and wet items too can fit inside the small containers within the box. Such bamboo food containers come in large sizes too and these prove very useful for packing meals for a picnic-party. There are several manufacturers engaged in the creation of such bamboo lunch boxes; Katachiware is one of them. A leading supplier, Katachiware Bento boxes are handcrafted and comprise an inner tray coated with black and red melamine/ABS.

These compartmentalized bamboo food containers come in mild green, mild brown or creamy white colors. There are however, a few tips that have to be kept in mind while buying one of them. The product should be strong; avoid buying flimsy and thin ones. Take care to see that no splinters are seen on them. Lacquer is not necessary to make them water-proof; hence, check for those which have a thick coat of lacquer as they could be hiding low grade material underneath.

Taking care of them is not as difficult as one may think. They can be washed with dish washing soap and scratch resistant sponge for stains otherwise just rinsing them is also good enough. If some food item gets stuck then it can be grazed off after soaking them in water for a while. In countries with humid climate they can be dried off totally by keeping them in the sun for some time.

Looking For Bento Box? 5 Simple Lunch Techniques For You

Packing a lunch in a bento box for your little ones is always interesting. It is one of the simplest ways through which you can prepare a fun lunch which is both healthy and balanced. All you need to do is to undergo a bit of online research and you will come across numerous decorative techniques to enhance the fun quotient. But if you are one of those homemakers who think that packing a bento box is quite complicated, it’s high time you debunk the myth.

The easiest decorative technique one can adopt is to choose any random food item and surround it with some fruits or vegetables which are more colourful. There are a few more simple techniques which can help you make your lunch more attractive without wasting your time or energy.

Few Techniques To Help You Pack Your Bento Box Easily

·  Use A Cookie Cutter

Not every mother is aware of the fact but using a cookie cutter to chop those fruits and vegetables can instantly make the lunch cute. For example, you can cut a sandwich using a gingerbread man cutter and fill the rest of the box with cheese crackers, grapes, and tomatoes. Just buy a small cookie cutter and you can use it to chop a wide range of items like cheese, fruit, veggies, and meat.

·  Arrange It Wisely

Just pack a few bento boxes and you will learn the skill of arranging fruits and vegetables really fast. Instead of dumping all the items in the box, arrange a few in a neat way and dump the rest. You can simply cut the top layer of the fruit in the shape of a flower and your child might easily get attracted towards this healthy meal. 

·  Use A Food Pick

Try decorating the box with a food pick and you will realise that you can put a wide range of food items in it like grapes, cubes of meat and vegetables. Another benefit of using a food pick is that you can easily find one of those in the local market or in a craft store. 

·  Roll Up A Lunch Meat

Whether you are willing to pack a slice of ham or a few pieces of salami for the lunch, just roll those up before putting them in the bento box and make them look more interesting. Complement the folded or rolled up meat strips with a cupcake liner with some chopped fruits. 

·  Use A Food Marker

Do you think that your child won’t like the fruit unless you chop them into cute pieces? Just buy a food-safe marker and write any cute message on the fruit and your child will definitely appreciate it. They will not only love having the fruit but also the rest of the lunch with a smile on their face. 

Now that you are aware of all the simple techniques to prepare a lunch for your child’s bento box within the shortest span of time, it’s time you start using those!

Bento boxes were traditionally used by Japanese field workers and hunters to pack their lunch more than 900 years ago. Now they have become a popular trend in the culinary filed and at home. Bento boxes were traditionally made from wood but now commonly made from ABS plastic with a melamine coating. They include 3 to 6 compartments providing a space to prepare and serve meals in the one tray. Depending on the size of bento box used, you can control meal portion sizes for each meal.

Bento Boxes have been in use for more than a thousand years dating back to the Kamakura period, (1185 to 1333). Workers were given a bento box to carry dried rice (hoshi-ii) to work which was eaten as is or boiled with water to make cooked rice.

In the the Edo period (1603–1867), the bento box concept spread and became more of a refined object. Travelers would move from one city to the next carrying a waist bento box. It would contain several onigiri (Japanese rice balls) wrapped in bamboo leaves.

During the Edo period one of the most popular uses for bento boxes was in Japan’s theatrical culture (Kabuki & Noh) where people sitting in the theatre would eat specially prepared bento box meals between acts. Many cookbooks were written detailing cook, pack and what to prepare for special occasions.

Moving forward a few hundred years later, although there is much more history behind bento, they regained popularity in the late 1980s. Airlines adopted the idea for their meals, microwave meals were all prepared in bento style and the concept is still in use today.

Today we see the use of bento boxes in most Asian restaurants, mostly made from ABS plastic with a red or black lacquer to add to its appeal. They are also made from stainless steel which more robust and easier to clean. The most expensive are made from timber or bamboo bento boxes with a handcrafted base and lid with ABS plastic inner tray.