Howl’s Moving Castle Steampunk inspired Bento lunchbox!

Steampunk Bento Box #shop

Steampunk Bento Box

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.

I absolutely love the Japanese art of Kyaraben Bento boxes. A Bento box is basically a Japanese lunchbox containing a single meal. A Kyaraben is a character bento box where a chef or enthusiast has prepared the food to look like popular characters. They can be extremely elaborate and there are many tools available to help in their preparation (such as cutters or egg shapers).

While I have admired them from afar I have never attempted to make one, partially because I know nothing much about Japanese cuisine or cookery and partly because they just look too difficult! However I finally decided to take on the challenge, while adding my own spin (this isn’t an authentic or traditional Bento, just my take on it).

Pinterest Bento Boxes #shop

Pinterest Bento Boxes

My favourite place to visit for inspiration is Pinterest and this page in particular has some awe inspiring designs. I’m a huge Studio Ghibli fan (if you do not know their movies you’re missing out!) and I immediately gravitated towards the Totoro designed Bento.

Anna The Red #shop

Anna The Red

This was designed and created by Bento blogger Anna the Red. Aside from a whole collection of Bento images, she also includes several brilliant tutorials if you’d like to give this art form a try.

With my research done I headed down to Sainsbury’s to do my shopping, you can see how I got on and failed (there was no sushi rice!) here.

I didn’t want to copy any of the Bento boxes I’d seen, because they weren’t my designs. Despite my lack of experience I assumed I’d be alright trying out my own idea; I’m not overly convinced this turned out to be true but I’ll let you judge that later. I wanted to make a Bento inspired by another Studio Ghibli film ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’. The story has quite a steampunk design throughout, so rather than make an individual character I decided to make a Steampunk Bento box. I wanted to make a mechanical heart complete with cogs, pipes and wheels.

Edible key and pipework #shop

Edible key and pipework

Edible pipework

I couldn’t work out how to make pipework in a Japanese style, so instead I made Cheese Straws! Obviously this is not authentic Bento but they worked. I rolled them out as you would normal cheese straws but instead of cutting and twisting I used a knife to cut out ‘C’ shapes to make my pipes. Once cooled I used a little edible Gold lustre to make them more metallic in appearance. I also made a key shape out of the cheese straw mixture.

Edible Cogs and wheels #shop

Edible Cogs and wheels

Cogs & Wheels

For my cogs and wheels I cut out Leerdammer cheese, radishes, ham and cucumbers. I thought they looked quite sweet 🙂

Rice Heart #shop

Rice Heart

Heart

The heart was made from cooked and cooled rice, moulded by hand in cling film. I sort of wish I’d added some colouring to the rice but I didn’t think of this until afterwards.

Steampunk Bento Box #shop

Steampunk Bento Box

The Finished Bento

I lined my box with lettuce before assembling the various parts. As a creative person with a somewhat perfectionist personality, it’s always my intention to strive to improve and I can’t wait to give Kyaraben another try soon! For a first attempt I don’t think I did too badly.

Steampunk Bento Box #shop

Steampunk Bento Box

Walkers Mighty Lights Review!

Walkers Mighty LightsChildren love crisps. Parents love healthy snacks. Can you see the obvious problem with those two statements? Crisps are not traditionally thought of as a healthy alternative, sure they’re made of potatoes but they’re smothered in coatings, fried and salted. It doesn’t exactly scream ‘eat me, I’m good for you!’ Walkers have done their best to try and create a snack that is both low in fat, full on flavour and appealing to kids with new Mighty Lights, but have they managed it? I was so inspired by these snacks that I made this short/silly animation with my husband, kids and musically inclined brother (we’re a creative family) all about this most heroic of nibbles!

As you can probably tell from the video we are now firm fans, but make sure to read the review to find out why. This is appropriately timed given that this is the last week of Summer holidays for children across the land (not in Scotland though, they’re already back at school) lunchbox fillers are being carefully considered during the mad dash to buy shoes and uniform.

First up here’s the stats on Mighty Lights:

  • They contain 30% less fat than standard crisps
  • They are available in three flavours – Roast Chicken, Cheese and Onion, Lightly Salted
  • All the flavours are suitable for vegetarians
  • Made from real potatoes
  • No artificial colours or preservatives
  • A source of fibre
  • Available nationwide now!

That’s enough to satisfy most of us parents, but if they don’t stack up on taste and appeal I think their healthy credentials will fall flat with the little ones.

First up Taste

I’m actually eating a bag of Lightly Salted while writing this review so I can accurately describe the taste. They don’t taste immediately healthy (perhaps a good thing as far as kids are concerned) but your fingers aren’t left with a salty oily slick or burn that traditional crisps can cause.

Lightly salted – the flavour is gentle but by no means lacking, I’m not a huge fan of Salt & Vinegar but I can happily eat these.

Cheese & Onion – I am a long time admirer of Walkers Cheese & Onion crisps, these have the same flavour but less fat… I’m sold!

Roast Chicken – Again these taste very similar to normal Walkers chicken crisps, the flavour has not been sacrificed at all.

Texture

Crunchy, ridged and in no way inferior to traditional crisps, just less greasy.

Value for Money

I found a 6 pack of Mighty Lights on sale for between £1 – £1.79 in various supermarkets, this seems in line with other brands. Some healthy crisps contain hardly anything when you look inside the bag (it’s no wonder they’re healthy, you’re barely eating them!) These contain a decent amount and are enough for one snack.

Will kids enjoy them in their lunchboxes?

I asked mine and the responses were:

Crispy G – Yes, because they’re really healthy and they are tasty and they’re the greatest crisps in the world!

Snacky I – Yes, because they are really nice and you can find different shapes (she’s referring to the heart shaped one she found below) and they’re mighty!

Munchy N – Yes, because they’re tasty!

A parents view

I’ll admit it, I don’t overly worry about the fat content of the food my kids eat, they’re all so active and skinny it’s not really an issue. However additives, preservatives and colourings are things I worry about, with so many horror stories it’s easy to get confused and concerned about the health implications. Therefore I’ll avoid them when I can and I particularly like products that make this choice easy for me. For this reason alone I like Mighty Lights, they’re also incredibly convenient for days out and picnics.

Heart Shaped CrispWould I recommend Mighty Lights

I’d be happy to, they are one simple change without sacrifice to a healthier lifestyle.

Could they be improved at all?

Most definitely, they will not be perfect until Walkers make them in Bacon flavour! 🙂

Details

Mighty Lights are available nationwide now!

For more info visit their website www.walkersmightylights.co.uk