Bento for Lunch

I guess I will follow the trend. I promise it's Random Monday, not Health Food Monday, but these just seem to be what I am thinking about lately. It's probably all this getting serious about being fit. Although...if this trend keeps up maybe I should dedicate a day to health & fitness. What do you think?

So...bento. What is it? In the simplest of terms, bento is a packed lunch. A bit more specifically, bento is a Japanese style of packed lunches. In Japan there are convenience store, or pre-packed, bento as well as homemade. Bento actually has a rather elaborate history, and today it is a rather common sight in the Japanese schools.

Bento wrapped in furoshiki

Bento in drawstring bag

The reason I like bento so much (aside of my infatuation with the Japanese culture--blame that on my best friend in grade school having moved here from Japan and me being immersed in the culture at her house n_~), is the portion control. My favorite bento box is two tiers, measuring 3.3 inches l x 4.3 inches w x 3.5 inches h. I know this sounds very small, and indeed it looks very small, but you would be surprised how much food you can actually fit into it!

My favorite bento!

A better view of both tiers

The top tier of the bento holds 1 cup, and the bottom tier holds 1.5 cups. I find that either tier is plenty big enough to hold a decent sized side salad. I know it sounds and will look small, but if you were to take the salad out of the tier and put it onto a salad plate you would be quite pleased with the result. I often stick with the smaller tier and put salad dressing in a small 1 Tbsp container, which is just enough.

Salad in bento tier

Same salad on salad plate (on top of dinner plate for reference)

The other tier is actually large enough to hold a small sandwich and a few grapes or cherries. You could also fit a wrap, an egg and veggies, humus with veggies and crackers, pasta, etc. The options are endless. And you don't have to stick with a salad. I've done a meat in the small tier with side veggies in the large tier (usually my packing of leftovers). You could also go a more traditional route in which the small tier holds rice and the large tier holds sides (stir fry, meat, veggies, eggs, etc).

L: egg, cucumbers with hummus R: wrap, and cheese wheel	The same lunch on a dinner plate. Perfect portion size :)
L: egg, strawberries, cheese & crackers R: salad & dressing cup	L: pork & veggie stirfry R: rice & soy sauce

Bento is just breaking into the non-western world, so sometimes it is hard to find "traditional" bento boxes. My favorite place to buy online is Bento USA. They have great prices and pretty fast shipping. You will also get an idea of the fun accessories that exist for bento (as moms may make character, picture, or other themed bento for their children--they get pretty elaborate!). Another good place to find some neat, although a bit pricey, bento is JBox.

If you are interested in bento, don't feel like you need to buy a special box! There are plenty of alternatives like your normal Tupperware. There is a really neat Tupperware like set that you may want to look into called Easy Lunch Boxes. It really doesn't matter what you use, and you don't have to make it cute. Just be aware of your portion sizes--smaller containers aid in this.

Another thing is variety. I've heard it said that Japanese mothers want their children's lunches to be colorful (no I don't know how accurate this is, sorry). This actually isn't a bad plan. Color means fruits and veggies, it means variety of foods, it means not everything is a starch. Variety, particularly of healthy options, is also another thing to be aware off. I find the smaller boxes help with this as well. You are trying to make your lunch colorful, so you don't pack as much of one thing (specifically starches & proteins).

Do you bento? What are your tips and tricks? Any favorite sellers, items, or accessories? What about food choices or recipes? Share them in the comments!

Free Keroppi Pattern

In honor of my sister moving to Japan tomorrow, I thought we could look at a pattern in theme n_n

I am sure many of you are familiar with SanRio, or if not at least Hello Kitty. There are many other characters that SanRio has created, my favorite of all time being the frog Keroppi. My best friend in grade school and middle school was Japanese and had actually moved here when we were in kindergarten. As a 6 year old I was engulfed in her culture and the adorable world of SanRio.

A while back I went on a hunt for a Keroppi plush pattern, and I think I found the perfect one over at Stitch Love. Michelle's Keroppi is not only perfect looking, her pattern is easy to follow and it's free!

A mini Keroppi I made as a keychain.

Check out the pattern here and make your own Keroppi n_n




Sorry for the short post and lack of Product Info Wednesday this week. As I said, my sister is moving to Japan tomorrow! On top of that my boyfriend's brother is getting married today so I have been crazy busy all week and will probably continue to be so through the weekend! Things should slow down and be back to normal next week with a few custom orders on the hooks & needles and our regularly scheduled posts.

My Sister Moves to Japan in TWO WEEKS!

This has been an exhausting weekend, but in a good way. We threw a HUGE going away party for my sister, who is moving to Japan in just two weeks to teach English.

The party was impressive...over 50 people throughout the course of the evening. And I wan to say it ran near 12 hours (started at 4pm, I crashed at 2am, my mom and sister crashed at 3am and there were still people there!). It was a ton of fun. Friends from middle school, high school, community college, university, and multiple jobs all showed up plus family.

We made a ton of food too! There wasn't too much left over either o.O And one of our friends was kind enough to pack up the food and straighten up the kitchen for us since we were all in bed by the time he left (although he says he had some help).

We had volleyball and bags, but sadly never got around to setting them up. We also have a slew of light-up toys (football, soccer ball, volley ball, beach ball, a million frisbees), so those came out as it got dark. There was also a fireworks display and bonfire (thankfully we live out in the country, where our neighbors are farms).

So Saturday was a TON of fun, but very tiring. And now we face the reality that in just two weeks, my sister gets on a plane for Japan. She will be living in Kushima City in Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushuu (second largest of the non-main islands, the one towards the south). The area is considered tropical, with temperatures ranging from about 40F in winter to 90F in summer. She is also in a rather rural area, the city being surrounded by race paddies and mountains. It's nice though because it looks beautiful so she will enjoy exploring the country side. Also you can walk pretty much everywhere within the city.

She also has some friends out there from her brief stint while her husband was in the navy, and she has made some new friends through the JET program.Unfortunately they are mostly on the main island...and Tokyo is a 9 hour train ride (it may make more sense for her to fly actually! long train rides get pricey). Her predecessor also has some friends that she is trying to introduce my sister too so she has some people to hang out with when she moves. This well be awesome because she gets about a month to get settled in, and now she will know people in her city and the nearby towns.

What's really neat about her replacing someone, is she has a contact to help her figure things out ahead of time. She will be moving into her predecessor's apartment, and is lucky enough to be able to buy all the furnishings so as not to worry about figuring that all out when she gets there. Her predecessor is also hooking her up with a car. On top of that my sister is getting information on custom, school policies, what her different coworkers are like and what they will expect, what there is to do in the area, what to do in her free time, etc. She also has an address already so if we need to ship stuff too it can go out whenever.

Once my sister gets to Japan, she will be teaching on a 1 year contract. After that time, she may have the opportunity to renew. It sounds like you are usually asked unless you specifically say you don't want to. After 3 years, they are expecting you to be rather fluent in the language to continue. This is an awesome opportunity, and rather perfect as she went to school to be a high school English teacher! We have also been surrounded by the Japanese culture since I was 6 (best friend since Kindergarten had moved here from Japan), so it has always had a place in our hearts.

I am super excited for my sister! But also a little jealous, and a little sad that she will be so far away for so long. Hopefully I can afford a trip to visit her n_n