You’ve got the back-to-school haircuts taken care of, the first day of school outfits are laid out, and now you’ve got a couple of days left to plan for the dreaded packed lunch.
Between nut allergies banning peanuts from schools, e-coli conerns having us think twice about the fruit we’re eating, and listeriosis turning us all off of coldcuts, I can’t help you with what goes into those lunch boxes, but let me give you some ideas for what to pack it in!
The hottest trend in lunch boxes this year is reduce and reuse. At my sons’ school, kids are asked to bring a litter-free lunch. Other schools are instituting “boomerang lunches”, where anything not consumed goes back home. This means that the eco-friendly lunchbox is everywhere.
There’s no need to beak the bank, but if you’re interested in the Rolls-Royce of lunch boxes this season, take a look at the Laptop Lunch Kit.
It’s functional, reusable and fun, and this lunch kit lets you pack a homemade, low-waste meals for your kids using a very cool setup that includes a thermal, zippered bag, a large snap-shut tray, five microwave safe food containers and a sport bottle. The whole kit and kaboodle runs just under $40 (including a recipe book with great school lunch ideas) and can be ordered online at Indigo.
LLBean’s lunch box is a steal coming in under $15.
I love this one because of the great selection of fun colours and designs to choose from; your kid can personalize his or her look. The lunch box is sturdy enough to protect your fruit from bruising and cookies from crumbling. To keep everything cool, there’s an internal mesh pocked sized to hold a cold pack (not included). It’s large enough to accommodate even your hungry tween’s lunch, but small enough to squeeze into a messenger bag.
The Lunch & Go Series by Aladdin is right in the middle price-wise.
It’s about $20 and has a sleek and futuristic look. Following the eco-friendly trend, it is reusable. This one does come with its own removable icepack, snaptight latches which make it leak-resistant, and a crushproof design. This product made by Aladdin is available at hardware stores, Walmart and Kmart across the country.
Whichever lunch box you choose, be sure to label it well and wash it often. Bon appetit!
Great tips, Jen. Thanks!