With fall (or in our case, late summer!) comes the beginning of school, and for moms everywhere that means the beginning of another year of packed lunches. Even though I’ve only been doing it a year, it’s always an effort to find creative, healthy combinations of food that a preschooler will actually eat.
Since my daughter only eats fruit (rarely will a vegetable pass her lips), spring and summer are the best opportunities to slip some local food into her lunch – dewberries (blackberries), peaches, and blueberries are favorites. Sandwiches I usually send on my homemade whole wheat bread.
I bought her a Laptop Lunchbox, which is basically a brightly-colored plastic bento system (that’s reminiscent of a laptop and case). Although it was pricier than what you’d buy at a big box retailer, I didn’t mind paying. It’s easier for me to prep lunch with the Laptop Lunchbox because the containers are the perfect serving size, and the grid layout invites the user both to remember to provide a balanced meal and to arrange it attractively. The bright colors are fun for kids, and while the box is made of plastic it is of the “safer” variety and contains no phthalates, bisophenol A, or lead. The containers are made in California. The company publishes a guide to healthy lunches (much of that information is available online here) and touts the environmental benefits of packing lunch in reusable containers. They also maintain a menu library which you can subscribe to by RSS. There’s even a Flickr group where people publish photos of their lunches. It’s not just me who loves the Laptop Lunchbox!
The only downsides we’ve had are that it was difficult for my daughter (at age 3) to learn to open the outer case, and the water bottle top is a bit tricky. If kids chew on the valve (which many preschoolers might be inclined to do) it can leak, and if the valve is not closed all the way it can leak. We did have to order a replacement cap, but I think we’ve only had the not-closed problem once or twice.
In any case, it doesn’t matter what you use, as long as you’re putting lunch in reusable containers you’re keeping trash out of the landfill, and probably eating healthier into the bargain. Reusable Bags has a good selection of lunch bags, as well as carrying my all-time favorite shopping bag, the Acme Workhorse Original, which folds down into a 2″ x 1″ pouch that I carry in my shoulder bag at all times.
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Wow, I’m ahead of the trend (or at least riding the crest). See this piece in the NYT about the growing popularity of bento in the U.S. It includes a mention for Laptop Lunchboxes, and also a link to Makiko Itoh’s Just Bento. Itoh’s site, along with her blog Just Hungry, are excellent resources for Japanese cooking. I used them to learn how to make onigiri (rice balls), and if you’ve ever wondered about chopstick etiquette she’s got a good a good piece on that (and much, much more!). I’m embarrassed too, about my poor little lunch – the pathetic avocado didn’t even fill up that container in back, much less did I use the molds mentioned in the article! I figure it’s a good day if there’s healthy food in a lunch box that gets out the door on time!