My Lunch System in Fud

Making lunch for kids or for myself is tedious. I've found over the years that it's a lot easier to manage if I compartmentalize and use durable, well-designed (and preferably cute) containers for the job. I figured I'd write an entry talking about what I use now and what I've used with success in the past. I know I like seeing what other people use as it gives me ideas.

For my son, I don't do cutesy stuff as he has a tendency to lose things so I just go with a sturdy insulated lunch bag. Currently he's using this one from LL Bean:

I picked his up from the outlet for ten bucks in forest green and it has served him very well. There's a second mesh pocket on the inside of the lid that's perfect for smaller items or an ice pack. It's tall enough to fit a short insulated water bottle and a sandwich container.

The best ice packs I've found, and please don't tell him this is where they came from, are the Medela ice packs that came with my breast pump. The plastic they're made out of is very sturdy so I don't worry about them getting dropped. They're slim so they slide into a lunch bag without taking up that much room, as opposed to those awful blue cube-shaped things that are just the wrong dimensions to fit into a lunch bag with food containers as they're too thick and don't make contact with anything very well.

Here, you can see them in this picture of the Medela Pump In Style, which is the model I had. Just for the record I never felt "in style" carrying or using that breast pump. Ever. My Medela packs are ten years old and still in perfect shape.

Oh wow - I just checked Medela's website and they've switched to one of those awful contoured ice packs for their breastmilk storage bags which are awful. I hate those things. It makes me want to pick up a few more of the flat ones before they disappear. I'm getting old. Also as an aside I am SO glad not to have to be pumping and worrying about that any more! Ha!

For my most utilized food containers I use the good old standby, Tupperware. I have a friend who is a consultant and she's been invaluable for getting me replacement lids and that sort of thing since they occasionally go walking and never come back. Tupperware has some pretty fancy-pants stuff but really I just go for the classics as they don't have a lot of extra parts to worry about or weird shapes to fit into a lunch bag, they stack nicely, and best of all they're multi-purpose (they're also easier to replace).

I used to use cheap plasticware from the clearance bin, or those Glad containers since they were easy to get from the grocery store. Over time, though, they ended up being a hassle as they were much less durable and would crack at the most inopportune times, and the sizes were non-standard so it was hard to combine them. The Glad containers (and their store brand ilk) have a really wide, hooked lip around the edge of the lid which made them a pain in the ass to pack in a smaller lunch bag since they can't sit snug against one another. They also leaked if they were on their side (which was necessary due to their weird shape). Finally I caved and after some research dropped the cash on Tupperware and it's been smooth sailing ever since. That stuff is practically indestructible. I recycled or gave away all of our other plasticware and there's so much room in my cabinets, now.

Snack Cup Set

These things get the most use out of anything I own. They hold one US cup, are compact, and are handy for all sorts of things - food, holding tiny craft supplies, glitter, or markers, as tub toys, you name it. I have a dozen of these with pretty lid colors.

Cool Square Mini

I don't think these are in circulation any more as the only reference I could find on them online was either on eBay or on Indian websites. If you know a Tupperware consultant I would almost bet that they have some in stock, though - that's the best bet for getting stuff that's not current. They come in really handy, though, for smaller portions and being square rather than round they fit well into nooks and crannies in lunch boxes. I'd say they hold a US third to half a cup - I'll have to measure it out later when I get home. I have a dozen of these with turquoise lids.

Small Bowls/Refrigerator Bowls

I've seen these called "Small Bowls" or "Refrigerator Bowls" but they're another item that doesn't appear to be in circulation currently. I think they hold about a US cup and a quarter, maybe a cup and a half. It's funny how much thought I've put into something like Tupperware, but I've found through experience that a lot of the cute containers they make aren't ideal for kids (or for me, for that matter) - the tapered bottoms and tall shapes look nice but are tough to stack in a lunch box and tip easily. I've focused more on getting pieces that have larger mouths, stable bottoms and are short and wide rather than tall. Ha, sounds kind of like me! ;D I love these bowls and have a dozen of those, too, all orange with white tabbed lids.

Tupperware used to make some really nice cereal-sized bowls called Modular Bowls that were shallow with a wide top and smooth sides, they work great for non-sandwich entrees like pasta and that sort of thing. I only have two of those and am missing a lid so they don't leave the house too often.

Other than Tupperware I have a few of these generic sandwich boxes that I picked up at the grocery store for a couple of bucks each:

Nothing fancy, and to be honest if I had things to do again I wouldn't have bought them. The bread we use isn't a square shape, it's more of a wide rectangle so I have to cut the sandwich in quarters and Tetris them into the box to make them fit. It's not a big deal now that I've figured that out but I wouldn't buy these again when the ones I have break or get lost.

