Hellobee

We have an Itzy Ritzy one from Bed Bath and Beyond: http://www.ivillage.com/guitar-bento-box-best-lunchboxes/6-b-231762

It broke and we had to superglue it back together but I do like it because it is lunchboxish. I don’t worry too much about filling all the spaces… sometimes I fold up a napkin and stick it in one compartment….

What about Sunflower Butter? I know many parents that use that in place of peanut butter in nut-free schools. Probably not as tasty, but I think the consistency is similar.

Are you only doing cold lunches?

We use the Sassy on the go feeding set for my 5 and 3 yr old and love them! They can be used with 2, 3, or 4 compartments – and I can mix and match cold and hot foods and they can easily take out one container to eat that food! We have used them for years and they are still awesome!!

http://www.amazon.com/Sassy-Feeding-Set-Pink-Purple/dp/B005DS56AS/ref=sr_1_31?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1398277418&sr=1-31&keywords=sassy

Our daycare is nut and peanut free, and the youngest is allergic to tree nuts. Soynut butter is an option for you if you are ok with soy. I think it is closer in taste and consistency to peanut butter.

If your son will do warm things like soup or pasta you can go with a thermos…put some boiling water in the thermos first for about 10 minutes and then put in your warmed up soup and it should stay warm for lunch.

Pasta salad? You can sneak in protein via chunks of ham, pepperoni, grilled chicken as well as veggies.

Quinoa (mac) & Cheese, I have made this and eaten it both warm and cold and I have also put in chunks of ham in it to give it a bit more protein not that it needed it but I really just like meat. http://monimeals.com/meals/quinoa-mac-n-cheese/

Ziploc makes a compartmentalized plastic container that looks almost exactly like your choice #3 and they are made of BPA-free plastic. They are like the more disposable-type of Tupperware and come in a 2-pack for under $3 at our Target. We have TONS of them to pack our own lunches and I think its easier to have a few sets in case its lost or forgotten, etc. And there are no small parts to get lost. They WILL get warped over time (meaning the lid won’t hold liquids perfectly) IF you heat food up in the containers with the lid on (like in the microwave) but I don’t think that is an issue for preschool.

If your school is nut free, you can use sunflower butter (its a seed), or another thing I’ve seen is cream cheese and jam sandwiches for added protein.

I have a three divider all stainless LunchBot and it’s great. If I ever send a sandwich type food, I cut it into wedges. I also have a yumbox but haven’t used it yet. It is larger in person than I thought it would be, and it’s also quite heavy. It also doesn’t fit in any type of standard lunch bag. I might pull it out again next year when my DD goes to public school. I don’t pack as much Bento style lunches any more, but when I do it’s in a glass Lock and Lock with silicone cups.

@JEN @ THE WELL READ FISH: I never tried sunflower buter, I might have to grab a jar and see

@Mamaof2: @Mrs.Maven: Im not opposed to doing warm stuff and trying to get a thermos. I have to see how much the school is willing to help him ope his stuff since I know some schools wont help much and Im not sure if he will be able to unscrew a thermos or spill it when opening it. Drake is very picky so pretty sure he might reject pasta salad, he did the other night when we BBQed. He is super suspicious of foods for all sorts of reasons that only he can fathom “too hot, too cold, too tasty, too grumpy, too foody…yes he said the food was too foody once for him”

I have both lunchbots and the yumbox. I used the lunchbots the first year when I was leaving food for the nanny and now I use them in my husband’s lunch too (since they don’t look too kid-like, which I can’t say for many others). I often used the big one without dividers, using silicone baking cups to make separate items. then you can pick exactly how it’s set up / how many different things. I don’t feel like you can necessarily fit a whole lunch for an older kid in one lunchbot, they’re not that big.

for daycare when she was a little older I switched to the yumbox for a 1-piece solution and one where the different compartments would seal better than what I was doing before. I thought it worked really well. sometimes I put different things in every compartment, sometimes I put the same thing in two compartments, but it definitely helped me think about variety. you do have to cut/portion any large items. I have had second thoughts about the plastic lately but no way would I pay for the planetbox so I think I’ll keep finding a solution from what I have.

I love sunbutter as an alternative to nuts (and my lo is allergic to soy). For bentos I love the munchkin ones because they fit easily in his backpack.

We really like the easy lunchboxes and they are high quality, far better than other similar looking things. My five year old also loves his sugarbooger robot box. He was a bps fiend, but now asks for sun butter.

@Mrs. Chocolate: Yes, I was just going to suggest that you check what the school’s policy is, because at some places, the child has to be able to open their own lunches without assistance. They may also have rules about how it is stored and what can be brought, like you have to have a protein, carb, vegetable, fruit, etc.

I just picked up the Rubbemaid Lunchblox sandwich kit. It works for us right now – I pack the bulk of his lunch in the big block, lunch “dessert” (fruit) in the medium block, bananas (to go with his daycare-provided breakfast) in one of the small blocks, and afternoon snack in the other small block. Eventually I’d like to find something one-piece, but this was a good find at Target that works well for now.

wow that planet box is expensive, but it’s got great reviews compared to the other stainless one….

for your next taco night try shredding some carrots into the ground meat. i always make my pasta sauces for spaghetti and lasagna with diced carrots and celery, and for lasagna i do a spinach/cottage cheese or spinach/ricotta layer. my friend was amazed that i could “hide” veggies in the dinner and i’d make a great mom. i’d never thought of it as “hiding” before

i didn’t grow up with asian food but my husband did…there’s only so much traditional food i can handle cooking and eating, but i like to make it kind of fusion-y so like a “rice bowl” (or in my case, a quinoa or couscous bowl) topped with a stir fry of veggies, bacon, and avocado. i also like using thai red curry paste with coconut milk on pasta with bamboo shoots, carrots, water chestnuts, other veggies, topped with wasabi peas and avocado. and there’s a super cheater noodle i’ve done with a couple packages of instant noodles, costco frozen stir fry veggies, and a quick peanut sauce with some peanut butter, water, soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, vinegar, and some of the instant noodle packet or chicken broth.

steamed spinach and chicken topped with peanut sauce on a bed of rice might be up his alley, too if drake likes PB.

