Don’t stress over packing healthy, celiac-friendly school lunches that are gluten-free. Here are some easy, fun, and yummy ideas for bento box lunch meals.
Gluten Free Bento Heaven
If you read Part 1, Five Reasons to Go Bento on Gluten Free, then you already know that bento boxes are God’s gift to gluten-free dieting. Now, what are you going to do with that information? To start you off on the road to happy bento boxing, here are some tips from the experts:
Bento Lunchbox Tips
1- Make it gluten-free! Fortunately, bento box lunches marry well with gluten-free dieting. That’s because staple bento lunch ingredients include gluten-free foods like rice, eggs, and fish, in addition to fresh fruits and vegetables. Your only challenge- finding gluten-free soy sauce.
2- Make it fun! Buy a bento box that matches your child’s personality. Bento box themes range from Pokemon, space robots, and sports to panda bears, puppy dogs, and everybody’s favorite, Hello Kitty.
3- Make it hot or cold! Cold bento lunches are a snap to put together, but don’t forget those chilly winter school days! Many bento boxes come with insulation to keep your cold salads crisp, and your warm chowders steamy.
4- Make it personal! Let your kids help you put together their lunch ingredients. You supply the fixins, like carrot sticks, rice balls, tuna salad, boiled eggs, and cut fruit. Your kids can assemble the whole kit and caboodle.
5- Make it awesome! You don’t need to be a master at food artistry to concoct some cool-looking sides with real “wow!” appeal. Use common tools like cookie cutters, egg slicers, ice cube trays, and ice cream sandwich molds to whip up some unique, whimsical snack creations. Add sliced nori for “eyes,” or design healthy edible decorations out of egg sheets. Let your imagination run wild!
6- Make it economical! Bento lunch meals are cheap because they utilize inexpensive, basic staples like rice, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. Bento lunches are also practical, in that they use up leftovers and other single-serving snacks.
Here are a few recipes your family will love:
Tofu “sandwich bread”
Gluten-free breads are a popular alternative for people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Here is a clever recipe that incorporates sliced tofu instead of sliced bread. Try it out, and let us know how it tastes! Low Carb Gluten-Free Freeze Dried Tofu Fried “Sandwich Bread”
Cute Japanese molded eggs
Have a blast making these fun Japanese egg molds. It takes some practice, but the results are, in a word, egg-ceptional (Sorry).
Rice balls (onigiri)
Onigiri- it’s like sushi, only without the fish. Here are some instructions for making perfect onigiri rice balls.
Bento Bear
Once you’ve mastered the art of making perfect rice balls and molded boiled eggs, you might like to try this next adorable, yet edible teddy bear treat: Cute Bear Bento – Gluten Free Meatloaf Recipe.
Read more about Gluten-Free Dieting:
Gluten-Free Bento Boxed Lunches for Celiac Dieting, Part 1
8 Great Gluten-Free Copycat Recipes, Larabars and Babycakes +
References:
Gluten Free Lunch Ideas Just Bento
Speed Tips for Packing Lunch Lunch in a Box
GF Bento Lunch Gluten Free Gobsmacked