High Maintenance Mom

Our kids recently attended a camp that required trash-free lunches. Although I generally pack trash-free lunches already, I wasn't happy with the plastic containers we were using so I decided to use the camp request as an opportunity to buy something that I has previously thought was too expensive. The Eco Friendly Laptop Lunch Bento Box makes packing lunches really fun. We bought the system without the carrying case and I'm now thinking we might buy the carrying case in the future. I have to admit, that the cute containers make it packing lunches more enjoyable for me and my kids really like the separate sections. The system also comes with a book that has lots of lunch suggestions. The Laptop Lunches website also has a lot of fun suggestions...

The Bento box comes with an outside container and four main inside compartments. One of the compartments has a lid and a fifth tiny compartment with lid can be used for a sauce. N loves to have hummus for dipping vegetables. When I first bought the boxes I had my kids practice opening them. For now, I stick them inside their normal Lands End lunch bags with an ice pack but as I mentioned, I will probably test their sleeve or carrying case soon. Previously we used a variety of different plastic containers that had a snap lid on each side (four steps to open). The Laptop Lunch Bento Boxes open with one latch, plus a lid or two inside, and do not contain phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), or lead.

There are great lunch ideas on their website including weekly lunch menus. See below for the Japanese Soba Bento, which my kids would eat part of (we do not have any pink containers). The recipe for preparing each lunch can be found by clicking on the individual lunch titles on the weekly lunch menu page.

I also use the High Maintenance Mom Weekly Menu Planner, attached, to plan out our meals for the week. It makes shopping and packing lunches even easier.