Since our kids started school and we started this Web site, we’ve been on a “container hunt”! Over the past few years, we’ve collected a lot of great (and not so great) containers to transport lunch. While searching for articles about school lunch, we discovered Kelly Lester’s EasyLunchboxes.com site. Even as a family that promotes packing a healthy lunch, we have to admit to getting tired of the “container” drawer in our house. You know you have one, too: a drawer filled with plastic and glass containers of every size and shape, with lids haphazardly strewn about. Her affordable lunchbox system looked like a perfect thing for our family to add to our lunch collection.
EasyLunchboxes.com
Kelly says, “I’ve always been kind of the ‘queen of doing things fast and efficiently’ and with three kids and lunchboxes to make every day, I was SO tired of struggling with mismatched containers and wasteful baggies – trying to fit them into 3 differently sized lunch coolers. Usually there wasn’t room for everything, and then I’d have to make changes in the food choices or containers. What a frustrating waste of time every day! Since unhealthy school lunch programs were not an option, I knew I had to come up with a more time saving way to pack healthy meals for my kids … BINGO! One container to hold 3 different food items, and a roomy enough cooler for the rest. Honestly, I just thought that other moms would like my EasyLunchbox System because it would save them time, but it’s been truly gratifying to find that my EasyLunchboxes are making such a difference to people of all ages, with or without kids, who are simply in need of an efficient, affordable, and green way to transport their food.”
We talked with Kelly about how her lunchbox system came to be, her inspirations, and how it is working for her family. Looking for a way to keep organized and pack healthy lunches with less bulk, fewer containers, and more nutritious whole foods, she developed a single plastic container with lid (you’ll always have one clean and ready). The three compartments in each ‘bento’ style tray keep items separate and inspire you to pack a variety of foods in waist-friendly portion sizes. Only one lid means less pieces to wash (or lose!). The container and lid are dishwasher, freezer and microwave safe, and made of high-quality plastic. * They are also FDA-approved, and do not contain BPA, phthalates, lead, vinyl, or PVC.
Our Experience
Our kids have their favorite lunchbox containers from L.L. Bean and Lands End, so we checked the dimensions of their current bags. Guess what! Kelly’s modular containers do fit. However, after watching her video about how the system works, we thought we should give it a try and check out the EasyLunchbox cooler bag, too. The kids really love their new bags. They are not as stiff as their other bags, making them easier to compress and store after lunch ends. Also, there is so much space on the top of the one container that we can comfortably store their Sigg water bottles and a snack. Before, we often had to put their water bottles loose in their backpacks. The container bag will keep your child’s lunch (or yours) temperature safe: just add an ice pack.
We’re halfway through our first week of using this system. Cleanup is a cinch: normally the kids empty their lunch bags and we have six different containers to wash, each with a lid. Now, just two containers and two lids.
How Can You Get One?
By eliminating unnecessary multiple parts and accessories, the EasyLunchbox system is 1/2 the price of other lunchbox systems, making it very affordable.
- EasyLunch Containers (set of 4) are $13.95
- EasyLunch Cooler Bags are $7.95 each
Interested in trying out this system? Purchase directly from their Web site at www.EasyLunchboxes.com.
What do you think?
Are you using the system already? Comment below and let us know what you think! We’ll be adding more features on this site with some suggested lunch combinations that work well with the EasyLunchbox system.
Tags: containers, easy, lunchbox
More about Amy and Scott Dawson, creators of Lunchtaker.com: One of our core focuses is on nutrition and fitness. Our children both attended a parent cooperative pre-school where the morning snack was as healthy as possible, and our family liked the opportunities for new foods that arose in pre-school. As our children go through grade school, we are focusing on continuing the trend of ensuring we feed ourselves a variety of foods, all good for our bodies... read more...
Posted Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 at 5:01 am and filed under Lunch Gear. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
thanks so much for visiting my blog and giving me and my readers the great tip re: your website. It’s awesome! LOVE it! Thanks again.
As a follow-up … we are in week 2 now of these lunch boxes and I used them last Friday when I went to my daughter’s chorus concert. I had to drive to her concert 45 minutes away during lunch, so I packed my lunch and enjoyed it on my lap during the drive. Something as simple as having my entire “plate” on my lap instead of having to choose a container to start, and then another and another made me so happy. I can’t wait to use these for lunches for skiing this winter. Every Saturday, my family spends all day skiing and we pack lunch. It will be so nice to have our 4 containers instead of the piles we used to wash last year!
I have started using this system for my son and he loves it. He likes his new lunch bag because everything fits neatly inside, including his Camelbak water bottle. He also loves that there is only one container and lid to worry about bringing home. It opens easily and holds everything he wants to eat. I can’t say enough good things about it!
I just purchased the lunch boxes and expect them to arrive today. I am so excited. I have 8 kids with 5 being a young and needing lunches everyday. They qualify for school lunches but I have realized what poor nutritional punch they pack. This is the first easy to use system I found That looks like it will be easy enough to use. I can’t wait to get started.