Dorky Dishes: Bento boxes make lunch fun!

I love the art of making bento boxes. Whenever I look at bento box art online, I just think to myself: why aren't all meals this adorable and artistic all the time?! The art originates in Japan, where most things that are awesome originate from. These little lunch packs are filled with shaped goodies that make it easy to want to eat the things you might not normally eat on the sheer basis that it's cute, like carrots. I don't like carrots, but I'll eat it if it's shaped like a flower or a bear. And because I'm an adult and can make adult decisions for myself, I decided to make myself Octopus hotdogs with rice as my first attempt at a bento box. Though I don't have a lot of the tools that are necessary for making bentos what they are, I still wanted to share with you guys this process.

I'm using a Fit & Fresh Kids' Bento Lunch Kit with Insulated Carrier in Black & White Floral that I got at my local Home Goods store, but you can really use anything as long as it can store the food you're trying design with. For being a kid's lunch box, this is actually pretty big. This one is great because it also came with 2 little containers that fit inside and 2 ice blocks that snap into the lid, plus a little bag that the main container stores nicely in for travel. I highly recommend using something along the lines of this with separators unless you have silicone cupcake liners. The paper ones really don't work well. I'm using them until I can get used to making my lunches every day and because I have a really large collection I'd like to work through (I sorta collect cupcake liners).

What's in my bento?

• 2 Oscar Mayer Beef Franks cut in half with the bottom halves cut into quarters (I pan fried after cutting to make it keep shape)
• About 1 cup of Jasmine rice (cooked in a rice cooker and not a pot because that's weird)
• 1 string cheese cut in half (mainly so it would fit)
• 1 Baby Bel
• Half a banana sliced
• 4 strawberries cut into quarters

A few other things that I have set aside for today are a small container of Sriracha, a small container of popcorn, a small container of cream cheese, and an English muffin.

Have you ever made fun and/or weird designs with your food? Have you ever had a true bento box? I've also recently began doing pancake art. I haven't posted anything because I'm pretty sure kindergartners have made better designs with lesser tools, but I'm learning!