Laptop Lunches

Instead of buying my daughter a beautiful new Princess lunch box, and my son one adorned with race cars, I invested in Laptop Lunch's Lunch box bento. These appealed to me for several reasons:

(1) They are made entirely from "safe" plastics. (Marked with recycle #5)

(2) The plastic has all been made in the USA.

(3) They're dishwasher safe plastics that can be used over and over (instead of tossed away like a plastic bag).

Here's the average lunch I pack for the family The first is for the kids, the second is a picture of my husband's lunch.


And this is of a yummy granola bar chock full of fruits and nuts for the husband.

I was expecting to use fewer plastic bags and feel good about the choices I was making for my family, but I also sort of expected my pre school to get a little annoyed with me. I'm used to being "that lady" at the grocery store with my reusable grocery and produce bags. But I have to live with the people at my fabulous pre-school. I've watched them take out individual snacks at snack time, and I worried that the compartments (instead of bags) would be an issue. On the first day we had them, I went into school and pulled my kids' teacher aside. I showed her how to open it, as some compartments don't have lids. You simply must sit it down before opening. I braced myself for an exasperated sigh, but instead I got "wow, that's SO cool!"

Huh?

Apparently, everyone at the pre-school loves them so much, that I had to give the name out to all the teachers and the owner. AND, they plan on giving out the information to other parents who may be interested.

So, long story longer, these are a huge hit for the kids, their school, and us too. We hardly even look at our plastic bags anymore. It's also nice to set out 4 boxes (one for each of the kids, and one for each of the adults) and just get lunch done for everyone all at once.

As a little note, the cooler bags and plastic thermoses in them are NOT made in the USA nor are they "chemical free." I weighed the costs and benefits, and decided that the food never touches the bag, and I need a bag capable of keeping their food cold while at school, so I purchased the lunch bag on the Laptop Lunch's website. I do not, however, use the associated thermos.

Quick Props.

A bit ago, I plugged a great recipe for Cilantro Lime Rice - a knock off of the Chipotle version. I never plugged WHO gave me that recipe, just that she was a "friend" from an Internet forum.

Well, said "friend" is actually named Lizzy. She's a mommy and a teacher (just like me). While she dabbles in the culinary, she excels in....HEADBANDS.

Just in case you didn't actually click on the link, I wanted to go ahead and post some pictures. This is Lizzy, who has long hair, in one of her creations:


And here I am, with my short hair:

I just LOVE supporting the average, everyday, Mommy trying to earn an extra buck.