Almost Over

The kidlet's vacation is almost over and soon it will be time to assemble bento again. As you could see from the previous list, I will have trouble fitting it all in. I forgot to add to that list, tamagoyaki (Japanese omelet) and tuna. The problem with tuna is that she doesn't like the smell and is afraid of her classmates smelling her lunch. Don't ask me, I just live here. That goes for boiled eggs too, though none of that will stop me from trying to get her to give them a shot.
I will be grocery shopping today, and according to the sales fl yer, mango will be on sale so it will figure prominently in her bentos for the upcoming week. I will attempt at a chicken mango type stir fry with "Fruit and Vegetable" sauce (I don't know the Japanese for this, it is in characters on the bottle) and probably a nice fruit salad. Our weekly vegetable and fruit box was a little slim this week. It is almost time for Spring vegetables though, so until then I supplement from the grocery store.
One of the things I notice often when checking out bento sites is that the boxes always seem overfilled. It looks pretty, but the box won't hold together. While I still haven't found a way to make a bento like that keep its good looks after being squashed by the lid, I do use a thick rubber band to hold the boxes together when I get a little ambitious. The band I use is the one that comes on broccoli stalks from my organic food supplier. They work perfectly. I have used regular bands, but you really should use a really thick one that isn't very big. She has been really good about bringing it home too, though I keep extras just in case.
I am on the look out for some new boxes. The ones I want at J-Box are pricey, so I will probably get a "regular" one and save up for the nice ones with thermoses. Speaking of nice ones, if you are more of a sandwich maker, there is a box that houses a more traditionally American lunch at Laptop Lunches. My sister has a fantastic site with some ideas called The Healthy Lunchbox which she stopped posting on in 2008 because the woman is a hurricane of activity. She has a number of really appetizing lunches there to check out though.