Whether it’s car rides, summer camps or school, a good lunchbox can come in handy all year.
Why waste money on the cheap plastic cases that break easily, warp or discolor in the dishwasher or, (yikes!) leach plastic into your children’s food. Yes, quality matters when it comes to not only what we feed ourselves but how we store our food.
While there’s lots of debate about what should go into the lunch box (and yes, we have very strong opinions on this one) today I want to talk about the lunch box itself.
I distinctly remember the old lunchbox I had when I was a kid. It was a big old clunky thing that hinged in the middle. A thermos of milk clamped into the top half and in the bottom my cream cheese sandwich, crusts trimmed off, cut into perfect quarters, and meticulously wrapped in waxed paper by my mom. She even used tape. (!?) On a good day there were a couple of cookies. Usually it was a baggie of carrot sticks. Sometimes an apple. Even though I hated the food (except the cookies, of course), I loved the order of it all.
Oh how times have changed! I can’t imagine eating a cream cheese sandwich for the life of me, but I confess that my love of little neat compartments of food has not abated. What delight when I had the good fortune to try out a new lunchbox by PlanetBox.
The old creaky lunchbox has certainly had an upgrade. Sleek padded case for the little compartmentalized stainless-steel lunch box, complete with a “dipper” perfect for your hummus or some pâté. It’s like the perfect little bento box you can fill with the food of your choosing. It’s dishwater safe, chemical-free, and lets you have a waste-less lunch. Good for you and the planet, it’s a container worthy of the effort you go to making your family and yourself a nourishing midday meal. There’s a bunch of accessories you can get for any of their lunchboxes.
Some of our favorites are:
Magnets for the outside that come in lots of different styles.
a padded case that also comes in different colors and styles
flexible silicone dividers.
Launch
Shuttle
Rover
Admittedly we have all three of the sizes they carry. With two kids, we find we use all of them. Sometimes it’s nice to have the smaller shuttle. The handy small containers with lids are included.
If you’re starting to think about back-to-school, or even if you don’t have kids and want an eco and effective container to bring your own food to work, I encourage you to check out Planet Box. Oh, and they carry stainless steel water bottles. We use one and highly recommend it!
Happy lunch!
I got my daughter’s PlanetBox from Pottery Barn Kids. PB’s PlanetBox even comes with a soft case to match the backpacks!
Hi Margaret,
I really like Laptop Lunches (www.laptoplunches.com) They are made in the USA (I think they are made in California even), BPA free, come in great colors, and their price point is a bit more affordable.
Dear Margaret,
Can you add a sharing feature with Facebook as well. I’d like to be able to post for my friends to see. I don’t want to seem like I’m preaching by sending a link directly to the young moms I know. I am 54 and did my stint with two grown boys of 22 and 26.
Thank you.
Best,
Martine
Hi Martine,
There’s a FB sharing button at the top of this post….
Hi Margaret,
I know Chef James from our childhood days. I’m curious about this lunch box. We’ve got school age kids and want to get out of the lunch box rut. First, I don’t think any box can prevent leakage from one compartment to another. What do you do? Use the mini containers? Also, is there space in the bag to place a whole piece of fruit? Second….I know you still have kids under 5, but can you consider an article on school lunches. I’m eternally bitter that there aren’t better options for a cafeteria lunch (as if life, work and parenting needs to be more difficult), but there a ton of website with linch ideas that just don’t seem so healthy (cream cheese/tortilla pinwheels, fruit in a cup,, for example). Please help us parents curate better lunch box options and get out of the sandwich rut. Any hacks would be appreciated too! Thanks, as always.
We use this one in combination with several others depending on what meal we’re sending her to school with. Any dipping sauces, etc. go really well in the little side container (which doesn’t leak), and if it’s a whole piece of fruit, we’ll just give that to her separately in her bag. You’re correct that the sections would leak into each other, so we don’t put liquids in here. We’re heading into back-to-school season so there very well may be some more posts (or FB live segments) on this very topic…