My other indispensible lunch-packing tool:

I don't know what I'd do without my Sharpies. I write the kids' first initial and last name (which happen to be the same, see what I did there) on every container and it's helped a lot in ensuring they come back. If it's a container that doesn't work well for being written on directly, I keep a roll of masking tape in the kitchen that I'll put on the item, then write the name on that. When the kids were in daycare masking tape was great for leaving instructions for the caregivers.

In my quest for utility, one of the best things I've discovered is this - the Thermos Nissan 16-Ounce Stainless-Steel Backpack Bottle:

It's shorter than standard Thermos bottles so it fits into the LLBean lunch box, but it's also got an amazing seal on it that has that little clamp and button to release the top. I love this thing. It keeps cold beverages cold and hot beverages hot - when I was sending him to summer camp I would put water and 6-8 ice cubes into this Thermos at 7am, and at the end of the day I would open it at 6pm and there would still be ice inside it. Truly amazing. I need to start using it for my coffee. Best of all the thing doesn't open accidentally. It's great and totally worth the cost.

For my daughter, I can use some of the cutesy little Japanese bento things I've picked up through the years. I use them for myself, too, but it's more fun to pack lunch for her.

For the lunch box itself I'm currently using a very cheap foil drawstring bento bag that I got from a now-defunct eBay seller. I say "cheap" because I only paid $4 for it and I got what I paid for - the stitching on the top has already split in three places and I keep repairing it on the inside with red duct tape. Eventually the whole thing will be red duct tape but for the moment it works okay. I specifically got such a cheap one to find out if it was something that would even get used. The Medela ice pack fits nicely into the bottom and I put the protein container directly on top of it. If veggies or fruit get warm it's no big.

Once this bag dies (which I suspect will be before the end of the year) I think I might get this one for her because she loves Totoro:

So cute!

For food, I'm using the aforementioned Tupperware but I also have two Daiso "Clapping March" bento boxes:

They're a really nice size for kid portions, there's plenty of space to put vegetables without squishing them or having them rattle around and get smooshed. I particularly like the hinged clamps to hold the lid on as they're easy to open and close but stay sealed until mealtime. Plus, again, cute. That always helps.

I thought once about using silicone muffin cups or parchment muffin cups to portion food out inside the bento but honestly, I don't have time for that kind of frippery and I have no illusions that the lunch bag isn't being dropped or shaken violently at some point in time between packing and eating. I try to package things together that will taste good mixed up, and use Tupperware cups for the rest and call it good.

The bottom shelf of the cabinet directly above the counter where I prep lunch items is where I store all of these containers - I'll try and take a picture of it sometime if you're interested, but I've got everything organized in a way that I can easily reach in there and find exactly what I need without having to search around for it. I found that not having extra stuff floating around in there actually helps as there are lots of things I COULD use, but if they don't fit, I leave them out. I've got it down to a science by this point.

What do I do about dishes? When the kids come home from school the first thing they do is unpack their backpacks and put their lunch containers on the counter beside the sink. I rinse out the bento bags, if necessary, and set them aside to air dry. The Tupperware containers I'll either put in the top rack of the dishwasher or wash by hand. When they come out of the dishwasher they're still wet (we don't use the heat dry cycle) so they go into the dish drainer on the other side of the sink. Since I have specific spots for each item (containers stacked together in their own area, lids grouped together by type) they're quick to put away the next morning or I'll just pull them out and use them immediately. I made sure to have enough Tupperware containers that I can go a day with one set in the drying rack and still have what I need to pack lunch. It's really just getting in a routine with washing them the second they hit the counter in the afternoon - most containers only need a good rinse if they held raw carrots or crackers.

The Lock n'Lock and Clapping March bento boxes are rated for the dishwasher, but I prefer to hand wash them so they'll last longer. I would be really disappointed if they got warped. Again it's just a routine thing - I try to jump on them while cooking dinner, a quick wash with hot soapy water, then rinse and right into the dish drainer. I don't have more than two of these each so if I need them I'll grab them out and dry them, it doesn't take long. The only time these usually end up back in the cabinet is on the weekends when we get caught up on dishes. :)

I got into the hand-washing routine when we got Calphalon cookware a couple of years ago and I didn't want to put those in the dishwasher. It takes some extra effort but if we keep on top of it it's not too terrible to keep up on hand-washing things. Once in a while we have a couple of super busy days in a row and then I find myself washing things on the spot while I pack. It's a pain in the ass. I try my best to pack lunches the night before to take the pressure off the next morning.

There it is, my fairly basic lunch process. :)