Anyone else geek out over lunchbox gear?
I caught the bento bug two years ago (read Bento-a-Go-Go). I hope that someday I’ll have the energy to cut cucumbers into flowers and draw faces on tuna sandwiches. But in the meantime, I just like the fun and ease of divided containers. And I finally found one that I love: EasyLunchboxes. They’re BPA-free, dishwasher safe, durable, easy for little fingers to open, and come in a set of four so I always have a clean one available.
These fit well in the larger styles of Lands’ End soft-sided lunchboxes. Plus, there’s still room for a cold pack and juice box or water bottle.
When I want to divide the main compartment of the EasyLunchbox even further–like a side of cheese cubes with a PB&J–I use these silicone muffin cups. (But secretly, I just use them because they’re cute. Seriously, look how cute they are!)
The only downside to EasyLunchboxes is that they’re not leak-proof. So I bought a set of these Kids Konserve stainless steel containers for sending dips, yogurt, applesauce, or drippy fruits like watermelon.
Finally, on the advice of Lisa at 100 Days of Real Food, I sprang for this set of silicone ice pop molds for packing frozen smoothies and do-it-yourself Go-gurts.
For more ideas, check out this lunchbox review from 100 Days of Real Food and this lunch gear roundup from Red, Round, or Green.
What’s your favorite lunch-packing gear?
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the link! Looks like you’ve got yourself all set for a fantastic year of lunchpacking. Now it’s all about what goes IN those…
Bri–that’s where your new series comes in! http://redroundorgreen.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/monday-menus-lunchbox-edition-part-1/
Those silicone ice box molds would be incredible!! Now to find the time and motivation to make smoothies at 6am…
Bree–I plan to make a batch on the weekends and freeze them. Put them in the lunchbox and they’re defrosted (or sort of slushy and yummy) by lunchtime.
Our machine-washable boxes come with Lock & Lock containers that have dividers. BPA-free, lead-free, and phthalate-free … of course! Check ‘em out if you get a chance … http://www.lunchsense.com. Love your site and share from it often.
I love lunch containers too….love this post.
Love the gogurt containers. My daughter is allergic to milk so I can’t buy the commercial ones.
I’ve always thought a container would be good for a soy yogurt tube but didn’t know they exist! Thanks!
Stef–that’s what I love about the ice pop molds, that you can customize what you put in there. My kids love the squeeze yogurts. I don’t like the amt. of added sugar, synthetic dyes, etc. Let me know if you end up trying them!
Nancy–thanks for letting me know. Those look great!
Darn it… now I’m thinking I should have bought several of the Lunch Blox. I am not going to want to wash those every single night. Target… here I come again.
Thanks so much for putting my EasyLunchboxes at the top of your list Sally! With all the different options available on the market, the main thing is really to find what works best for you and your family. If your meal-packing tools make things easy for you, it’s much more likely you’ll stick with a healthy packing routine
I held off as long as I could, but gave in today and ordered those frozen-pop molds.
Kelly–you will love them. My boys are already enjoying them. And I love that I can put them on the top rack of the dishwasher (stick them, opening-side down, on one of the tines). Let me know how they go over with H&C!
Kelly–thank YOU for making such a great product. I very much agree that finding the right tools makes it a lot easier. I had two bento systems before getting yours–but the EasyLunchboxes were so much easier to store, use, and clean than the others I had tried. That made a big difference to me.
Love those silicone ice pop molds – I have never seen those before and can’t wait to try them out! Thanks for highlighting these items – I get such great ideas from you… =)
Thank you Mary!