Bento Contest Update

I had difficulty securing judges for this past contest and then I tried having a poll but that did not pan out either. So I have decided that I would ask Yumiko San and Hinako San whom are both Japanese. Yumiko San has made obento for a combined 20 yrs for all of her children. Her son who will graduate high school this year is the last that she makes obento for. Yes she does still make him bento everyday. Of course it is not the cutesy bento that we see for little ones but granted she has done that as well in their younger years! She is a native Okinawan and she has been making bento for as long as she can remember. Who better to be a judge than a native Japanese mom who has been making bento for so many years!

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 #4 From Michelle

Blustery Day Bento:

This bento contains the ever popular hard-boiled (and of course molded!) egg, roasted pumpkin seeds, grape tomato and natural cheese curd kabobs, celery, carrots, and bear-shaped onigiri. The bears make me think of Winnie-the-Pooh, who is the all-time favorite storybook character of my three children. Pumpkin seeds are a fall staple, so when my middle child (who happens to be in kindergarten!) asked for them in her bento today, the title naturally followed. When i ventured outdoors for better lighting, it was confirmed: this was certainly a lunch made for a blustery fall day!

Contest Entry #3 From EilisMaura

FUN AND PLAY AT DINGLE BAY
I had a chance once to go to Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland.The big news that year was a very very friendly dolphin named Fungi. I never got to go back to Dingle and never got to play with Fungi but we can play with him here!Dolphin shaped sandwich (cream cheese and strawberry jelly on white bread from Ireland - husband likes bread from home even though we live in NY!), raw sweet potato slices, red seedless grapes, fish shape harbors sunflower seeds and a pink cup of milk chocolate chips for a touch of sweet!

Current Newbie Bento Contest

Only a few more days left of the ongoing Newbie Bento Contest!!! We only have 2 entries! So if you are interested please checkout the guidelines HERE and enter to win great bento prizes!

Contest Prizes

The 1st place winner will receive this super cute Disney "Stitch" collapsible sandwich case!

The 2nd place winner will receive their choice of 1 pre-cut Nori packs. Hello Kitty, Pokemon or Cinnamoroll!

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

CONGRATS TO SHANI!

Our 1st Place Winner Is Shani!

Our 2nd Place Winner is Megan!

~CONGRATS MEGAN~

Congrats to our winners! I can not wait for our next Newbie Contest! I am hatching my next contest plan now. Info to be posted soon!

If you entered this contest and are interested in your score and judge comments please reply to your entry post with "Judge Comments Please" and I will reply with your critique!

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)

Newbie Bento Contest #2

Hello All!

The 1st contest went so well that I have decided to continue on with a second contest for Bento Newbies!!! (6 months or less of bentoing) Different judges will be judging this time and they will be announced soon along with their website information! This time there will be a theme to adhere to. Breakfast 4 Lunch is the theme! Each entry will be judged on 3 categories! Appearance, Creativity and Food Combinations! You can get up to 5 points in each category with 15 being a perfect score from each judge! Entry deadline is November 4th!!! Email your entry to obentolunch4kidz@live.com
HAPPY BENTOING!
Katy~
I can't wait to see all of your creative ideas!
PRIZES FOR 1ST AND 2ND PLACE WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON ALONG WITH OUR INTRODUCTIONS TO THE CONTEST JUDGES!!! STAY TUNED!!!