A Flourishing Fetish...Bento Boxes!

I am so excited by the new blog I discovered at the Vegan Lunch Box. The site is called Cooking Cute !

Lately I have been collecting a few Japanese dishes, and now I find myself craving more. I love the intricate details the Japanese add to everything they create. You can let your imagination run wild as you peruse the various Japanese blogs and stores on the internet. The Bento Box (pictured right) is one of my new Japanese favorites. I recently purchased a plastic one for each of the kids, and they love them. Ethan will cry when I don't pack his lunch in it (we recently misplaced some containers in the school's garbage, so we are ordering a new set). When I run out of time, school lunches are now "forced" on my children! They are truly spoiled by my detailed lunches.

I love how the Japanese can make anything cute. Are you looking for a small container to hold your soy sauce? Look no further, I have found the cutest little fishes that serve this purpose. The possibilities are endless, as is the praise you'll get from the little ones once they have had a truly "unique" lunch made by mom.

In Japan, mothers spend hours making up bento box lunches for their husbands and children. Each bento is created and sculptured into a truly artistic expression. Each mom often spends hours making the lunches, and will acknowledge the competitive nature between themselves for the most original, creative bento box. Don't believe me?...see for yourself. I know that most of us do not, or aren't interested in creating such a masterpiece, but that doesn't mean that our kids can't go to school in style with a new lunch (one that is not found at Wal-mart, at least). I know that my inner lunchbox fetish is flourishing. I have decided to begin my own collection of bento boxes. Above is a couple of my favorites...of course with Hello Kitty and Kerroppi hanging a close second. I am very excited to begin my collection! I will be moving the Merry Moo figurines out of the Curio cabinet to make room for my first collection piece, within the next few weeks (oh, I forgot to unpack them from the last move...so my Curio is already prepped).