Bento

Bento boxes are Japanese lunchboxes that have many small compartments to separate the food and make the lunch look really pretty. There is much more to the origin of bento, if you are interested check here .

There are so many ways to adapt this, it is a fun, creative way to pack lunches. Even when I am home, I like to make them for the girls because they love them!

It is so easy to make balanced meals and because it looks so neat, the kids will eat it all. I use cookie cutters to cut shapes into sandwiches, cheese, raw vegetables....pretty much whatever can be cut. I just save the leftover scraps for salad or I eat what is left from a sandwich. Its fun to make wraps with turkey and cheese.....roll and cut it like sushi, the girls love that! You can also take regular pb & j on wheat, use a rolling pin to flatten it out, trim off the crusts, roll and cut like sushi....fun!

I tend to use our leftovers from dinner and add them into the bento lunches. Cold chicken and cold pasta tastes yummy! Hard boiled eggs, raw veggies w/ ranch, fruit, cheese, crackers are all big hits with us! Some people get really exotic, but I have semi-picky eaters!!

There are some really cool bento boxes out there, they are just expensive (I am going to ask my brother to pick me up some hello kitty bento boxes when he is in Japan, because they are so cheap there!).
So, because I don't want to pay a ridiculous amount of money, I have used what I have in the house.... covered food storage containers and silicone cupcake cups (I like square, but any shape works).
The Tupperware sandwich keepers are awesome for this, they fit 4 cupcake cups perfectly, they seal nicely and are easy for the girls to open!
It seems like the portions are small, but in reality, they are the right size for a child.
I use larger containers for Chris and DJ (when DJ doesn't buy lunch, he prefers hot lunch) and they work out fine too. These all fit perfectly with an ice pack in those small sized 6 pack beverage coolers that open from the top (so the food doesn't slip around)....I actually grabbed a couple at the dollar store!

So, its a fun creative way to prepare meals, its an easy way to make sure everyone is getting a balanced meal and its great for healthy snacks on the road!

Not so bad for the environment too!