Welcome to Akai Bento!

Hello and welcome to Akai Bento!

So first question:
What is a Bento?
To put it quite simply Bentos or 'Obentos' are boxed lunches common in Japan. While they originate from Japan they do not have to contain Japanese food or even rice for that matter (though in Japan rice is the main staple of a bento lunch). Bentos can be filled with anything you want from sandwiches to fish. I feel it is important to keep good balance within your bento; you do not want to have a bento that contains mostly deep fried dishes. I like to try and get as many parts of the food pyramid, yes I said food pyramid, as you can; a grain, a protein, fruits, vegetables and some dairy (as I am not a big fan of sweets I usually omit any type of 'dessert' but feel free to give yourself a sweet treat for a hard days work ^.^).
Why Akai Bento?
Akai is the Japanese word for Red and Red is my favorite color. Though I must admit at the moment I do not own any Red bento boxes. I have created this blog in order to further motivate myself to continue living a healthy lifestyle, and the easiest way to start is by eating well.

What Qualifies me to write about Bentos?
Absolutely nothing. I am not Japanese nor am I a Chef, I am simply someone who enjoys bentos and wishes to share my enjoyment with others.

Why did I start making Bentos?
I began making bentos primarily to incorporate healthier foods into my diet and also as an aide to help regulate my portions. Bentos are excellent at keeping portions in check as most boxes hold around 600ml of food, (around 3cups) though some boxes hold more others hold even less.

About Me:

My name is ginacrash I am a fourth year University student in a rather small university town in the Eastern United States. I discovered bentos through my love of Japanese culture, in fact Japanese History is the focus of my education. I had wanted to make bentos for a long time before I ever began doing so last year. I hesitated because a lot of the recipes and bentos I saw contained items I knew would be difficult for me to find but I came to realize you don't need to have unique ingredients to make tasty, healthy food and beautiful bentos. So I shall do my best to keep things simple and beautiful with easily obtainable ingredients.
My bentos are created as my own personal lunches unless otherwise stated.

Enjoy!