After yesterday’s post about Princess’s 7 cavities, I decided to step up efforts to make her school lunches a little more nutritious. She’s so picky and we’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had the energy to deal with anything more than her standard pb&j. We did go with “hot lunch” for a week, but I went to school with her for lunch and was horrified with what they are feeding them. Even their pb&j option included a bag of “whale cheddars” that had trans fats. For real. I’ve been on the anti-trans fat wagon for years now and forgot that they even make stuff with it anymore.

I usually give her a juice box (100% juice, of course) and a water bottle with a sports top. I explained to her that the juice isn’t good for her teeth and gave her 2 water bottles instead. She wasn’t too upset watching me pack it, but we’ll see what happens when she actually sits down to eat. I haven’t been sending her in with the variety that she is used to because I didn’t want to go through 5 plastic bags per day to put in a handful of this and another of that. It seems so wasteful. I think I found a solution.

I did a little research online and found this great bento box at lunchboxes.com.  It’s definitely an Americanized version of the classic Japanese bento box. It has 5 little compartments to hold various foods. I am really excited to start putting together nutritious meals for her. Win, win…it’s better for the environment as well. I am also excited to buy large jars of apple sauce instead of the pre-packaged individuals. I searched everywhere and couldn’t find a metal box with metal compartments. I’d really like to reduce the amount of plastic the kids are exposed to. I guess that’s a battle for another day.

If you use a bento box for your kid’s lunch, do share your recipes and tips in the comments. Mine should arrive sometime next week.

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