How Do You Moms Pack Lunchboxes?

Ziplock (or store brand) screw-top containers ONLY.

Seriously. They're the only containers allowed in the house. Well...not really...but I keep the others stashed in an awkward place in my pantry, so it's ESSENTIALLY true ;)

We typically have about 40-50 in the house. They all stack, and the lids all stack, and there's no worry about finding a matching lid, because they're all the same. & I never have worry about throwing out "science experiments". Eeeeeeeew. I can scrape them down the disposal...and then screw the lid on and toss them in the recycling. Whenever they go on sale I buy a couple packages more to replace those MIA or turned into a chew toy by the dog, or those that were sacrified to the gods of recycling.

They keep soups as well as non-liquids, like salads/pastas/what-have-you.

For the rest I use store brand ziplock type plastic bags.

I'm ADHD so I have to keep things super simple and super organized...or I'd never be able to find anything. Or to be more precise, *I* would know where everything is, but no one else would. I do the same thing with socks. Except for super-fancy special occasion stuff, everyone in the house is allowed ONE kind of sock. Then I just sort into piles of "kinds" (ie blue toe is my son, solid white is me, grey bottom is my husband, etc)...and the can roll them if they please, or just grab two from their drawer.

I'm a zip-locker (sandwich and snack size). After grocery shopping, I portion out all snacks into snack size baggies and then put them back into the original box (easy to store and identify). I also cut up veggies for the week (carrots, cucumbers and celery) and some are portioned into snack sizes for taking - the rest into a snap-n-seal container for easier salad making at dinner time. Then assembly line the lunches before I go to bed (I'm not much of a morning person).

http://www.laptoplunches.com/
http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=kids+bento+lunch+boxes&a...

These are the types that I use.
Good luck,
Susan

I've been using this insulated bento-style lunch box that I bought at lunchboxes.com. It's kind of neat because it has 4 or 5 small that fit nicely inside the lunchbox and it comes with it's own utinsels, water bottle and a meal suggestion/recipe box in case you need some fresh ideas every once in a while. Here's the link for the product:

http://www.lunchboxes.com/japanese.html

Hi K.,

You can continue to use the containers you have but just label them so they don't get sent home with someone else. One good company is stuckonyou.biz They make great name stickers that last through dishwashing and multiple uses.

I've also found good sectioned containers with a matching snap-on lids at Babies-R-Us and Toys-R-Us and have seen some good ones at Whole Foods.

I hope this helps a little and wish you luck with your search.

J.