School Lunch – Containers

Sometime in the beginning of August I started asking on the Sew Curly Facebook page about school lunches.  I wanted to know what people were packing, what they were packing it in, and if they had any suggestions. 

I was thinking ahead to Kate starting full day Kindergarten at the end of August.  Kate’s a really great eater.  She’ll try just about anything at least once, if not twice.  My biggest concern was what I was going to pack her lunch in.  When she stayed for lunch at preschool once a week, I packed her lunch in a Sassy container.  It worked but was small and very difficult for her to open on her own.  I wanted to make sure I got her something that would be easier and wouldn’t require asking the teachers for help.    She already had a lunch box from Pottery Barn Kids so my next challenge was trying to find something that could fit into it.  

I thought about getting a Planet Box lunch box but I really didn’t want to be boxed into fitting Kate’s lunch into specific size compartments.  I needed to find a system that would fit into Kate’s current lunchbox.

At first I bought the Easy Lunchboxes containers:  

They were a Bento style container, which is what I ideally wanted.  They were dishwasher safe on the top rack (a requirement!) and they were sturdy.  The only thing that I didn’t like about them?  They were slightly too long to fit into Kate’s lunchbox.  The fit was so tight that the zipper was starting to pull and stretch the material.  Since the whole point was to NOT have to buy a new lunchbox, it just didn’t make sense.  

**However, if you need lunch ideas, click on their Lunch Gallery to see tons of amazing ideas of things to pack for lunch.  

I’m not sure who it was that first suggested Sistema, but I kept getting drawn back to them.  Sistema sells different shaped containers that can accommodate whatever I send for lunch.  They are dishwasher safe in the top AND bottom rack, freezer safe, and microwave safe.  I was sold!  Also, they are sold at lots of local places like Bed, Bath, & Beyond, the Container Store, and even my local grocery store.

I wasn’t sure what sizes I would need.  I knew I would be packing mostly dinner leftovers for Kate and if I packed a sandwich that I would pack it in our sandwich bags.  Luckily enough, Zulily was having a sale on Sistema and I was able to get a few different pieces for a pretty big discount.  

While my containers were shipping, I was still nervous that I wouldn’t have a system that would work well.  One day while we were at Target I saw a Rubbermaid container that stacked and looked like it could be a good alternative in case my Sistema plan didn’t work out as well as I was hoping.  I bought it.  

Thankfully, ALL of these pieces work great!  Here’s a collection of what we have, minus one more Sistema lunch cube: