Packing Lunch With Sistema!

About a year ago several of my blogger friends were talking about these containers made by Sistema. Everything they posted looked great in them so when I found them at Marshalls I bought some. I have been adding to them ever since. You can find them at Target and on Amazon also. These containers come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. You can find a perfect size Sistema container for anything! Here are some examples of how I use my Sistema containers.

As you can see these are awesome containers! In the next two pictures I show you what I packed in each container.

I have everything from a simple orange for snack to a easy lunch shown here.

I even used the divided container above to hold pre-cut apple slices in the fridge. (I add pineapple juice to the apple slices and toss in a bowl until coated to keep them from browning) My two youngest daughters snagged the sandwiches and veggie chips for lunch. They added some apple slices and cookies to complete lunch.

I use these containers almost everyday. I fill several of them with snack items and keep them in a basket for my kids to grab for school. I keep the dip containers filled with peanut butter for apple dipping and pretzels. You can pack anything you want in these. Below I have some links to some of the boxes on Amazon. Just click on the picture.

*This post may contain affiliate links. *

Back To School Lunch Post

Back to school season is upon us. Whether you go back to school in a couple of weeks or start back in September like us, back to school season is here. You can see it all around. All the local stores are stocking the shelves with everything you will need to get the kids ready. Now everyone thinks about school supplies but lunch supplies can sometimes be forgotten. I have been packing lunch for about thirteen years now, so I have a couple of tips and some of my favorite lunch supplies for you today. Any of the supplies shown will make lunch packing so easy and fun. At the end of the post I will give you some links to where you can purchase some of the products I use.

First on the list are EasyLunchboxes! These lunchboxes are great. They come in three different color packs and in sets of four. They are durable and affordable. These were the first real bento boxes I used. I still have some from two years ago. They are perfect if you are new to making lunches. They are great for young children, teens, and adults. These are shown with Mini Dippers from EasyLunchboxes and a couple of cloth napkins made by yours truly.

In this picture the EasyLunchboxes are shown with Reduce Water Bottles, plastic cookie cutters from a big set of Wilton cutters, round silicone cupcake cups, the mini dippers, and my handmade napkins. Reduce Water Bottles are great. They come in 16oz and 10oz bottles. They are sold in sets of five. The Wilton cookie cutters come in handy for cutting sandwiches into fun shapes. Silicone cupcake cups come in many shapes and sizes. I recommend starting out with the round and square cups. You can separate food with these and they make your lunches look great and appetizing.

Planetbox is a stainless steel lunchbox. They come in three different sizes. The Rover and Launch are shown here. These lunchboxes are so durable and with last forever! They are perfect for kids of all ages. Planetbox is the way to go if you prefer to stay away from plastics. We love our Planetboxes!

Next on the list is the Yumbox. These lunchboxes are great for kids of any age although the six compartment ones are geared toward younger children. I use both of these boxes for my kids ages 10-17. I also have packed lunch for myself in them. So I recommend them for all ages.The best thing about the Yumbox is that it is completely leak-proof! You heard right. LEAK-PROOF! It also doesn't hurt that they are super cute!

In the world of bento there are lots and lots of novelty lunchboxes. Here I have a Lego bento box. These are fun little lunchboxes and the kids love them. We have a lot of this type of bento box. The Lego bento box is shown with different shapes of silicone cupcake cups. I told you they come in all shapes and sizes.

A Thermos can really come in handy for packing cold or hot foods for lunch. I plan on using these quite a bit this year. They are a new addition to my lunch essentials. I asked the experts (fellow bloggers) how to use a Thermos and this is what they had to say:
Fill your Thermos with boiling water and let it sit with top on for at least five minutes.
Empty water.
Fill Thermos with heated food and pop the top back on.
To pack your heated Thermos they recommend putting the Thermos in the lunch bag on one side. Use a napkin or another barrier to put between the Thermos and the other foods you pack. Then pop the icepack into the opposite side of the lunch bag. These are tried and true methods

Probably the most important thing to have for lunch is a great lunch bag. These lunch bags belong to my two youngest children. They used them last school year and will be using them again this year. Embark makes a great lunch bag. These bags are still in awesome shape. You can even machine wash them!

 

Lunch time tip: How do you keep your apples from browning? This is a question I get asked all the time. I use pineapple juice to keep my apples from turning brown. I just stir the sliced apples up with a little drizzle of pineapple juice until they are coated. I buy the six pack cans of pineapple juice. That way I only have to open a little can once a week and don't have to waste the rest. I keep the apple slices in the fridge for several days. They stay looking fresh at least that long.

I hope you have found this post useful in helping you to get ready for back to school lunches.

 

Thanks for stopping by. You can find some of the products used in this post by clicking on the pictures, They are linked to the product.

 

*All opinions on this post are my own. I was not compensated for this post. This post may contain affiliate links.*

 

It's Shark Week!

Hello all. Did you know it's Shark Week?  I love Shark Week. I am actually watching it right now while I type up this post! I am actually terrified of sharks and some of the shows really make me squirm. But I still watch. So when one of the kids needed a lunch on the go today I couldn't resist. I made her a simple shark week lunch. She was thrilled with it. Here is my simple shark week lunch.

She has a ham sub sandwich, a clementine, yogurt star cookies, a applesauce pouch and a few chips in the cute reusable shark bag.

I also made a lunch for my aunt who was with the oldest girl today.

She has a turkey, ham and cheese sub. She also has a clementine, yogurt star cookies and chips.

They were so thankful to have a lunch to eat before the drive home. My aunt said I could pack her lunch anytime. It's a great idea to take your lunch with you when you have an outing. You get a healthy meal and save lots of money.

Here are some of the products I used in this lunch. Just click the pictures for a direct link.

EasyLunchboxes Round-Up!

Today I went through my photos and picked a few of our favorite lunches for a round-up. This week I want to give a great big shout out to EasyLunchboxes! I have to give it to the EasyLunchbox, They are right when they claim they are easy to use. These boxes are a must for lunch packers. Not only are they super easy to use, they are quite affordable and really durable. I have been using some of my boxes for two years. They are versatile also. We not only use them for lunch, we also use them for breakfast and dinner. A lot of evenings I pack up a dinner in one for my mom. This way she has dinner when she gets home from work or a lunch for the next day. Here are a few lunches to give you some ideas of what I pack in ours.

 

Several of these lunches are made with leftovers. Lunch can be so easy. EasyLunchboxes make packing lunch fast and fun! Try them out for the new school year. You won't be sorry. 

 

You can find some of the products used to make lunch by clicking on the pictures below.