I'm Biggie: avid cook, speedy lunch packer, mom & former expat fluent in Japanese. 
Top Speed Tips
TUTORIALS
FREEZING
PACKING
- Guide: How to pack a bento lunch and fill gaps
- Avoid airplane food, pack your own bento lunch!
- Hot vs. cold lunch packing considerations
- Edible ice packs
- Tips for packing smelly food
- Top 7 things to do with leftover food scraps
- Pack a “rice lid” on top of stew/curry in a food jar
- How to use a donburi bento box for stew/curry
- Prevent fruit from browning
- Freeze canned fruit in small containers, use as ice pack
- Curl noodles into nests for easy dipping
- Keep rice warm and soft in a food jar
- Glad Press’n Seal creates a lid on sub-containers
- Pre-fill sauce containers to save time
- Make a clean “handle” on chicken drumsticks with decorative aluminum foil
COOKING
- An organized list of all the cookbooks in my kitchen
- Make-ahead tips from Japanese magazine
- Multi-boiling
- Multi-broiling
- Multi-frying
- Multi-grilling
- Rice cooker doubles as steamer
- Cut slow-cooking foods small and thin for faster cooking
- Use individual coffee creamers in scrambled eggs
ORGANIZING
EQUIPMENT
- Guide: How to care for your bento gear
- Antibacterial food cups & dividers
- Baskets for freezer and refrigerator organization (NEW)
- Cheap lunch containers at Target reviewed (NEW)
- Collapsible sandwich case
- Convection toaster oven
- Cookie cutters can act as rice ball molds
- Customize bento box decorations
- Decorative aluminum foil
- Donburi bento box
- Egg mold substitute: ice cream sandwich molds
- Egg slicer (for fruits and vegetables)
- Extra-thick aluminum food cups for cooking
- Fish grill (stovetop)
- Flowerpot smoker (making an insulated smoker out of flower pots, a la Alton Brown)
- Food cups for fried food (absorbs oil)
- Food jar
- Food picks to make vegetables into balloons, umbrellas, rings, flowers, etc. (NEW)
- Fit & Fresh: Salad container, and soup/salad container
- Flexible ice blanket: cut to make mini ice packs
- Glass bento boxes and microwaving
- Ladles act as tiny pots to fry quail eggs or boil vegetables
- Metal bento boxes
- Microwave mini steamer
- Mini cooling rack
- Mini frying pan
- Mini pot for deep frying
- Mini strainer and bowl for draining/cooling
- Nesting and stacking bento box set (Thomas the Tank Engine)
- Oshibori wet hand towels (make your own from common items)
- Plastic wrap in different colors
- Rice cooker doubles as steamer
- “Rice cuber” square onigiri mold
- Silicone baking cups
- Slicing multi-tool (mini-mandoline)
- Takoyaki makers (octopus balls)
- Weird Pokemon lunch bag cloth
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
OTHER
- Allergy restrictions in school lunchrooms
- Ichiban Kan online store accepting orders, and products for the lunch packer
- Lead-free FAQ link & 20% coupon for Reusable Bags
RECIPES
- See the Recipes Page for organized links to all Lunch in a Box recipes
- Decorative Food tutorials on Lunch in a Box
- An organized list of all the cookbooks in my kitchen
