Bento Inventory 1: The Boxes

(This post is going up without pictures, because the kitchen is a bit of a mess and I haven't done the inventory shots yet. I'll be editing it soon enough to have images. Until then, it's a bit boring.)

Happy Together: Little fishes guide you to the land of happiness.
Originally a two tier box, the bottom tier of my first ever bento box is cracked open, so only the bottom tier is usable for food. It has a divider that fits in the middle. I keep this mostly out of nostalgia, but it's good for carrying hummus in because the lid seals tightly. The Happy Together lid pretty much useless, as the bottom tier has the separate lid, but I keep it for decoration.

Leaf Brown
A striped, semi-oval box. This is what I use for onigiri. Onigiri is traditionally NOT shaped like how I normally make it, as we will see in my upcoming onigiri post, but I like to make it to fit into most of the box and put a treat in the other end. I've also used this for wraps, which I cut slightly thinner than the box is deep and arrange to take advantage of the end curve. The only problems with this box are that it's a little small, and the lid doesn't like to snap shut securely.

The Clickety click boxes
These are three childish bentos that I love, even if I have to tie them together with fabric strips or stretch rubber bands over them. Mine are pink ("My name is Rinda. I love the white cake and sweet cherries. Yummy, yummy"), yellow ("My name is Mink. I like to read the fantasy story. I am very excited when I read."), and blue ("My name is Bobbin. I like to play outside. Hmm....., what should I play today?" asks a particularly perplexed brown bear) and are all two-tiered. You could even argue it's a three tier system: two normal boxy layers, and then the lid space: the text part of the lid pops off to reveal a space normally used for small child-sized chopsticks. I use it instead for sliced-up tortillas, cookies, or crackers, and it works GREAT!

The Snap Lock boxes:
Not technically bentos, these identical clear boxes came from the grocery store. Never be afraid to "bento" in non-traditional containers! Just check out the capacity and cross-check it against your caloric needs. INSERT LINK HERE is a great guide to capacity for a bento packed in a traditional Japanese style. I particularly like these because they're relatively deep and have a tight-fitting lid.