Reviews

Here you’ll find links to short reviews I’ve written, including ready-made food items, lunch packing gear, books and stores. I have no commercial affiliations with the companies that make these products, and do not accept payment for reviews. Reviews are written solely at my discretion, and I usually purchase the items out of my own pocket.

Food Products

• Aidell’s portobella mushroom and onion chicken burgers
• Aidell’s teriyaki pineapple chicken meatballs
• Akebono Nichiro frozen fish fillets
• Assi “Cooked Vegetable Dumplings” rectangular Korean mandu
• Batter Blaster spray can batter for pancakes and waffles
• Bush’s Grillin’ Beans
• Del Real Foods’ tamales
• Handy brand mini crab cake appetizers
  
• Jeremiah’s Fine Foods mini scallop and shrimp cakes
• Marie Callender’s instant cornbread mix
• Marmite yeast extract spread (regular, Guinness and Champagne versions)
• McCain’s Potato Smiles
• Nancy’s Petite Quiches
• Pacific Natural Foods Organic’s Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
• Puff Pastry Petites by Cuisine Adventures
• Spanakopita from Costco
• Wei Chuan pork & leek Shandong dumplings

Books

• All food books in my kitchen
• “Face Food” decorative kyara-ben bento book
• “Hawaii’s Bento Box Cookbook”
• “Kawaii Bento Boxes” (NEW)
• “Kitchen Playdates: Easy Ideas for Entertaining That Include the Kids”
• “Moghul Microwave”
• “The Manga Cookbook”
  
• Japanese-language bento books: Children’s bento cookbooks
• Japanese-language books: Speed bento and freezing books

Equipment, Specific Brands

(additional products listed below and on the Top Tips page)

• Ciao! decorative aluminum foil from Daiso
• Daiso plate/bowl covers and stands for double-decker microwaving
• Daiso rice containers for freezing
• Daiso silicone shaped food cups
• DynoBytes’ dinosaur-shaped sandwich cutter
• Fit & Fresh soup & salad container
• Glad Press’n Seal creates a lid on sub-containers
• Glasslock tempered glass bento boxes by Wellbeing vs. SnapWare
• Hamilton Beach electric kettle
• Krups FBC512 convection toaster oven
• Mam’s Assist “rice cuber”
• Nissan Thermos Thermal Lunch Tote (JLN1200X)
• Rubbermaid flexible ice blanket
• Sanrio collapsible sandwich case
• Thermos Nissan 300ml thermal food jar
• Tovolo ice cream sandwich molds from Williams Sonoma (to mold eggs, rice)
• Zojirushi Mr. Bento thermal lunch jar (SL-JAE14)
• 350ml two-tier teddy bear bento box for food art

Equipment, General

(not necessarily brand-specific):

• Guide: How to care for your bento gear
• Antibacterial food cups & dividers
• Baskets for freezer and refrigerator organization
• Collapsible sandwich case
• Combination bento box and collapsible sandwich case
• Convection toaster oven
• Cookie cutters: Graduated size sets for decorating
• Cookie cutters can act as rice ball molds
• Decorative aluminum foil
• Disney Cars bento box & lunch bag
• Egg mold substitute: ice cream sandwich molds
• Egg slicer (for fruits and vegetables)
• Electric kettle vs. stovetop kettles: A Race
• 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.
• 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
• Metal bento boxes (how-to and cooking)
• Microwave mini steamer
• Microwave plate/bowl covers and stands for double-decker heating
• Mini cooling rack
• Mini frying pan
• Mini pot for deep frying
• Mini strainer and bowl for draining/cooling
• “My Hashi” personal travel chopsticks
• Nesting and stacking bento box set (Thomas the Tank Engine)
• Oshibori wet hand towels (make your own from common items)
• Pastry bag tips as cutters
• Plastic wrap in different colors
• Plastic wrap for microwaving and high heat
• Rice cooker doubles as steamer
• “Rice cuber” square onigiri mold
• Silicone baking cups
• Silicone food dividers
• Silicone shaped food cups
• Slicing multi-tool (mini-mandoline)
• Takoyaki makers (octopus balls)
• Thermal lunch jar shootout (Mr. Bento vs. Nissan Thermos vs. no-name knockoff)
• Weird Pokemon lunch bag cloth