This is a really new hobby of mine. I've made three so far, mostly with leftovers. I'm learning!

A friend and I made a joint bento blog to document our adventures.
http://community.livejournal.com/buttbento/

For people who avoid livejournal like the plague, Bento the first:
http://...photobucket.com/...6/emobitch/bento/IMG_3569.jpg
Bottom tier - peanut butter rolls, raspberries, strawberry flowers on green jell-o cubes.
Top tier - string beans and red peppers with a garlic pesto dip, two kinds of crackers with hummus+paprika, two Le Petite Ecolier cookies.

Bento the second:
http://...photobucket.com/...6/emobitch/bento/IMG_3577.jpg
Two Green Giant individual size microwaveable veggies (corn niblets and cheese+broccoli,) half a turkey+swiss sandwich, and strawberries.

Bento the third, made in honor of our bento lj:
http://...photobucket.com/...6/emobitch/bento/IMG_3600.jpg
Top tier - onigiri made with my small onigiri molds. nori lettering. raspberries. green jell-o in little cups. Kraft singles accents and names.
Bottom tier - green jell-o with a strawberry face. ittybitty string beans. mini wheat crackers with a cheese spade made with a little cookie cutter. hummus and paprika in a schoolbus-shaped cup. more strawberries for filler.
Dessert/snack tier - Japanese chocolate candies called "Crunky" (yeah, I bought them for the name.) Fig Newtons. a bunch of melon gum. soy sauce in a bottle shaped like a piggy for the onigiri.

Hopefully working on more soon! Aaand hopefully John will let us post images here soon. OK POST SOME BENTO.

(Oh, and for the record, don't mix cheese and jell-o EVER.)

I like to eat food.

This is why we need the food tab to allow image posting.

Wicked! I love bento! I have both the Mr. Bento and Miss Bento sets because they are awesome!


http://...images-amazon.com/...I/4192%2By0cB2L._SS500_.jpg

http://...images-amazon.com/...s/I/41TC1Z1XA4L._SS500_.jpg

There are some great bento recipe and picture sites, too. I have a bookmark tab dedicated to them.

ALERT. The Dollar Store's across the country have gotten in shipments of three different types of Hello Kitty Bentos! I'm going to mine tonight to see if I can find any (and buy them ALL). If I can't, I know a girl who's willing to sell me some from her local store.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BENTOS.

I've had my Relaxbear bentos for a while, but I've got two new boxes and a bunch of accessories from the Mitsuwa near me!

Also I have no idea where the closest Dollar Store is.. CURSES.

Your bentos are so cute!

Holy christ. This is totally fucking amazing-I need to learn to cook so that I can do this for myself.

I love you guys, seriously.

Here are some more bento links for you, Val, and everyone else who'd like to sink themselves into the world of tiny yummy food.

http://www.cookingcute.com/

http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/index.asp

http://www.lunchinabox.net/

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Bento-Store

and a neato modern bento:

http://...plasticashop.com/...de=BNTOBX&Category_Code=

My stupid Mitsuwa had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING last time I went, and I was very angry because I know they've had tons of stuff in the past.

I call it "The White Man's Bento."
http://...photobucket.com/...6/emobitch/bento/IMG_3611.jpg
PB&J, watermelon, ittybitty jell-o cubes, chocolate goldfish grahams. The only thing kawaii nihonjin desu is the sushi grass and melon gumballs.. otherwise, it could NOT be more white.

Maybe I won't be too lazy to cook rice next time. Maybe.

glutinous rice = sticky rice = sushi rice = sweet rice = Chinese sweet rice = waxy rice = botan rice = mochi rice = Japanese rice = pearl rice

So I found some pearl rice at the store today to maybe I will try to make some sushi this weekend....

I'm totally joining your club when I get my bento in the mail! I just checked my Dollar Tree and the guy said they got them in at the beginning of summer and haven't seen them since. Balls.

Noi - What kinds of bento accessories do you want? At my 100yen store they've got bento, utensils, chopsticks in cases, carrying bags, egg molds, cute toothpicks, sauce containers, and little plastic food dividers in darling shapes. Again that's JUST the 100yen store and JUST from memory.

There are other nicer stores with greater varieties of cute things, but they are pricier. What do you want? I will be your shopper if you don't mind paying shipping plus a little on top for my time. Like... 10%? Whatever, I mostly just want to be a bento enabler.

This goes for all of you, too!

P.S. They make Jelly Belly bento with matching accessories in 6 or 8 colors! I can't find any pictures, though.

This is adorable and someday when I don't have a con pending I'm totally making one. It'll totally make the art students keel over.

i wish i was a boy at a japanese high school.

then i would make otakutre and kasai both compete with their bentos to win my love and affection. then i would have sex with them in an empty classroom (and/or nurses' office) so that they could prove that they really loved me.

but truly i would be the winner of this bento contest of love

I would not be afraid of being called gay for having awesome bento. Someone find a Phoenix Wright bento and I will love you forever and ever.

Yo you're not gay if you have great bento, but I think girls are only allowed to give them to you as a sign of affection. I don't think a dude can make his own.

Cute! I am way too lazy to make pretty bento. I need me a good housewife!

otakutre, I love your bentos! I love your bentos especially because you actually cook things to put in them. Me? I have no idea how to cook. I was proud myself for making rice for the first time in my life the other day.

However.. with your culinary skills and my knack for arranging small portions of food in an aesthetically pleasing manner.. I'm pretty sure we could take over the world.

Or at least make really fucking awesome bentos.

They need a show like this on the Food Network. I'd watch it and the reruns.