Mike and I live in a loft in downtown LA, near Little Tokyo. We are totally inspired by the Japanese culture, although neither of us is Japanese. I especially adore the food! Recently, I discovered the cute side of bento boxes. I had always thought it was just a lunch special at Japanese restaurants but apparently it's very popular for kids (and those who are young-at-heart!). Bento-ing appeals to my detail-oriented, creative side.
We use local, organic, and sustainably raised food in our bentos. We make weekly trips to our farmer's market (which lucky for us in Southern California, is year-round), which has put me in touch with the seasons for certain fruits and vegetables. We do a majority of our shopping at Trader Joe's, supplemented by Whole Foods and local markets such as Erewhon. I realize that organic is sometimes expensive, but we sacrifice in other areas (no TV or clothes/shoe shopping, for example) to make up for it. We save about $100/month not having cable and I think that the money saved is well spent on what we put into our bodies.
Additionally, we do not believe in microwaving our food, so all of our bentos are meant to be eaten at room temperature or cold. As a result, we end up creating a sort of Americanized hybrid bento. The purpose of bento is to experiment and introduce different foods and flavors, by making your meal beautiful and fun to eat. With bento you can maintain proper portion control and variety, which is good for your health. Even though our bentos usually lack rice and are not traditional bentos, we still follow the fundamental principles of bento. We hope you enjoy our blog and our bento journey!
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