Which Bento Boxes are Microwave Safe?

OnceUponAnEquine wondered about bentos and the microwave.

All these bento boxes are microwave safe to 140 degrees centigrade, which seems to be a common threshold -- that applies to the container and not the lid. Most lids are not recommended for microwaving; Hello Kitty in the picture has an inner seal around the edge of the lid that shouldn't be heated, some of the other lids have inlay, painted designs, or a lacquery finish that shouldn't go into the micro.

So my bento for today:



has a non-microwaveable outer and inner lid but can otherwise be heated. I love this little blue bento! It has a lift-out divided compartment for small amounts of something wet; today I put ginger jam and honey chestnuts in that, and yogurt beside it. The big section has chili hot beans, jasmine rice, tofu stripes, and miso zucchini.

The top of this box has the most wonderful little slogan:



"SO MUCH, IT REACHED THE POINT WHERE YOU CAN SWIM!"

This applies to many life situations, such as academia, where I work, and where the BS factor often suits this slogan; or happiness, which sometimes just floats up around us that much...the little seal and fishies are slightly 3-D and the texture of this box is satiny.

Finally here is a photo of my 2 exhausted poochies, after their morning constitutional today:




Poor Gabey is trying to hold onto his favorite chair, but Rufus is trying to butt him out; very typical.

Double Trouble Bento

Two different bentos: mine is the panda and Jan gets the pretty butterflies, just for a change from industrial Mr. Bento.


There is: fried rice, sesame and hot-oil fried red cabbage, quail eggs, veggies, daikon butterflies and their outlines, steak strips, a chunk of smoked mozzarella,
soy bottles, and a cake or cookie for me (love the sweets!).


I love these little animal picks:


A sweetness comes from having many different bento boxes and possibilities. I love the idea of lunch made beautiful and environmentally sound and nutritious...in a panda bento!! Life is good indeed.

Oh Boy New Bento Box!!

Cherry blossoms, curved shape, little chopstick holder with more cherry blossoms, I am in love. When I first opened the package I was a little scared because it looked so very small. However it provided a very adequate lunch and made up in cute factor what it lacked in volume.

I had rice with lentils on the bottom, and barbecue tofu, roasted beets, and cherry tomatoes on top - decorated with daikon and carrot flowers.

Last night for the first time I made the lunches before going to bed. It was fun to be in the kitchen late, with the dogs already snoring in the background, cutting out shapes and arranging food in containers. I find that the whole bento concept has changed my attitude toward food, even meals at home. I'm more tuned to the visual, colors, patterns and so forth, and more thoughtful about what to eat. It's good!

Here's Jan's Mr. Bento of today:

Daikon butterflies on baby green salad, bitter melon salad with carrot flowers, lentils and rice with ham skewers, and ginger snap cookies (packaged) with chocolate coins.

Mr. Bento and My Search for Meaning

Here you see Mr. Bento in his original package. You will also see the perfect existential paradox it presents: the box is covered with information but all of it in Japanese! Isn't that just like life? The message is very rich, but the medium is opaque unless you have learned the language.

Undeterred, we wander about the internet forest and pick up clues. How these clues assist me in my Quixotic drive to create the perfect Bento lunch, this blog will reveal over time. My husband has type 2 diabetes being managed with diet, and so he must be somewhat careful about what he eats. I wake up early by nature, and enjoy pottering in the kitchen before daylight. And I love a nice lunch & hate junk food...So careful little micromanaged lunches are perfect for us.

I have been known to cheat on Mr. Bento with this 'laptop lunch system':

This little cutie is designed for schoolchildren and is especially loved by families whose children have food intolerances that rule out school lunches. But given what is served in the typical school cafeteria, I think all children can benefit from a box lunch with real food inside. I enjoy all the little compartments this one has, and its neat carrying case:


We also have some achingly cute little Japanese sauce bottles (labeled "Mama's Assist") with animal heads & shapes; I like to dream about Japanese Bento-Babe mamas in the dim light of early morning, filling their little darlings' sauce bottles with soy for their onigiri of the day.

All around the world, people loving each other through home-made lunches...