About

Hello!

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you are enjoying my bento photos and that they may be inspiring you to try your own hand and making one, too! I started this blog in October of 2009 at the encouragement of many friends, colleagues and family members who either saw my bento lunches in person or photos that I posted on my Facebook page. Everybody seems to like these cute little lunches that I pack, so I thought I would create a blog to share them more widely.

I have been interested in food and nutrition and fitness and cooking as long as I can remember. I made inedible concoctions as a kid and remember eating carrots straight out of the garden. I hated corn dogs but loved fresh fruit. As a teen I baked cakes from scratch and began learning about nutrition and also began working out a my local fitness center. I became a vegetarian in high school, and this is where my fascination with food and nutrition really revved up. I began to learn about things that blew my mind – whole wheat pasta! quinoa! star fruit! eggplant! hummus! – all things I had never seen or tasted. I started reading and experimenting with every philosophy out there: Fit for Life, McDougall, Pritkin, 100 mile diet, Vegan, Macrobiotic, Paleo, etc., etc. etc. You name it, I’ve probably read about it and tried it. A bit later I had the chance to visit India a few times. I’ve always loved Indian food and passionately pursued cooking the cuisine, and my trips to India reinforced my interest in cooking-dabbling and, most importantly, consuming world cuisines.

I love being outdoors, running, hiking . One of my favorite activities is going to the farmer’s market to ogle fresh produce or browsing specialty food shops while traveling. I don’t have a TV so I don’t watch cooking shows, but I read a lot of cookbooks and blogs. My dear husband is a gracious and willing subject (sometimes victim) to my kitchen experiments. He never complains when I drag him on a 3 hour hike or make kale and banana smoothies for breakfast every day for a month. I have a beautiful two year old daughter and another girl on the way (yes, I’m pregnant at the moment!). Currently I am the communications manager of a community music school in north New Jersey. I retired from a career as a performing flutist a few years ago.

About my bentos

I adore traditional Japanese bento and I admire dedicated Obento artists and moms who pack really cute lunches for their children everyday. I tried making scenes with molded rice and vegetable garnishes – not my forte. I suppose I would get better with practice, but it also didn’t mesh with my interests in food and food personality. My bentos tend to be simple, but I love to make them look beautiful and they tend to reflect whatever phase or obsession I’m going through at any particular time. I think simple, healthy food can look nice and look appetizing without a lot of work. My bentos are usually super-easy, I spend only 5-15 minutes each morning packing them.  My bento ideas come easily and naturally to me, and I love inspiring others via my healthy and fun-to-look-at creations. I’m always on the lookout for new ideas and am eager to share with anyone who is interested.

Thanks for reading and have fun poking around my blog!

Jessica