Obento: The Japanese art of leftover lunches

Looks mighty good considering it's mostly leftovers. I love Japanese food containers because they can make everything look so appeal, even last night's dinner. The picture on the left is rice sprinkled with shiso which is like a tangy plum leaf, dried and salted. On the right is some komatsuna, like a spinach, sauteed with tiny fish and fish flakes. The middle is pork sausages. The very end is cucumber and cheese wedges. I lost points for not including one cherry tomato in it to balance out the color scheme.

My mom and sister see me making them and they thought I must love doing it. I don't.Some mom take obento making very seriously. I don't. But my son went to a Japanese preschool and the school takes lunches very seriously so balanced, brightly presented meals was ingrained in me.
Still when an American mom whose son was in Reina's class said to me "Every time he says a cute bento he says 'It's like something Reina would have'. " Wow. Did that ever make my day.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of obento because I like my meals warm, even sandwiches I liked heated. But my kids do. And even though it's leftovers, my kids seem to like Mommy lunches.

This is Reina's lunch bag. Has an extra pocket for snacks too.