Questions on how to make a bento box and keep it fresh?

i have a bento box and it has nothing to seperate it inbetween.



I need ideas on what to put in it, how to cook it, but over all. How do i keep it all fresh during school til lunch?Questions on how to make a bento box and keep it fresh?
it should still be fresh until lunch.Thoroughly re-heat then cool any cooked food before packing

Using leftover and pre-cooked food reduces the time needed to assemble your bento in the morning. But the longer food has been lying around, even in the refrigerator, it gets less fresh and edible. Re-heating cooked food helps to kill off any micro-organisms that may have started to grow.



The best way to re-heat things in my opinion is in a pan, rather than the microwave, because the surface is where the microorganisms are likely to have formed, and the high heat of a pan will kill those off immediately. This is particularly important with meat.



In some cases it can be okay to pack food direct from the refrigerator, such as pre-made salads, instant pickles, and so on. Do use common sense though; packing leftovers from the night before is probably okay, but leftovers from 3 days ago gets iffy.



Keep cool foods separate from hot

Remember the McDLT? The gimmick with that burger was the two-part styrofoam container, with one side for the lettuce and tomato, and the other for the burger and bun. (Here鈥檚 an old commercial for the McDLT featuring Jason Alexander, who played George Costanza on Seinfeld.) There was logic behind this rather environmentally unfriendly packaging. Any foods that should be kept cool, such as raw fruits and vegetables, should be kept in a separate container from the cooked foods, even if the cooked foods have had a chance to cool down. This will keep veggies fresh and crisp.



Do you need an ice pack?

Unless an ice pack is specifically called for, all the complete bento lunch ideas as well as the individual component recipes are meant to be safe to eat without refrigeration, if the safety precautions on this page are followed.



In hot weather, it鈥檚 safer to pack an ice pack with the cool food. One trick is to freeze a juice carton or a small plastic bottle filled with the beverage of your choice, and to freeze it. Pack that with your lunch box, and it acts as an ice pack and will have defrosted enough to drink by lunch time.



If you鈥檙e carrying a bento meal that鈥檚 meant to be consumed more than a few hours later 鈥?e.g., a bento packed in the morning meant to be eaten in the evening for a night class 鈥?use an ice pack to be on the safe side, or use the foods that keep food fresher longer listed below. (An umeboshi onigiri (rice ball) will even keep for a couple of days.)



Certain foods that help keep things fresher

Traditionally, umeboshi (pickled plum) has been used in bentos and as onigiri filling. The traditional hinomaru bento, a bento box filled with white rice sporting one, lone umeboshi in the middle, is a very good keeper. (Incidentally, the logo for Just Bento is inspired by the hinomaru bento.) Umeboshi may have antimicrobial qualities, as do (supposedly) shiso leaves.



Fresh, nontoxic green leaves used as dividers and wrappers are also supposed to have antibacterial qualities. These are not edible. The most popular one is fresh bamboo leaves. (Dried bamboo leaves are also used as as wrappers, but don鈥檛 have the same antimicrobial qualties as fresh.) Banana leaves, used in South-East Asian cuisine, may have similar properties.



Wasabi and ginger may also help to keep things fresher. Try using wasabi to flavor vegetables (example: broccoli with wasabi sauce), or tucking some pickled ginger in the corner of your bento.



Salt is a time tested preserver, so the salt you put on the surface of onigiri is not just for flavor - it鈥檚 to keep the rice fresher longer.



Sugar can also act as a preservative (think of jams and preserves), though you need to use it in some quantity.



Vinegar is also a preserver. Salty or vinegary foods keep longer than foods with little seasoning. Sushi rice keeps better than plain rice because of the vinegar, salt and sugar.



here are some basic things in the bento-have fun

http://justbento.com/



onigiri- rice wrapped in nori seaweed- you could make pretty designs on them.

tamagoyaki- a rolled up egg

broccoli, carrots, snow peas, cut into pieces

salmon

white riceQuestions on how to make a bento box and keep it fresh?
A good idea would be a sandwich sliced into smaller pieces so you can arrange it into the box, along with various fruits and veggies, possible placed into little paper cups (think the kind you use for muffins and such) if you can fit them in. A good place to look for inspiration is http://community.livejournal.com/bentolu鈥?/a>