Thursday, August 13, 2015

Happy Bento! Lunches On the Go Book Giveaway

Today I'm happy to be sharing a bento from a new cookbook, Happy Bento! Lunches On The Go, by Anna Adden - and giving a copy away too!


There are a lot of bento ideas packed into this little book! And when I say little, I'm only referring to it's bento box sized dimensions of 15cm square... it's filled with 50 fun bento recipes covering themes for every season, holiday, special school days, & more.

Happy Bento! : Lunches On The Go is more of a how-to book than a traditional cookbook. It also features a guide to bento supplies, packing tips, & lists places to shop for bento gear. The author has spent several years building her own bento gear stash and shows how she organizes it all. The bento recipes are sorted into chapters according to theme. Each recipe lists the supplies needed, ingredients, & directions, however food amounts are not specified, so nutritional content is not given.


Bento makers who wish to replicate the bentos within will benefit from having a fairly extensive collection of bento tools and accessories, as most of them call for specific cutters and/or decorations to complete the theme... but those just looking for ideas and who don't mind deviating from the author's designs will find plenty to inspire them!  Anna demonstrates a variety of different techniques accompanied by detailed directions:


My girls & I chose to make the Spring bento.  The specialty tools needed for it were flower egg molds & a flower stem bento pick, which we have - and we even have a bento box the same size & shape as the one in the book!


I had never made carrot curls! Anna's step by step instructions were clear though & it was easy! I love how they look as flowers.


We made a few changes to the bento ingredients - no beans because my picky sproutlets said no way, grapes instead of blueberries, and watermelon instead of cantaloupe, because that's what we had in the fridge.  It's all good. Here's my Spring bento next to the Happy Bento one :)


I learned something while colouring the tulip egg - always mix the food dye before placing the egg in the water! I started out all right, mixing a drop of red & yellow to make an orange tulip, then adding the egg to the dye water - but then I decided to add another drop of red to make it a darker orange, and you can see streaks where the dye swirled in the water :)


Ah well, if you've ever been to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival (near where I live) you know that there actually are variegated tulips in just those colours :) Oh, and at my sproutlet's request, I coloured the center of my flower with food markers rather than exposing the yolk as in the example in the book. My girls were very happy with the Spring bento they got to share :


      

Enter my Happy Bento! Giveaway:

The winner will be drawn & announced August 22nd. Check back here, follow me on Facebook, or check your email to see if you've won - the winner will have 48 hours to respond & claim their prize before I draw again!

Don't want to wait or take your chances? Happy Bento! : Lunches on the Go is available at Amazon.com & book sellers everywhere.

Disclosure: Other than a complimentary copy of the book to review, I received no compensation for this post. This post does contain affiliate links to products I used.  

29 comments:

  1. I've been making bento for two years now! My kids and I both love it!

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  2. I am new to bento. Traveled to Japan in high school and have loved bento style ever since.

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  3. Thanks for hosting the giveaway and for posting a review of my book :)

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  4. I am a beginning to pack bento lunches for my toddler son, I definitely need the inspiration!

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  5. Pam Duncan8/14/2015

    Would love the book for ideas on lunch.

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  6. I'm new to making bento! i just bought some monbento boxes from amazon, but so far I only make for myself and it's usually chicken, rice, and tsukemono. nothing fancy, but i would love to learn more.

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  7. I used to make bento lunches...took a break for a while and now I'm ready to get back to making bento lunches again. This book would be great inspiration.

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  8. I started making bento lunches last year when my daughter started school and I still have a lot to learn!

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  9. This is our 3rd year doing bento lunches.

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  10. I am new to bento - but I can hardly wait to try some of these.

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  11. Laurie P8/15/2015

    New to Bento as well, looking forward to all the possibilities for my girl!

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  12. Anonymous8/15/2015

    I'm new to bento. I've being stalking bento blogs for a while. I think my son would really enjoy it.

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  13. I made some bento lunches about 3 years ago. I'm planning to start back this tear but I'm a bit out of practice.

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  14. I'm new to bento. I stumbled on it looking for a healthy lunch ideas for myself. I don't have any kids but I love making cool lunches for myself!

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  16. Anonymous8/16/2015

    Love your interpretation of that bento!! I especially love how your tulip egg turned out! I've always meant to try the carrot rolled flowers, but never remember to do it. And I've been making bento for several years. :) ~Rebecca

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  17. Not new. I have been making simple ones for my kids for several years.

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  18. I am new, I want to make my kids lunches more fun

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  19. Anonymous8/17/2015

    Never tried it before, I have heard about it though

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  20. I just started making them for my two sons in preschool!

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  21. I've been making bento boxes for my husband for about a year. I try to make use of leftovers and consider this practice for when my toddler starts school.

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  22. I've been making bento boxes for my husband for about a year. I try to make use of leftovers and consider this practice for when my toddler starts school.

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  23. Dyanna8/18/2015

    I am brand new to bento but my little one started Kindergarten and wants to take her lunch so I think this will be wonderful.

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  24. I would like to make bento lunches for my kids this year.

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  25. Anonymous8/19/2015

    Just getting into bento for my daughter's lunches. Would love to learn more!

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  26. I have never heard of bento. Seems interesting and fun. Want to make the lunches for my kids for school and hubby for work!

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  27. Anonymous8/20/2015

    I actually just ordered my first bento box. I figured having an actual box would be a lot more fun to use than a tupperware.

    I am a little afraid to try on my first lunch, having a guide book would be helpful.

    Thalie F

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  28. Been doing bento boxes for my kids for a while. They love it. :)

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  29. I've made a few. I'd like to do more for my kids!

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