Breaking out the Bento

So, I've read about Bento boxes at least twice in the last few weeks. I wonder if they could be making headway into mainstream American society if the momentum keeps building.

The concept makes a whole lot of sense. You have a lunchbox that is partitioned into several different compartments. You fill the compartments with your lunch. You have built-in portion control, you incorporate a variety of food groups/colors into your meals, and it's all in one spot--there's only one dish to pack/clean. Instead of trying to eyeball or remember how much of your plate should be full of veggies and protein and so on, you need only let the Bento do it for you. Not only that, but brown-bagging it is an environmentally- and wallet-friendly way to do lunch.

Me likey.

I was thinking that without having to go out and buy a new lunchbox, I could easily incorporate the principles of the Bento box into my own lunch-making. I could just grab my measuring cups and find out exactly how much food fits into my most-used Tupperware dishes. Then, I could determine what portions of fruits, veggies, carbs, protein, etc I need for lunch and plan accordingly. If I already know which dish holds the standard 1/2-cup of cottage cheese, I won't have to play any nutritional guessing games when I'm rushing around in the morning.