Growing up, I knew how expensive and fattening eating out is. Regularly eating fast food was put into practice after I started hanging out more with my boyfriend. I realized he prefers fast food and restaurants because he grew up eating it. My family saved fast food and restaurants for special occasions. I grew up eating brown bag lunches, which were not too appetizing though they did the job.
Now that I've already gained more weight than I'd like, I really want to get back to preparing food at home. Since I live at my mom's house, I have access to a full kitchen. I like eating pasta since it's simple and tasty to me, but my boyfriend is definitely a meat eater. Since we're both fans of Japanese culture and food, I decided that learning to make cute and delicious bento box meals is the way to go.
I'm currently taking classes full time and even with 4 courses, I plenty of time to relax. So instead of just playing Facebook games all day, I will be devoting more time to meal planning and preparation. I've already looked into different types of bento boxes, and decided to go with Laptop Lunches. Their bento boxes seem to be a good size and shape, while also being made of quality materials. I hope I made the right choice!
Next, I searched for books and websites with recipes and ideas on what to make. There are so many choices out there! I decided to start with these books:
Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes
Cute Yummy Time: 70 Recipes for the Cutest Food You'll Ever Eat
Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go
Maybe later, I'll try Kawaii Bento Boxes: Cute and Convenient Japanese Meals on the Go and Yum-Yum Bento Box: Fresh Recipes for Adorable Lunches. My boyfriend mentioned The Manga Cookbook before and I think it might be worth picking up too.
Though I could probably pick up bento preparation items at Mitsuwa Marketplace in Costa Mesa and Japantown in San Francisco (since my dad lives there), I decided to start ordering some things off of ebay and Amazon so all my Bento Box related stuff will arrive at the same time. I am eager to start trying out recipes, but I'm still in the research phase of figuring out what to do.
Well, I'm excited to find out some of the cool bento items and creations there are out there. I saw a bunch of cool anime bento boxes on Danny Choo's website even before I seriously entertained the idea of making my own. I will probably need to start off with the basics before getting that creative with it!
