Contest Entry #5 From Stefanie

Fantasy Forest Fun Bento:

I don't have kids yet to make obento for, so I packed food that I myself liked at the age of about six years. In this bento there is a wholegrain rye-bread squirrel with salami, sitting in between two apple bunnies and a heart-shaped egg. Behind the squirrel are a few mini carrots, red grapes and a wheat-bread fir tree with cream cheese. In front of the squirrel we have a shaped piece of cucumber and a small giraffe pick with a tortellini between two cherry tomato halfs. Two more tortellini are hiding beneath the tree in the back and there are bigger slices of cucumber under the giraffe pick and the egg. The whole box holds about 500 ml, which I think is the recommended size for a 4 to 6 year old child.

Contest Entry #2 From Katie "Dino Munchies Bento"

My daughter and I worked on it together ^_^ We call it "Dino Munchies" and it's composed of two dinosaur sandwiches (whole grain white bread, cream cheese, lettuce, and veggie bologna) and my daughter wanted the box below the sandwich to be for the dinos. We decided on carrot "branches," tomato "lava rocks," cheese "leaves" (shaped with leaf cutter), and peanut butter and celery "bugs on a log." My daughter told me the bugs weren't for the dinosaurs to eat, they just needed some friends.

Contest Entry #1 From Megan "All Day Energy Bento"

The reason behind the name "All Day Energy" for my bento is because everything inside the bento will more than likely keep a 4-6 year old energized and full for quite some time. I put a lot of thought into this one to make sure the bento included every food group, but still stayed in small enough portions as to not overstuff a childs' belly at lunch!
In the top tier: Two bear shaped peanut butter sandwiches, three turkey/ham rolls held together with some cute animal picks, four snowflake shaped cheese snacks, star shaped onigiri with a nori star in the center, and a flower shaped bottle with some soy sauce for the onigiri.
The bottom tier holds the fruit and veggies, as you can see. I have two fairly small whole strawberries, three red grapes, three flower shaped carrot slices (I had four but there wasn't enough room after I put the egg in, so I ate it ^_^), a bunny shaped egg that came out a little iffy (the egg I used was too big...I'm still experimenting!), a small cup of shelled edamame, and four thin slices of cortland apples.

Bento Newbie Contest #3

I am SUPER excited about this next contest!!!! I think you all are going to love the theme this time around!

~KINDERGARTNER OBENTO~

Bento should be made as if it were FOR a 4 to 6 yr old.

Basically fun, healthy and easy for a child to eat. Kids love yummy & fun looking bento!

Also keep in mind that kids take their lunch to school and can not heat up their meal. So do not pack foods that can not be eaten at room temp! Most all of the bento I post here are for my kids, so that should give you all some idea as to where to go with this theme!

This contest will run for 2 weeks!

~Deadline for entries is Nov 28th~

CONTEST GUIDELINES:

Bento must contain all food groups

Description must accompany bento entry pic

Name your bento

Must be new to making bento (6 months or less)

Your bento will be judged on the following categories:

~Bento Name Creativity

~Food Groups

~Packing Skill

~Food Combination

~Appearance

You can earn up to 5 points in each of the above categories!

I will be posting pics of the 1st and 2nd place prizes soon!

PLEASE EMAIL ENTRIES TO obentolunch4kidz@live.com

Our 2nd Judge

I would first like to say that I am so honored to have such talented people as judges for our Bento Newbie Contests.

"Snappiness" from Live Journal caught my eye long ago in the Bento Lunch Community. Her bentos are great and always full of vibrant color and great food! She now has her own bento website! The Daily Bento You can see her bentos on her site or on the Bento Lunch Community at LJ.

She is judging this current contest along with the esteemed bento maker Ms. Pikko!

The results will be announced as soon as the judges get their scores in to me! GOOD LUCK to the 6 entries!

