Sunday, Week Lunch Prep, and Bento on the Cheap

Sundays, while normally thought of as a day of rest, is far from it in our house.  Laundry is getting done, bread is being baked, and different parts of lunches for school are being prepared for the coming week.

When I bake bread, I, of course, use a bread machine.  I like homemade bread, but I really don't like kneading bread dough.  I prefer to use my secondhand bread maker (what a STEAL at $5 at a rummage sale), and free up some time to take care of other things.

This school year brought some changes for my children - a brand new school, new schedule, new friends.  All these changes were very positive, and I thought it would be a great time for new lunch boxes.  I've been in love with the idea of bento boxes for their lunches for a long time, so I looked into them.  I love the idea that it reduces the number of sandwich bags bought and thrown away, and the little separate cups, keeping food divided.

Hmmmm......

Then I realized that we were short on money that month, so no new lunch boxes, bento or otherwise.  The boys' lunch boxes from last year were in perfectly good shape (mostly), and I live by the motto of "waste not, want not", so I sat down and thought about what the kids would want for lunch, and what I had in my kitchen that I could use.

It was also time to clean out my plastic dish storage cupboard.  SCORE!  I found several square boxes with matching lids, and several of the tiny plastic cups with lids, which were initially bought for sorting beads.  In my picnic supply drawer, I found multitudinous plastic spoons, forks and knives (we save them from whenever we eat out). I figured that as time went on, I could round supplies out as I found pieces on sale, or at rummage sales.

Gathering up my supplies, I started putting them together to try to figure out how to make all this work.

Lunch boxes and supplies

Lunch box one with containers

Lunch box two with containers

Lunch box two with containers

Lunch box one is just a rectangular thermal bag, no extra pockets or anything like that.  Lunch box two is a two compartment thermal bag. The top larger compartment holds the sandwich box, and the lower smaller compartment holds the two smaller dishes for snack or a side dish.

A month or two after school started I scored, once again.  This time I managed to find two thermos jars at our local dollar store.  And I was also blessed that a friend of the family who was cleaning out their house, found two more thermos jars, so now I was up to four.  A thermos provides a nice change from the usual sandwich, apple sauce or fruit cup, and crunchy snack (chips, crackers, etc).  I can heat up leftovers, or make some soup for the kids to take to school, without having to worry about them needing access to a microwave.

So there it is.  I know that in traditional bento boxes, the food is decorated to look like cartoon characters, or in attractive ways.  My children are not into "cute" food.  They like food that is filling.  Sandwiches are generally cheese and meat, with a little bit of mayonnaise.  The smaller cups will hold applesauce or chopped fruit.  The larger round cups hold granola, chips, or crackers of some sort.  I generally also include a fruit juice drink in a pouch, whatever brand I happen to get on sale.  At some point, I will be juicing fruits, and sending them in small bottles.

The point is, all of this means less waste, and fewer things to buy.  It might not be totally "perfect" but it works.  It gives my children inexpensive, healthy lunches and I'm able to to spend money on the food that they are eating, instead of the packaging.

In future posts, I will discuss the actual food I give to my kids, including the homemade bread I make to create yummy sandwiches.

Stay perfectly you!