Everyday Bento - by Wendy Thorpe Copley (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"[Everyday Bento] is packed with ideas for fun, delicious lunches."--AlphaMom.com

Your kids will look forward to what's in their lunchbox every single day with the delightful collection of recipes in Everyday Bento!

The bento food movement teaches us that foods can be attractive, nutritious, fun and delicious all at the same time. Kids love to try foods that bring a smile to their faces, and will often eat things they wouldn't otherwise try. For example, they'll love an adorable bear cub made from brown bread, peanut butter and jelly nestled on a bed of blueberries. Cut watermelon into hearts, and tuck them next to a ham sandwich shaped like ballet slippers for your budding ballerina. Create building bricks from healthy cheese, carrots and cucumbers--or a hot dog octopus, swimming across a sea of cucumber. Picky eaters or not, they'll try it!

Wendy Thorpe Copley writes the popular bento blog Wendolonia, which takes the traditional Japanese concept of bento--a single meal packed at home in a reusable container--and Americanizes it. Using simple ingredients found in any grocery store, Wendy creates entertaining meals that are sure to delight even the most finicky eater. Some of the fun and easy bento creations here include:

• Princess Bento
• Rock and Roll Bento
• Snowman Bento
• Butterfly Bento
• Farm Yard Animals Bento

Besides being great fun to look at, bento lunches are a healthy way to enjoy food while keeping portions in check. Freshly-prepared lunches packed in portable, reusable bento boxes are also kind to the environment and easy on the wallet--very important in today's economy. Everyday Bento teaches you a few simple techniques to make creative lunches, all in a reasonable time-frame for busy working parents.

The 50 bento meals in this cookbook feature familiar foods with fun themes that will appeal to children and adults alike. Follow the easy step-by-step instructions to recreate each bento box, or mix and match different elements from the book to make your own unique creations. Make lunch fun again with Everyday Bento!

Review Quotes

"Everyday Bento will show you how easy it can be to make fun lunches your kids will look forward to eating every day." --EasyLunchBoxes.com blog

"Banish the boring with the following hip lunch bags, boxes and totes--and get your kids to eat better in the process." --Washington Post

"Blogger Wendy Copley, author of Everyday Bento: 50 Cute and Yummy Lunches to Go, provides the basics on these packed meals, common in Japan, where devoted moms will sometimes spend an hour or more transforming rice and ordinary lunch ingredients into elaborate animals and cartoon characters." --Chicago Tribune

"Copley's clear, simple instructions and creative approach will help you produce adorable boxed lunches with a variety of healthful fresh foods. I'm looking at my cookie cutters, Play-doh tools, and kitchen containers in a whole new light!" --Heather Gibbs Flett, co-author of The Rookie Moms Handbook and Stuff Every Mom Should Know

"Full of colorful and creative kid's lunch ideas, with easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Wendy does a beautiful job inspiring beginning and pro cute-lunch-makers alike." --MakerMama.com blog

"If you make lunches, you definitely need a copy. If you have picky eaters, you need this book. If you just like to play with food and make cool things for your kids, you should probably check it out as well." --HeyJenRenee.com blog

"Wendy Thorpe Copley is the Willie Wonka of school lunches. Her fun, colorful, and whimsical bento lunches are guaranteed to entice even the pickiest eaters to gobble up a wide array of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains happily. Her strawberry mice, fish-shaped carrots, and chicks made from hard-cooked eggs are an absolute feast for the senses." --Liz Weiss, MS, RD, co-author of No Whine with Dinner

"Who knew lunch-packing could be this much fun? Everyday Bento is packed with inspiring ideas that have me looking forward to packing lunches for my kids! The photos are so delightful--I have a whole new perspective on what can go into a lunchbox." --Whitney Moss, co-author of The Rookie Moms Handbook and Stuff Every Mom Should Know

About the Author

Wendy Thorpe Copley was introduced to the art of bento when her husband gave her a bento box for Christmas. Since then, she has packed thousands of bento lunches for her family. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two sons.