Contest Entry #6 From Shani

HI, My Name is Shani,I'm a mother of 2 boys in California.I just discovered Bentos at the beginning of the school year when my 8 year old son decided he didn't like sandwiches in his lunches anymore.I have been making him bento lunches for a few months now and I finally posted my first bento on Bento Challenge yesterday. We have both had so much fun with bentos and now my husband says I'm addicted. Well he's my next victim, I just ordered a bento box for him yesterday. Here is my entry for the Newbie contest "breakfast for lunch". It is my son's 9th birthday today so this was a good incentive to make him a really pretty lunch. Below is the contents description. "Birthday Bento"My son turns 9 today, this is his Birthday Bento. He loves sausage so I made omelet sushi rolls with mini chicken apple sausages and cheese, there are some spinach triangles (my first attempt at spanakopita, I added pesto and sun-dried tomatoes and they were really yummy). My son says they are his new favorite food. There are a few bites of steak tucked in behind the star onigiri. Carrot slivers, apple hearts, a strawberry, grape kabob and green beans for the fruit and veggies. Happy Birthday!!

Contest Entry #5 From Kayleigh

Im not a big breakfast person and almost never have breakfast except on the weekend where I have it for my lunch :D. For this bento I have taken all my fave bits and put little bits together...Top Tier: Rice Pudding with nutmeg (and after i took the nice pic I put choc buttons on top for added naughtyness lol) with some shreddies (I hate cerial with milk so like to have it as a little snack)Bottom Tier: Veggie sausage ontop of a crumpet (kinda hidden) and an omlette with wholegrain mustard and a bit of soy sauce topped with a veggie bacon checker board.

Contest Entry #4 From Megan

I call this my "Beautiful Morning Breakfast Bento".

Right side: White rice mixed with blue food dye to represent the sky. Nori/edemame is used for the grass. Edemame pods are used for the flower stems and there are carrots used for flowers. I used a miniature breakfast sausage for the tree trunk and broccoli florets for the tree top. The sun is a slice of hardboiled egg yolk, and part of the remaining egg white was mashed up and used for clouds. I cut some nori to look like faraway flying birds...and there's a little bunny poking his head out from behind a flower!

Left side: Four Hello Kitty character chocolate chip waffles, red grapes, apple slices, more miniature breakfast sausages and a few cheese cubes. There is a little sauce inside the bunny bottle for the rice.

Contest Entry #3 From Katrina

Top tier, from left: mini waffles from Van’s (The inspiration for this bento. I had just read about this contest a day earlier and then saw these on sale at my local megamart.), apple rabbits with clove eyes, homemade pineapple-OJ jello cup.
Bottom tiers, from left: chunky peanut butter and maple syrup spread for waffles (also good as apple dip according to my little guy), another apple rabbit and potato-egg-zucchini pancake with a small dollop of sour cream.

Judge Intro #1 "Breakfast 4 Lunch Contest"

I would like to introduce one of the judges for the ongoing Newbie Bento Contest! Her site and bentos are very well known in the cyber bento world and I am very honored to have her judging this contest;)

Ms. Pikko of Adventures In Bentomaking

I am a 29 year old mom to two living in Honolulu. I'm an Administrative Assistant for a diabetes research project at the University of Hawaii and also a Senior Content Manager for Allakhazam.com's Final Fantasy XI Online website. Some of my lunches will be featured in the upcoming book 500 Bento Lunches.http://www.adventuresinbentomaking.com/

Contest Entry #2 From Katie

It's a pancake bento! My daughter loves them. In the cup next to the mini pancakes is syrup with a cheese cutout on top, plus grape gap fillers. Bottom layer is white and ruby red grapefruit segments and a piece of tamagoyaki with a heart on top.

Contest Entry #1 From Susan

My bento is an "english breakfast" it has a "fried egg" cheese sandwich, bacon, made from salami, beans, toast, cherry tomatoes and sausages. On the bottom tier we have fruit and fibre with banana and a cup of milk for the cereal on the side. I have been making bento since September this year for my daughter and myself.

