Back-to-School Lunches: Fun, Waste-Free Gear for Real Food Families

Tomorrow marks the completion of the first week of school - ever - for us.  Even though I couldn't keep my mind off the lunch situation, there were still gaps that needed filling.  So after a whole entire week (tehe) of trial and error, here is the winning combination of packed lunch gear.

Bento Boxes

I adore these!  After buying these BPA-free three-packs, I discovered these cute ones (pictured above). They have all kinds of styles and it's really fun to browse Amazon to find the perfect one for your children.  The ones I have are a very tight squeeze for my kids' lunch boxes, so I love this concept of the bento and lunch box all in one.

Water Bottles

After testing them out over the summer (meaning my kids accidentally dropping them countless times), these hold up beautifully with no threat of breaking.  I love that there will be no hint of plastic or metal taste in my children's water.  We only pack water for our kids lunches (no juice).   They are dishwasher safe and I love that you can see into them to be sure they are nice and clean.

Thermos for soup

There's nothing like opening a thermos full of warm, homemade soup to taste a little bit of home while away.  It's also one of the most healthy, protein-filled dishes you can nourish your body with, not to mention how incredibly frugal it is.

Reusable muffin liners

I started the year with these unbleached muffin liners and then came across these reusable beauties.    Muffins are awesome for packed lunches (here are some of my grain-free recipes).  These liners are safe to bake with (up to 500º) and they also come in handy as food dividers in the large section of the bento, as seen below (with the disposable kind, before I discovered these guys).

Carrots, homemade hummus, cookie dough bites, mostly raw wrap.

There you have it, folks.  This is how we are keeping packed lunches waste-free and healthy.  Do you have anything to add to this?  This school lunch rookie is always looking for tips.

I'm sharing this at Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter.