Bin boredom with bento boxes

AMONG the chaos of getting the kids ready for school each morning, preparing school lunches can sometimes lack inspiration and be a constant challenge.

However, the daily school lunch preps don’t need to be such a chore.

Bento boxes are the perfect way to make lunchtime interesting and nutritious (for both you and the kids).

And spending some quality time together creating colourful meals that get kids excited for lunchtime is the perfect holiday or weekend activity.

Here aremy tips for creating deliciously fun bento box creations:

We eat with our eyes, so keep your bento creations vibrant. What’s more, colourful vegies and fruits are often the most nutritious. Use a variety of red, yellow, orange, purple and green produce to create vivid lunchtime masterpieces.

Use different ingredients to make your bento box fun and visually appealing.

Carrots, celery and capsicum are great crunch items that can be chopped and used to create limbs, shapes or patterns. Blueberries, seeds, nuts and grapes all make amazing eyes, broccoli is perfect for creating a tree, and apple is ideal for teeth.

Typical bento boxes include a mix of nutritious and yummy foods, so include something from each of the key food groups; grains and whole grains, fruits, vegies, protein such as meats or beans, and dairy, such as cheese or natural yoghurt.

Use pastry and cookie cutters to cut shapes out of wholemeal wraps, cheese, ham, omelets, cucumber, seaweed sheets, apple ... the possibilities are endless.

Active kids require the

right sustenance to keep their energy up throughout the day.

Rice is a great carbohydrate and once cooked and cooled, excellent for moulding into shapes.

The Sunrice Koshihikari Sushi Rice is perfect for bento boxes because it retains its softness for longer, perfect for creation shaping. It is pure Australian rice, milled and packed here.