Totoro Bento Box
My daughter E. received an exciting package in the mail this weekend: a My Neighbor Totoro bento box all the way from Japan. She was so excited that she insisted that I show it to you here.My Neighbor Totoro is her favorite movie, and I have to admit that I love it, too. So, when I started seeing Totoro bento boxes on internet sites like Bento TV, I was determined to find one. That turned out to be harder than I expected and I wound up ordering it from Japan.
Well, you would have thought that E. had won the lottery--a Totoro lunchbox all the way from Japan! She immediately called all her friends to tell them about it (only one of whom knew what Totoro was). She wanted me to fill it with sushi that very minute, but I told her she'd have to wait until Monday. So last night I prepared sushi for dinner (more about that in another post) and made sure I had plenty of leftover sushi rice to make her a bento lunch.
The bento box came with a very handy rice cover that you can use to press the rice into rounded shapes that are easier to pick up with chopsticks. I used medium-grain brown rice, which I cooked with extra water to make it stickier and then mixed with seasoned rice vinegar to taste. I sprinkled on a few black sesame seeds after pressing it with the rice cover.
I also included some edamame that were tossed with just a few drops of dark sesame oil, which adds flavor but also helps keep the beans from drying out. In the smaller tier of the box, I put a few baby carrots that were cooked in seasoned vegetable broth and some slices of organic golden delicious apples that I tossed with orange juice to keep them from turning brown.
E. didn't see what I put into the lunchbox this morning, so I'm eager to hear how she liked it. I do know that just the lunchbox made her so happy that she kept saying, "You're the best mom ever!"
Totoro bento box= $18.00
Postage from Japan= $ 5.20
Buying your child's love= PRICELESS!
Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free Eat to Live
posted by SusanV at 3:52 PM
31 Comments:
that bento box is so cute! i love bento meals... they are so pretty.
i am anxiously awaiting your sushi post, because now that i finally bought sushi rice and a bamboo mat i have no idea what to do.
ps-- your curried split pea soup is currently simmering on my stovetop and it smells divine.
Wow ! You are a great mom, Susan !
I'd love to get a Bento Box for myself, even though I'm home all day LOL
We will check that movie out :)
And for a similar adult version of a bento: http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-Stainless-Steel-lined-Lunch-Silver/dp/B000246GSE/sr=1-1/qid=1161646076/ref=sr_1_1/104-8087769-5207904?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden
You are a great mom!
Susan, that is SO adorable and so worth the money! I love how you filled it too. Looks like a perfect, healthy lunch! What a great mom you are!
I want to get one for myself and my daugther. They seem great to bring on roads trips too. We pack foods now and then in case we are out, are starving, and cannot find good and healthy vegan foods! This would be great to take along. :)
I'm sure your daugther loved the lunch!!!
Your a good mom! What a great and healthy lunch that is.
Did you reheat the rice before you made her rolls?
Your efforts were totally worth the reward! My 20-year old child takes his bento box to school too. Is "Totoro" available to rent at Blockbuster?
That box is adorable. What a lucky girl your daughter is - not only to have a cool bento but to have a cool mom who packs her sushi!
I just LOVE Totoro! :)
That's an adorable Bento, I've been eyeing on Jbox too.
You *are* a great Mom to have gotten such a wonderful Bento for E. (especially since it inspires more healthy eating)!
Has your daughter seen Kiki's Delivery Service? That's my daughter's favorite. :)
Oh that E is so sweet! And her Mom's not bad either ...
Tamara, I hope you like the soup! I'll be posting the sushi recipe tomorrow, along with some links to previous sushi posts.
Thanks, Gaia! I hope you can find a copy of the movie. If you can, look for the older version, not Disney's recent re-dubbing of it.
Midwest Vegan, the sushi was at room temperature when I put it in the lunchbox. Then I refrigerated it overnight.
ATxVegan, you may be able to find it at Blockbuster. I think we first got it from Netflix, but we were later lucky to be able to buy the VHS version cheap when our local video store converted to all DVD's and sold all their tapes.
I also want to point out that there's a recent remake (re-dubbing) of it with Dakota Fanning. I haven't seen that one, but it hasn't been received well. If you can, look for the older version.
Sera--glad to hear from another Totoro fan!
Anon--we love Kiki too! And Spirited Away--have you seen that? A few years ago, I would have told you that I HATE animated movies, but that was before I saw Miyazaki's beautifully animated films. They really aren't children's movies--they're everyone's movies!
Thanks AK! :-)
Have to chime in and say that the Totoro bento box is adorable! I've been wanting some myself, but with 5 kids it's just not happening! :)Completely off the subject of food, we also LOVE Miyazaki's movies!! Totoro was the first we saw...we own most of them now. The ones previously mentioned are wonderful...I'd also recommend Whisper of the Heart.
