Just Bento

You may have noticed that I've now made the user login form much more visible (it's right there, in the left corner of the page). This is to encourage you to register on the site. I have stopped short of requiring registration in order to comment and so on for now, but I have turned back on comment moderation for any unregistered commenters. continue reading...

I'm still working on getting the forum up and running for the Bento Challenge, and some other things behind the scenes (you may have noticed the site has a slightly new layout/design, and new logo too). Please bear with me for a bit longer

In the meantime, take a look at the Just Bento flickr group, already up to 174 members!

The bento challenge that I talked about previously here and here, will start on January 13th!

Why the 13th? Well, I think that at the start of the New Year, a lot of us are very busy with work or school, for ourselves or for our family, cranking up into full gear. continue reading...

Some bento and onigiri related news that caught my eye recently. Single guys toting homemade bento to work; cheap bento options getting popular; Spam attacks Japan! and more. continue reading...

One of the questions asked during the Anniversary Giveaway was why Japanese people like cute (kawaii) things so much, as is evident in the cult of kyaraben or charaben. I’m not really sure of the answer to be honest, but it is true that from children to adults, women and even some men, love things that are cute and childlike. It may stem for the appreciation for detail in small objects like netsuke. Or maybe Japanese people are just a bit childish?

Or, maybe it’s because from a very young age, Japanese kids are exposed to kawaii culture. This is from a childrens’ program that airs on the NHK Education channel (NHK is the state-run TV station, equivalent to the BBC) called いないないばあっ！　(inai inai baa), which is also the name of the game you play with babies ‘Now you see me…Now you don’t!’. It’s aimed at 0 to 2 year olds, and is the highest rated kid’s show on the NHK. This song is called おにぎりぽん！(onigiri pon!) continue reading...

Bento contents:

• Leftover vegetable stir-fry fried rice, using 3/4 cup brown rice, 230 cal
• 4 Poppy seed encrusted green pea mini-burgers, 160 cal
• About 1/4 cup Carrot sesame salad with 1 cherry tomato, 30 cal

Total calories (approx): 420 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 10-15 minutes

Type: Vegan and gluten-free, relying on stock and frozen vegetables continue reading...

This is yet another recipe that is so easy that I didn’t even think of posting it, though I make it all the time. But since a lot of you guys liked the soy sauce eggs, and carrot kinpira is one of the most popular recipes on Just Bento (not to mention the most, ahem, copied elsewhere)…I thought, why not?

It is a very simple carrot salad flavored with sesame oil. You can add toasted sesame seeds if you want, or chopped up parsley as I did here, or both. Or leave both out and keep it simple. The good thing about this salad for bentos is that it stays crunchy and fresh-tasting even the next day after making it. It’s a nice colorful filler. continue reading...

Adding to an ever-increasing number of bento-appropriate mini-burgers recipes here on Just Bento, here is one that turns out little green burgers that are as visually striking as they are tasty. What’s more, they are vegan, gluten-free and inexpensive. I always try to have a bag of frozen green peas stocked in the freezer, and they really come in handy in the winter months when locally (or even reasonably locally) grown fresh vegetables are rather scarce. Green peas are great just cooked as-is, or mixed into stir-fries, but they’re also very nice mashed up. The most famous example of this are that British staple, mushy peas. Green peas are also packed with protein and various vitamins. continue reading...

[Update:] Menu For Hope has been extended to December 31st!

You thought that the Anniversary Giveaway was exciting? Well, here are some more goodies for you, plus you get to donate to a great cause!

Menu For Hope is an annual fundraising event, now it its 5th year, contributed to by food bloggers around the world. Last year, nearly US $100,000.00 was raised for the United Nations World Food Programme, to benefit the school lunch programme in Lesotho, Africa.

Menu For Hope’s creator and head organizer is Pim of Chez Pim, and this year’s regional Europe host is Sara of Ms. Adventures In Italy.

I’m very happy to announce that Just Bento is once again offering a raffle prize for Menu For Hope V! continue reading...

UPDATE: Details of the Challenge are now up here! We’ll start on January 13th.

I’m quite overwhelmed by the amount of interest in my little idea about some sort of health and weight loss related bento challenge for January! The original post is here if you missed it. Here is my thinking about this at the moment: continue reading...