Bring on the Bento Entourage….

                At the beginning of my Bento Box adventures I did a lot of research online and it mainly was based around containers and boxes to pack the lunches in.  I wanted to find a great container that would be sectioned off, or have the option to not use sections when I have larger items to pack.  This was NOT an easy thing to find considering I live in a small town…sigh.  But thankfully, I live on the US border to I do have a US mailing address and can order anything I want online, but sadly doing that you are ordering blind and can’t see just what the product is up close and personal.  So, I began my search locally first.

               I really liked the Lock n Lock sets found at our local Walmart, but I couldn't find any in stock that had compartments.  I ended up buying two of them anyway, the sandwich size, and I planned to use silicone baking cups to separate the snacks/food inside the container. This would not work well for liquids or wet foods very well (as it wouldn't keep them completely sealed off) but it would work in the meantime.

                The lunch box that I had originally bought (pre-Bento Boxes) was this one below.  I wasn’t too crazy about it because you can put in the containers flat, but then it is zippered up and then immediately tipped on its side and then taken off to school…to jiggle, shake and do its “off-to-school” jig……not so friendly for the fantastic food creation you took the time to nicely pack.  But, it would have to do for now until I set my sites on the ideal bag for my new Bento Box adventure.

                I did end up finding the same Lock n Lock containers but with sectioned off compartments built in online (showed in picture), so I ordered up one.  The sections are great for her first nutrition break, when I pack little snacky foods and then the second nutrition break I have her main “lunch” with the sandwich and perhaps a treat to go with in the container).

                I went on more of a mission and ventured over to the States to see what Kmart would offer for lunch box options.  To my surprise I found some GREAT containers, these were perfect for what I wanted!  The product line is called LunchBlox™ But after buying some and bringing them home I realized they were too wide to fit properly in the lunch kit I had.  So, off I went to Walmart to pick myself up a proper vertical sitting lunch kit (please learn from my mistake and buy the proper lunch kit first to avoid buying two) so I could stack my containers properly.  With the handle on the top it is perfect to keep the food sitting upright while it’s travelling to school, and I still have enough room to put a few little freezer packs in to keep cold, and drinks go in the separate zippered part on the bottom!  Let the packing begin!

                Our local Walmart does have the cubed set like below, but I wanted two containers and not a bunch of little ones (the ones on the top of the set in the pic).  I LOVED how it had the ice pack built right in that clipped between the containers, and if you look online (they didn't have in our local Walmart or Kmart in the US) they have the same option for the rectangle version too. Plus a coupon (valid in US only though)! 

 

                There are SO many options for Bento Boxes though; if you look online you can get every type of shape, size, character etc.  I wanted to keep it pretty low key and cost effective though.  I would LOVE to have 50 different ones that I can co-ordinate with the lunch I am packing that day, but let’s be honest here, it’s just not economical to spend that much money on containers (in my mind anyway).  These containers I have so the job just fine if you ask me!

                I do still use the original lunch bag and square containers, but definitely prefer the vertical lunch box and rectangle containers, highly recommended by me.  

I just recently found another great site online for a lot of great options to get Bento Box packing started.  They have cute sets with proper containers and the lunch bag to fit those containers (so you don’t’ have to play the guessing game on sizes like I did).  In the future I might order another set from here to mix things up more.  Here is the ones I am eyeing up!  Even comes with a drink container :D

                So as you can see it can be pretty easy and cheap to get a cute set of containers and bag to meet your needs, but just make sure you follow my mistakes first so you do it the right way the first time :D  If you put a little thought into the type of container you are liking for packing, then shop for container and the coordinating lunch box from there.  Hope this helped to get you started on your own adventure!

Anyone have any other tips/hints/suggestions when looking for Bento containers and lunch bags?  Any favorite sites for selection?