Contest Prizes

PINK FEMMIO VALENTINO BENT BOX SET

1st Place Winner will recieve a Pink Femmio Valentino Bento Set!

2nd Place Winner will receive a 2 piece set of accessories!
(1 Set of Animal Picks & 1 Set of Animal Sauce Bottles)

And The Winner Is......

After much thought & consideration from our judges, a winner has been chosen! I would like to thank each of them very much for participating in our first ever Newbie Bento Contest! Please be sure to visit their great sites for lots of yumminess!
kawaiikiki

Cloud 9 Food

Okinawa Hai

Lunch Bucket Bento

OK, now back to the WINNER of the Newbie Bento Contest! THE WINNER IS ......

BACTERIAL BENTO By Coppelia D.

Bento Name: Bacterial Bento

Description: Inspired by the anime, Moyashimon, here are Aspergillus Oryzae and Penicillium Chrysogenum, two of the most popular microbes in the show!Chrysogenum was made of edamame rice onigiri also with a meatball filling. His face and arms are made of nori and soy paper. He sits on a bed of "moldy" bread (made with edamame) because he's a green mold after all! Accompanied by chow mein noodles, dried apricots and apple gummies.

Second Place Goes To.....

EVIL BUNNY BENTO By Kayleigh

Name: Evil bunny (was supposed to be like my rabbit I had when I was a kid but the eyes made it look evil :S)Contents: Tuna mayo and horseradish stuffed rice with steamed broccoli and baby carrots (for the bunny of course lol) This was my second attempt at a bento and is my fave one so far... tasted good too :D

Congrats to our winners and I hope to see you all in our next contest!

Newbie Bento Contest UPDATE

I just wanted to give everyone an update on the contest. There was a total of 13 entries and i was SO THRILLED to see everyones creative ideas and cute bentos! This first contest has been a real hit! I just love the idea of giving Newbies a chance to share their bentos and to have a chance in a contest without the thought of the "pros" not giving them a real shot at it! This definitely will NOT be the last Newbie Contest, so if you do not win this challenge you can give it another try next time;) As soon as I have received all of the scores from the judges I will post the WINNER and guess what... there is a little "TWIST" I have decided that the prize not chosen by the 1st place winner will go to the second place winner since there are 2 prize choices! SO EXCITING, right? So if you did not enter in this contest or did place in 1st or 2nd be sure to enter the next one...I have a good twist in mind for the next challenge as well!

Katy;)

Contest Entry #13

Shooting Star Bento

Hello,I am nebula1500 on LiveJournal. This is about the 5th bento I've ever put together. I would call this one "Shooting Star". The top tier is a star shaped hard boiled egg, with a star of american cheese on top, with a celery "comet tail." The tail is sitting on top of a bunch of star fruit. Then on the bottom tier is some lettuce and cucumber with some more star cheeses, with a star shaped dressing holder.

Thanks!!Elisabeth

Claudia from Cloud 9 Food Judge #2

My name is Claudia and I've been passionate about food my whole life. I started making bento mainly for portion control, but I've found it has been a very rewarding and creative experience. Bento combines several of my interests - food, art, and a love for Japanese culture. I enjoy making kyaraben bento using natural ingredients that follow the bento philosophy of balance, taste and presentation. Examples of my bento can be found on my blog at http://cloud9food.blogspot.com/

KawaiiKiki Judge #1

As I mentioned before there will be 4 judges for the Newbie Bento Contest. I will be posting small bios on each them! Here is KawaiiKiki's bio! Also definitely checkout her site if you have not already, it is a really great site with lots of good bento ideas!

Bento Bio:
I have been making bento for almost 2 years. My bento can be seen on my blog kawaiikiki.livejournal.com and flicker.com/kawaiikiki. I am the co-founder and monderator of the Bento Challenge community on LiveJournal which includes bento contests and weekly theme challenges. We have a sister community on Flickr which I also moderate. By day I am a 6th grade teacher.