Hi, I'm a Ph.D. student/TA at my university's English department. I started getting into bento a while back, but I've been getting rusty over the holidays. I would love to make my bentos more attractive and more healthful. Even though I've been an ovo-lacto vegetarian for almost 15 years, I don't always eat healthy. The bento challenge sounds like a great opportunity for me to improve my meals.

I live in northern California, near Stanford University, which is where I work. I started bringing bentos to work about a year and a half ago. I was drawn to the money-saving aspect, but I was mostly interested in packing healthy, tasty, well-balanced, vegetarian meals for myself. After being a devout vegetarian for fifteen years, I have recently begun eating some fish again. Still, over 95% of my lunches are completely vegetarian, and a good number of them are vegan.

I'm happy to have found this site and am learning from all of you on the Flickr group page. My children have been using Laptop Lunches for the past year and a half. I have been making them healthy, balanced lunches, but often I will leave the house without eating breakfast and without packing myself a lunch. I'm using the Bento challenge to make sure I make a lunch for myself, too. I'm a vegetarian (as are my husband and kids). We have a nice farmers' market, so I base my menus off what's available at the market and go from there with my menu planning.

Hello! My name is marzia, I joined in today althought i've been reading justbento.com for a while, to share ideas, have fun with you all and take part in the Bento Challenge! I studied Japanese at university and I love Japanese culture and food. I was not very fond of cooking until I was diagnosed with celiac desease...I had to start following a gluten free diet and - of course - learn how to cook! I bring my home-made lunch everyday at work, and the Japanese bento is a colorful and healthy way to keep up with the diet.

Hello all, Bramble here, though you can call me whatever you like. Just thought I'd stop by and say hi. I'm a part time college student hoping to major in culinary arts once my basics are done. I also have a deep love of trying different foods and learning about the cultures that go with them. If anyone needs any help or food ideas I'll be glad to toss mine out there. *hugs all* Bramble

I'm Glenda and I've been reading JustBento for a couple of months now. My home is in Ottawa, Canada, where my husband lives, but I tend to spend most of the year over in England where I'm trying to finish a PhD. (note to self: you *will* finish by May! you *will* finish by May!).

I've been exploring Japanese cuisine for the past year in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Since I go to school in addition to working, keeping a handle on nutrition has been next to impossible. What I have found in Japanese cuisine and Bento lunches is food that can be put together pretty quickly and is not made with as much fat as American food. The weight loss I've been experiencing is pretty crazy and the fun I've had doing it has been a wonderful surprise.

Hi All, My name is Mel and I've been a lurker on Just Bento for a long time. I'm so pleased there is a forum now! I'm not so disciplined with making bento everyday - but I'd like to be. The amount of $$ my husband and I can spend on lunch is ridiculous! We live in NZ so a lot of the awesome bento stuff (tools, boxes, & food) that others can get is very out of reach for us! If only international shipping to NZ wasn't so pricey! Anyways, enough from me :) Mel