I don’t want to offend anyone, I am just curious.

I have been scrolling for a bit here since I want to start packing my own bento boxes soon. I looked through some of the pics posted here. It may just been me, but the food in the bento boxes, the portions seems so small. If it really fulfilling? I may just have a big appetite for food thou, so it may just be me.

Sorry if that question came off as offensive.

Preferably not one made from cheap plastic?

Yakisoba, beef-wrapped asparagus, tamagoyaki

We’ve got Lily, Brewster, Coco, Pekoe, Deena, Doc Shrunk, Isabell and Monique!!!

Today I have some pasta with meat sauce, sausages, veggies and kimchi, and some Greek yogurt with honey and pumpkin seeds ☺️

Pan seared asparagus, rice, fried egg, shoyu chicken thigh

White rice with furikake, shiitake mushroom, simmered pumpkin, broccoli with mayonnaise, pickled carrot and radish, egg roll, cherry tomato, and tempeh crumble.

Hi friends, I've been using the nice Costco Tupperware boxes for my bentos and I'm looking at a real bento for Christmas. So I have two questions -

1. What should I look for in a good box? Gimmicks to avoid?
2. Any good store recommendations or boxes that you love?

Here are some noodles, corn, meatballs, dumplings, some cut up veggies and pumpkin seeds!

I try to cut time in the (very) early mornings by prepping things in advance and storing servings in the fridge or freezer so I can just quickly assemble my lunch, but it's been a bit of trial and error learning what stores and reheats well. I'd love to know if anyone else has any trips they can share. Here are some of mine:

• Rice freezes well; store in an air-tight container or cling foil and reheat in the microwave.
• Tamagoyaki, stir fried or braised veggies, and blanched veggies freeze well, can be packed frozen and will thaw out in your bento by lunchtime. Only issue is they're less malleable in the box when you pack it.
• Inarizushi (tofu sushi) freezes well; plastic wrapping them individually stops them from drying out. Reheat in the microwave.
• Carrot kinpira is simple to make and stores well in the fridge for a few days. Don't keep for more than 3-4 days, after which it starts to ferment.
• Beef is generally great -- reheats without issue out of the fridge or freezer. Gyudon in particular is a favourite. Chicken I prefer to freeze rather than store in the fridge.
• Meats coated in cornstarch have a funny texture when reheated; if I plan to store in the fridge/freezer, I prefer to skip it.
• Meat balls are also nifty, can be kept in the fridge or freezer, and reheat well. Easy to pack.

Of course most things would be tastiest made fresh that morning, and I'd love to have some tricks up my sleeve to expedite any cooking where I can. I'd love to know what tricks you guys have picked up along the way.

A post on r/AskUK inspired me to create a ploughman's lunch bento for today's outing. The boxes contain a variety of cut veggies with homemade dill dip, grapes (more finger-foody and travels better than sliced apples), leftover chuck roast, Branston's pickle, hard boiled eggs, sliced cheeses (pepper jack and two types of cheddar), homemade pickles from this year's garden (left are my bread and butter, right are his grandma's dill pickle recipe), and a couple wheat rolls I had on hand. Everything here is pretty much standard foods/ingredients we have around the house, except the Branston pickle I bought specifically because of earlier post. I'm too lazy to make scotch eggs, but I might have to try making pork pies in the future for this style lunch.

Lunch boxes filled with roast beef, cheeses, hard boild eggs, pickles, veggies, grapes, dip, relish, and bread

My first post here, though I've been doing bento-style meals and meal prep for over a couple decades, so I'll give you a little introduction: We also do a "charcuterie" thing (bento or just on plates for a meal). The difference from the ploughman's lunch is crackers instead of bread, high quality sliced lunchmeat rolled and cut into cracker sized chunks, and usually a couple condiments (dijon or stone ground, fig jam, pepper relish). Another bento type meal we do is what we call "picnic dinner" which merges our tea time fruit and chai with more savory dishes to make a meal, featuring dishes like chilled grilled salmon or chicken; chicken pasta salad; grilled salmon mixed into a spreadable cheese; caprese avocado salad; soft and hard cheeses;, a variety of fresh fruits (berries, mangos, pineapple, etc.); any number of breads or crackers (mini flat breads, bagel chips, specialty or club crackers, or even sliced baguette); and a thermos of chai (with containers of cream and sugar to finish our mugs).