Lunch Box Woes

[wannaBgrn]

OK, the count down is here. 10 days till school starts! I want this year to be different. I've scoured every store near me. I've scoured the internet. The best I came up with was a bento box. Trouble is, I can't justify sending my 1st and 2nd graders to school with $40 (US) lunch boxes! So, what's the most eco-friendly, kid-friendly, food-safe and budget-wise way to pack a lunch

[JiltedCitizen]

Lunch box from a garage sale? I guess 10 days is a time limit huh? Any reusable bag or lunch box?

[Tripholiada]

O_O

if my mom gave me a bento box everyday for lunch i would love her so much ^^


*you are talking to a big japanese person here......*

[wannaBgrn]

Well, I'm thinking hard-sided lunch boxes because last year we used the soft insulated ones. They got really nasty around the sewn seams from spilled milk, yogurt and whatever. Soap, vinegar, even hydrogen peroxide didn't save them and I had to throw them out about three-quarters of the way thru the school year. I can get hard plastic or metal boxes, but I cannot find containers that fit well into them. The bento is perfect, but again, they're a little pricey. I can't get them where I live so I'd have to order from the internet. I posted here 'cause I thought maybe someone else might have a nice system I hadn't thought of!
Hey, Tripholiada, you just reminded me that there's a little Japanese grocery near me. I'll try there, thanks!

[wannaBgrn]

Alright, here's a very interesting website for anyone out there looking for lunch ideas. This is the "bento box" I referred to in my earlier post and if you're in the US this really may be the most viable option right now. I can't remember where I first learned about this, it might have been here on treehugger.

http://www.laptoplunches.com/

[wateraddict]

I've been using an old Easter Basket for months now

That probably won't work for a child though. I have seen a few baskets that have closable/latchable lids in a few stores. Still might not work for a child if there is spilled milk involved.

[gizzigoo]

I am really impressed by these lunch boxes. I want one!

This would make it so much easier to make really good lunches each day, what a clever design. But I do agree very expensive.

We live in a quite hot part of Australia and it is important that the lunches are kept cold or they will go yuk pretty quick. So I have insulated everythings, and currently we are using the soft sided lunch boxes and they do get messy.

I do have very small containers that are stong and seal properly (very important) that I purchased quite cheaply. In these I put lots of little yummy bits, so these help keep lunch interesting. I also have an easiyo maker which is a yogurt maker and you can buy easiyo lunch takers to put the yogurt in that don't leak.
One of the hardest things is making sure that it all fits into the school bag and the insulated ones take up quite a lot of room, where this laptop lunch looks really thin.

It may be worth the investment if you have young children as it is something that they will probably use for many years.

[dayseye49]

These bento boxes don't cost $40.
http://stores.ebay.com/Bento-Obento-Sho ... idZ2QQtZkm

bentotv.com is great and I use bento boxes for my lunch. I own a bento set that looks like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-JAPANESE-CLASSI ... dZViewItem

I chose it because you can reuse the boxes, bags and the chopsticks. Now if your kids use fork and spoons then here you go (also reusable):
http://stores.ebay.com/Bento-Obento-Sho ... idZ2QQtZkm

[wannaBgrn]

I was concerned about the chill factor, too, until I read that they're meant to go inside an insulated bag with an ice pack - that's where the "laptop" comes from. The insulated case looks similar to a laptop carry case.
Great Bento shop on ebay! What I didn't realize until I went looking was that Bento is a huge cultural icon thing. The "laptop" lunch box I was looking at is "bento-inspired".
I thought I could find small containers to just go inside a "regular" lunch box, but I literally can't find containers small enough to fit more than two in the box and there's no room left for a drink or the ice pack. I guess I'm looking for condiment-size containers.
I have two thoughts on this experience: 1)Americans can't imagine eating a portion so "small" thus haven't created a demand for small containers and 2)Americans are so hooked on plastic baggies there's no demand for small tubberware containers.
I'm seriously considering how to go about making use of the School Program the laptop lunch offers. What a great way to bring change into the school cafeteria!

[dayseye49]

Yes I love the bento obento ebay store. They have small little ice packs and side containers to place inside bento boxes as well as any other tupperware container (and the laptop boxes too).

I agree, where the main change has to be is within the schools. When I was in high school (just a few short years ago) they would sell Papa Johns and McDonalds right out of the box. And we had a McDonalds right next to the school so those allowed to leave for lunch would just go there. We also had a Subways near the school but I hardly ever saw that being sold within our school grounds. I don't even think we should even have sodas at school (and we had most of them right by the school's gym & fitness locker rooms!).

There are too many parents that just don't know what is really healthy for their kids or just simply can't afford/ take the time to make healthy lunches. I mean we depend on public schools to teach our kids so that they can one day become smarter people in this world but we do not demand that they be feed and teach them more about their own health. What good is having PE programs when you won't even supply the foods to back it up? Sorry but my old high school's cafeteria food was anything but healthy. I am just glad I am able to buy/make my own lunches now.

[gizzigoo]

I have been having a think regarding lunch boxes since reading all the posts and I think the best I have found (that would suit our needs) is a tiffin.
They are generally stainless steel very inexpensive and available in many indian shops. Some are quite small and have insulated covers and some are as large as full dinner plates.

In India people have tiffins which they give to dabbawallahs who fill the tiffins with home cooked food.
I just did a google and came up with quite a few articles and if you do an ebay search this will show you the variety available.
This is a really interesting story.
tiffin carriers[/b]

tiffins

[ArchaeoTerra]

As has already been said before, the Laptop Lunch Box would be exactly what you need.

Here is a blog where a mother packs her lunches for her first grader in this exact bento-lunchbox hybrid:

http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

I have one myself, and it's brilliant!

[greenish]

I pack my son's lunch in a Hero Bag, it's really cute and made in the US out of organic cotton. It's machine washable which is really nice as his last one which was vinyl stunk like milk all the time (blech) You can buy them online at http://www.herobags.com I also found a link to this website where it's all about healthy kids lunches and packing eco-friendly lunches. http://www.thegreenlunchbag.com

[greenmama]

We really love the tiffins at www.om-goods.com They are the smallest I've seen and perfect for little kids lunch. Check out the 2-tier tiffin. Get yourself a klean kanteen for your water and your ready to go.

[tigerlily78]

We really love the tiffins at http://www.om-goods.com They are the smallest I've seen and perfect for little kids lunch. Check out the 2-tier tiffin. Get yourself a klean kanteen for your water and your ready to go.

Hey Greenmama,

I have seen those on a tv show before and wondered are they air/liquid tight?

My husband takes a lot of soup for lunch, so I need something that won't leak if it gets tilted.