Our Favorite Lunch Packing Supplies

Hi!  Elizabeth here with a quick post about our favorite lunch packing supplies.  We wanted to share these to make packing lunches a little easier for you, too.  And as I mentioned recently, I enjoy seeing everyone’s back-to-school photos and I said I’d share mine.  Here they are!  The pictures are separate because one of my daughters (14) went back to school last week and my other daughter (11) went back to school this week. 

First day of school

 

 

Our favorite lunch packing supplies

Since school is back for everyone now, many of you are likely back to packing lunches.  Last week I posted 3 quick, easy, back to school lunches   Here are the lunch packing essentials that work best for us. They’re good sizes.  They aren’t too hard to open – very important for younger children especially.  And they don’t leak!

A 10 oz size Thermos works well for to keep food warm or cold for younger children. And a 16 oz size works well for food for older children.  

 

A 12 oz cold beverage container works well for younger children and a 16 oz size works well for older children.

 

Plastic and glass containers

This Sistema container holds a sandwich and still has plenty of room for other lunch items like cookies, fruit and some chips.

I use these long narrow Rubbermaid lunch containers for items like slices of cheese, grapes, 1/2 an avocado, apples, carrot sticks, crackers and small cookies. The larger, square containers are great for sandwiches. The ice blocks are handy for keeping items cool. I admittedly don’t use the ice blocks very often.

I really like these glass Pyrex storage containers.  They’re useful for packing lunch and storing leftovers.  I tend to use the small rectangular containers for foods like fruit or chips, or avocado. The larger square containers I use for for salads. I like the larger ones for reheating lunches Chad and I take to work. The small round containers are good for smaller sides like nuts, nut butters, and dried fruits.

My 14 year old told me this evening that the containers I’ve been using for dressing actually leak!  And I thought all this time they didn’t.  Oops!  Caroline and Ellie empty their lunch boxes and rinse out the containers when they get home (with a few reminders).  I guess that’s why I didn’t know about the leaks.  I’m going to give these Sistema dressing containers a try.   Do you have salad dressing containers you’d recommend?

Baggies, straws and utensils

I remember when these reusable baggies first came out.  They were a big hit!  I will admit, I do use plastic baggies sometimes.  There are times when the reusable baggies are all dirty or there’s a field trip and we’re asked to send lunch in disposable containers.

 

We use paper straws since they’re biodegradable.  We also have reusable straws in some of our cold drink containers.

For reusable utensils, I use some old stainless steel flat ware from Ikea, but these Seitsema utensils work well too.

The lunch box

And finally, a good lunch box or bag  to pack everything in is a must.  I really like neoprene lunch bags because they stretch.  It makes packing lunch easier.  You won’t have to worry whether or not we have the right size containers.

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What are your favorite lunch packing essentials?  Stay tuned for more quick and easy lunch ideas coming soon!

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