I don't use a bento box myself - too lazy - but I have an inexpensive supplier near me, so I often buy bento stuff for other people. Besides the box itself, you can also get little bags to carry them in, chopsticks and/or forks with little cases, molds for rice and eggs, cutters for shaping veggies, little cups to separate the different foods, sauce bottles and little shakers for seasonings... and lots of other goodies too, I'm sure.

For the boxes themselves, you can get single level and two-level ones (that sometimes have a little elastic "belt" to keep them closed). There are lots of different sizes and shapes. You can get ones with brand-name Kawaii characters on them, which tend to be very expensive (in my opinion) or ones that are solid coloured or with patterns.

If you don't have a Kawaii, Japanese food, or Daiso store near you, online is often your best bet for buying. EBay always seems to have lots of bento boxes, sometimes sold in kits with lots of accessories, and there are online stores that sell them too. I'm afraid someone else will have to tell you if there's any particular online stores that are good; I've never bought from any.

Let me know if you want to do a one-on-one swap. I can get boxes for $2 and some accessories (the stock varies, so I don't always know what I can get) for $2 each too.

I saw on one site that had the egg molds DH mentioned....I so love all the little containers, during the school year we usually have my girls by lunch but now that they are in summer camp buying isn't such a nutritious decision. I am also getting tired of using a half dozen of those stupid little bags.

but my question...

Since it's summertime where I am...how to you keep the food cold so it won't spoil? (no refrigeration for the girls at summer camp)

I have a couple of bento sites- the first one is really inexpensive.

ichibankanusa.com

hungryhungrybentos.com

HelloKitty bento

i received several bento and other things in a swap from the firtst one. I love them. I use those refrezzable cooler things to keep stuff coo, and I freeze juice bags and boxes to use too. They keep things cool and are thawed to drink by lunch.

Eor1122, there are lot of bento meals that do not require refrigeration. Check out this blog for some ideas. I being my bento to work 2-3 times a week and I never put it in the refrigerator. You could also use a freezer pack to keep things cool like niecedenise suggested.

If you have any Asian markets nearby you should check there first. The website that I listed above has a bento shopping locator.

I have one I've never even unwrapped from it's original plastic. I got it when I was working last year with the intent to use it, but lost my job a week later. So I never really got into them that much, even though I wanted to. Now I have no reason to use one :(

bento boxes look small, where would you put the freezer pack?

I forgot about the freezing the juice box trick

You can use flat freezer packs (the flexible kind filled with gel). Just put it in the bag under your bento.

Nolagirl, i cant get the blog to work. Help!

Sorry, not sure why the link is messed up. The blog is www.lunchinabox.net.

Thanks for all of the information...This is very helpful :) I appreciate the links and such especially.

DreamHope, I may take you up on that offer in the near future. Let me get my ducks in a row and then I'll PM you.

Is it possible to pack a full lunch in a bento box? They look tiny...

ooo look what I found

apparently they can be cut to single little 'mini' ice packs

also what I bet we could use those tacky plastic ice cubes like~

no bento stores near me, but I know we have a lot of asian/import supermarkets maybe they will have something

Wow, I actually think I have some of those little ice packs in my freezer...I suppose they could by cut down to size.

grr all the inexpensive bento box online shops are US :( and dont ship to the UK. ive never ever seen one for sale over here, i might just be blind to them but its making me sad :( haha.

I have a laptop lunch which is like the american version of the bento box. If you search laptop lunch on flickr there are a lot of pictures of what people do with them. Mine has a insulated tote so I don't have to worry about putting it in a fridge at work. I find it helps control portions and is a great alternative to using plastic baggies and other disposable things.

I've seen those too. I am finding myself becoming obsessed with the idea. I so love containers, but also I'm running out of lunch ideas for the girls and it's only the first week of camp.

ichibankanusa.com has very good prices! TOo bad they have so many products out-of-stock.

Are there other shops for really cheap bentos? The same box and accessories that ichibankanusa.com has for about $6 sells for over $16 on the J-List link off the rec'd blog. :(

thanks for that site na! I haven't seen them any cheaper than on that link. and they have pooh chopsticks!!! how cool is that!?!?!

I just discovered a Japanese store, very close to where I live, as in 3 minutes in the car. I'm going there tonight, and I just gotta see what these bento boxes are all about.

Ichiban Kan updates their stock on a fairly regular basis. Check back in a week or so and they will probably have new boxes in stock.

Tokyo Gift has some up for auction. The shipping is about $10, but they're multi-piece sets that start at $0.99 :)

That's a good find...I'll have to keep an eye on those :)

I'm bumping this since it's back-to-school time. I spent forever trying to find the post for its links above. I love the idea of a bento, but I don't know if I'd actually use it. It seems time/labor intensive rather than slapping together a sandwich.

I don't think bento's are that labour intensive I guess it's all about how you make them! The fancy ones sure those are pretty labor intensive. But I use them mainly for portion controle and snacks since I have class from 9 am till 8 pm gotta love Dutch schools ;) I tend to use the bento for my 4 pm snacktime and I think sandwich wraps! Are perfect for bento's and they don't take that long to make and they fill you up nicely.

Also bento's and leftovers! Perfect match! ;) Also if you like make a cold pasta dish and keep it in the fridge, scoop some into a bento, add some veggies and in the other layer some fruit... what could be easier ? ;)