New Obsession Saves Money: Bento
Just a few days before school started, I stumbled upon the art of bento. While I insisted that I did not need a new obsession, I couldn’t help falling into this one - making lunches look cute. The daughter also loved the idea and jumped right in with wanting to take bento lunches and sat and drooled with me over pretty bento boxes.
We went to a local asian market to see if they had any boxes that the daughter liked. Since it was only a few days before school was to start, it was easy to justify it as a back-to-school expense. Her lunchbox hadn’t survived the previous year and getting her motivated about food is always a plus. However, we didn’t have much luck and just went home with a plain set I bought mostly for storage, rice molds, and chopsticks.
Since school started, the daughter has been excited about making and taking her lunches. This isn’t really saving us money as she always took her lunch last year. However, I’ve gotten into the lunch making action and now make lunches for the partner to take. By making lunches every morning, we’re saving about $100 a month on lunches that the partner normally buys. Also, since it means getting up early enough to make them, he is actually getting out the door early enough to come home in time for home-cooked dinner.
I did buy some bento stuff on ebay and will give them to the daughter as a birthday gift later this month. I’m happy she’s excited about food and that we’re saving money on eating out.
mapgirl
September 5th, 2007 16:34
Meh. Where did you go? There are plenty of places to get good bento boxes. My favorite is Lotte Market in Fairfax, but I think that is very far from your house in the country.
It does matter what box you get because I found that a lot of them leak. I love bento, but I find it doesn’t lend itself well to the foods I eat for lunch. I mean, it’s great for a full on Korean or Asian food meal, but that’s a lot of work in the morning for a person like me.
However, if someone else is going to do it, I’m all for them!
Donna Jean
September 5th, 2007 18:54
Umm yeah, Fairfax is quite far for me to venture. Went to the market next to Han Ah Reum in Catonsville and the market at 40&29 in Ellicott City (is that the town there?). They had a couple sets that we’re cute, but nothing my daughter liked.
And yes, we know about the leaking - if they’re not specifically water tight, they’ll leak with wet foods. For my daughters meals that not problem, for the partner I use air tight plastic containers we have on hand.
lunchinabox.com has some great tips for making quick bento-ish lunches to deal with the morning time crunch.
So far it is more about cutting stuff up and making it fit than making it artsy - though I did make little hotdog crabs and octopuses for their lunches today (too cute). I can’t wait for the egg molds to arrive, who knew you could mold/shape hard boiled eggs!!
Let me know if you know of some other places to try in Maryland (Frederick area?). I need to hit the wheaton/gaithersburg area to see what the asian market there has, I think they have a Lotte Market there.
mapgirl
September 5th, 2007 20:26
There might be a Grand Mart or a Super H. Those are two new Korean stores around NoVA that might be moving into MD. I know there are a few places in Wheaton/Silver Spring, but I can’t remember which one it is.
All I can say is sharpen your knives. That helps a lot when doing a lot of slicing. My mom was really into that.
Donna Jean
September 6th, 2007 15:04
Oh I love sharp knives - never realized how dull the knives I used growing up were. The partner, being a bit metal obsessed, got a think for keeping the knives super sharp - had to teach the daughter new respect for just how sharp they can get. Sure makes cooking a pleasure.