That is so cute! I've been wanting to get one, but they seem so small, are they actually big enough to hold enough food to get you full?
Very cool. She's right, you are a great mom.
I love it! I've been eyeing the Totoro bento box for my kids as well! I also like the small Totoro box with the miso soup bowl, but that doesn't seem as versatile. Maybe I'll have to get both!!
We love the Japanese animation here too! We often watch them in Japanese - that is really fun.
I've been reading your blog for a while and and wanted to say thanks for all the great ideas!
what a cute lunch box. E is so lucky to have such a great and fun mom. I've never heard of Totoro either, but that lunch looks super good. Once you post your sushi lunch I might have to finally try making sushi on my own! I hope to see more fun E lunch boxes in the future.
-Teresa
That's a great box! E. has a great mom and I'm sure she'll have a lot of fun with that! Can't wait for your sushi post...
Oh! I want one too!!!
thank you so much for posting the link ! my boss' daughter loves Totoro. i just ordered a bento box for her. i hope your daughter enjoys hers. :-)
oh the meal looks so scrumptious that I want a Totoro box filled with your loving lunches too!!!!!
I've recently just learned about this whole Bento craze. Wow. I guess my allergy to soy has kept me from exploring this... It looks uber fun.
Yay for Mom! ;-)
I'm still in my "hate animated movies" phase, but my daughters don't share my aversion. I'll look for that film for them when Daughter Number One visits.
Also, what did you mean by "pressing it with the rice cover"? Is that some gadget for sushi making?
I don't know if you can help, but for the last two posts, the feedbiz emails have come out wonky. It just comes out in gobbledegook text instead of the normal way with words and pictures all laid out and all that. I don't know why it is doing it suddenly! I receive it to hotmail.
Hi Susan, this's a bit off food..I was wondering if you could give me some pointers to buying vegan wallets online? Would greatly appreciate suggestions.
Love your blog. Cheeers to fat-free vegan food!
Wow! I never expected so many comments from a post that didn't involve a recipe! Thanks everyone. E. did enjoy her bento lunch--and showing off her lunchbox. I think we'll be eating a lot more Japanese food in the future.
Someone asked about the size of the box. For me, this would be too small to hold enough lunch, but apparently it was fine for a 9-year-old girl. I would that suggest parents of older kids look for a bigger box.
KathyF--the box came with a cover for the rice that molds it into rounded shapes if you just press it into the rice. It's supposed to help compact the rice so that you can pick it up with chopsticks.
Jamie, I am sorry to hear about the Feedblitz trouble. I've noticed lately that they are very unreliable and have almost decided to remove the link from the blog. I will check and see if there's anything I can do to correct things.
Shevetha, I haven't bought a wallet online, but I usually get things like that from Pangea, assuming you're in the US.
What a suprise seeing the Tortorro I love the box! My daughter is now 15, but that movie was always her favorite too.
Jackie
I love Totoro! Jlist is a great site. I hope your daughter enjoys it :) As I'm sure she will. Has she seen Spirited Away yet or Castle in the Sky?
Lol, sorry to comment again, I just noticed you've seen Spirited Away though so I'm sure you've seen a lot of Miyazaki films. As you can tell by my pic I love my Totoro XD
How do you cook rice with more water if you are using a rice cooker? What is ratio and when do you add the extra water? I've only ever made Lundberg brown basmati. Or is it impossible to make stickier/sushi rice in a rice cooker? Does the grain size of the rice matter?
Would you suggest tossing the edamame with a few drops of sesame oil (I don't think my variety is "dark") even if you were going to eat them right away (instead of the next day)?
Thanks!
Anon, you just add a little more water at the start of cooking in your rice cooker (this is true whether you are using the on/off or computerized ones). You should not need more than a quarter cup unless you are making a huge amount of rice.
Sushi rice comes out perfect in the rice cooker, but you must wash it first. Just put the rice in a bowl and swirl it around in a couple of changes of water until the water is mostly clear. Measure it after washing as it absorbs some water. Use the regular white rice setting.
In my opinion, edamame is good with a couple drops of dark sesame oil and a few shreds of carrot for flavoring. Light sesame oil won't do much for the flavor. The difference is that light sesame oil looks like cooking oil, and dark seasame oil, made from roasted seed, is brown.
My husband saw Totoro and picked it up after hearing that I was interested in watching it. It's a darling movie. I was totally fascinated by all the cultural differences (the house, the lack of car/phone, the communal bath-you'd NEVER see a father bathing with his daughters in a US PG movie, etc). But what was most surprising to me was that the people looked Caucasian with very white skin and big round eyes. I think Japanese people are so beautiful and I don't understand why they felt the need to do that.
Thanks for recommending this movie.
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