Bento lunches - Resources and practice

Bento: According to Wikipedia, it's an "aesthetically pleasing" and "appealing boxed lunch."

Making things look beautiful is not my forte. As you might have guessed from my writing style, I tend to be rather straightforward, practical, and utilitarian. It's not that I don't appreciate beautiful things, but that my mind rarely focuses on how to create them. But I can do it if someone tells me how.

And that's why two of my favorite blogs are Lunch in a Box and Just Bento. I've gotten wonderful ideas for packing our family's lunches on the rare occasion that I do make bentos. I usually just pack our lunches in single-serving plastic containers, but every once in a while, I'll have both the time and inclination to dress them up. Most of the time, though, I feel like I'm absorbing information to be able to pack appealing lunches for my boys when they're older and the way their lunch is packed is the difference in whether it gets eaten or tossed.

Then last week, I came across this article at The Dollar Stretcher that's full of good ideas on making food fun for the kids like "dinosaur eggs," "caterpillars," and "kiwi butterflies." I think it's time to start putting some of that stored-away knowledge into practice now - I want those things in my lunch!