I have heard that peer pressure can be spun positively in eating habits at school – hope it works that way for drake!

We are all over the map on bento boxes, but some of our biggest finds have been at home goods with brands I never knew of before (and cannot remember now.) As for the pickiness… creative presentation of food has helped us here tremendously! Good luck!

I have a 21 month old and a 3.5 year old in school and we love the sassy feeding set (mentioned above) and the trio lunchbots. We also have the yumbox (I rarely use it. I just think it’s too big) and a foursquare lock and lock (used to love this until it came home without one of the dividers). I’m going to go with lunchbots is my fav because it’s one piece. The teachers help te kids open but they let them clean up (the 3.5 year old) and we have lost multiple little containers by them being thrown away! The majority of the parents pack disposable lunches and single serve items so when he sees everyone else tossing trash he will too!

On the same note I love being able to close the little containers in the sassy lunches and if one does get thrown away I can pick up an entire new set for around $7.

I have #3 (easy lunchbox) and #5 (planetbox). I love them both. I tend to add silicon cupcake liners if I need extra ‘compartments. I do love the stainless steel of the planetbox. One reason I love these over other options is that it’s SO EASY to clean the whole thing with a couple swipes. Having to wash 4 containers and 4 lids is exhausting. And we have 4 people in this house who all pack lunch and snacks. So I wash a ridiculous amount of containers nightly.

I got my Planetbox from pottery barn on sale so I saved a little money. (I don’t see them there anymore – maybe that’s why mine was on sale!) Knowing that my son will be using this lunchbox for YEARS also makes it easier to spend the money. I’m going to start shopping for one for my daughter. She eats just as much as him now (at 1.5) so I’m ready to have a bigger lunchbox for her.

i went through a lot of bento boxes. it’s hard to know what will work for you until you start using them. maybe you need more compartments, maybe you need less, maybe something has too many separate parts to wash/keep track of, is hard to open, etc.

i wanted the planetbox but didn’t get it because of the price. but at this point i’ve spent that much on bento boxes anyway! i am leaning towards getting it now because it is stainless steel, has 5 compartments (my perfect amount), and will last a very long time.

@Mrs. Chipmunk: I love the carrot idea I might try that as well as your other suggestions. I have been thinking of new ways to hide and I love these! thank you!

@Mrs. Chipmunk: I have to say I remember you saying you were a picky eater or were growing up, I dont recall now but you dont sound like one anymore! About half the stuff you mentioned in your 2nd post about foods are things I wont eat lol let alone Drake. Off hand avocado., Chile paste, coconut anything, water chestnuts, are all things I find unpalatable. Im uber picky

i think i’ve come more than “a long way,” and compared to other people i know, i eat a lot more variety, but to my husband i’m still “picky.” maybe this book is worth checking out at the library:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sneaky-Chef-Strategies-Favorite/dp/0762430753/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398362533&sr=8-1&keywords=hiding+vegetables+in+food
i figured there would be a book on hiding veggies in your kids’ food, and if there wasn’t one, then someone really needed to write one! i’m terrible at cooking veggies as a side dish, and now that i think about it, i think the secret to work up the gusto to cook it and and successfully present veggies at every meal is to cook it with whatever youre cooking and not add an extra pot or pan to the mix.

ooh this one is about sneaking food into convenience foods:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Speedy-Sneaky-Chef-Favorite/dp/0762443294/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=19QPJ5QWSGZFJ422074C

i’ve become really good at throwing in broccolli or asparagus into annie’s mac and cheese lately, and it’s super tasty. i’ve been meaning to try cauliflower in it, too, the next time i have some.

@Mrs. Chipmunk: For me it was frozen veggies, I could remember them last minute and toss them in the microwave in a glass dish and lid and they were done in about 5 minutes. The veggies were already washed and prepared too, and frozen veggies retain their vitamins very well because they have to be frozen immediately after picked.

@Mrs. Chipmunk: Oooh thanks I need to look at these And yes I think you hit the nail on the head, its so much effort sometimes to cook a meal let alone have to make multiple dishes with sides and more pots to clean. I make Annies a lot for Drake for lunch (mac and cheese is a staple in our home) and maybe I ought to try adding veggies though knowing him he will just eat around them or cry since his mac and cheese looks different

@mrs. chocolate – for me, i wouldn’t adjust anything about my traditional “kraft dinner” because i’m a kraft dinner purist (what canadians call kraft mac and cheese), but for annies, i was like, what the heck, and i was pleasantly surprised. maybe you can try it with something he’s not familiar with, like spongebob or whatever other shapes there are out there…

@Mrs. Chipmunk: We use the farm and bunnies one interchangeably. I should have thought htis through when he was younger and didnt know better because at 3 he knows better. Luckily it seems his sister is going to be the better eater and now I can make sur to do all of these things early with her so I wont have these headaches later on.

One more vote for sunflower butter! We can all eat peanut but have come to prefer sunflower. The Trader Joe’s kind is yummy.

We have some great stackable ones from the Korean grocery store — love them!