There are A LOT of places to eat in the neighborhood where I work. Fortunately, most are sit-down restaurants and as a working parent, lunchtime has to be maximized, so I don't frequent them very often. And for some reason, the Boston area hasn't yet seen the rise of gourmet food trucks that I keep hearing about in other urban centers. So for now, it's bring your own lunch for me.
But who says bringing your lunch has to mean peanut butter and jelly in a paper bag? Below are some photos of my favorite lunch containers and a few comments about how I use them. Sure, an old-school insulated Thermos food jar would also work just fine, but until the foods trucks come rolling into Harvard Square, I like to have something to look forward to as I eat my leftovers each day. Incidentally, none of these containers can be microwaved, so I keep a dinner plate, soup bowl and utensils in my office and wash them each day. No escape from dishes!
Above is an Indian "tiffin", which is made of stainless steel. It contains two levels with a plate in between, and when assembled, has its own handle. Shown is a favorite meal of frozen blueberries and mangoes on the top (they thaw by lunchtime) and a quinoa-black bean-feta-pepita salad on the bottom. The tiffin fits nicely inside my Built lunch bag, with some extra room for an afternoon snack. The little bag is made by me out of PUL (polyurethane laminated) cotton fabric; I call it my "almond bag" and it reminds me to eat healthy nuts each day instead of heading for the vending machine!
This next photo is of a Japanese "bento box". It has an image of a rabbit on it so I call it my "bunny box." The top has a handy removable divided insert for condiments. Since the top has a lid and the bottom doesn't, I usually put grains or pasta in the bottom and the sauce or veggies on the top.
Below is what it looks like assembled. The other one is a "male bento box" whereas the bunny one is a "female" version. Not surprisingly, the male box is about twice as big so the big, strong, hungry man can eat more food! Ha, not in my house! I do sometimes use this one but don't like it as much because it looks so boring. I think these used to be made of lacquered bamboo, whereas now they're just plastic.
Finally, a photo of my latest acquisition: a plastic 4-tier, tiffin-style container from of all places, Target! We haven't given it a name yet, but fell in love with its great colors and large capacity. On Mother's Day we took it for a picnic and it carried enough food for everyone in the family to have lunch! What I also like is how the different levels serve as a reminder to include a range of food groups. Since this was a picnic, I wasn't too concerned with nutrition, but we had one level with veggies and dip, another with fresh fruit salad, another with cheese and crackers, and finally a level for that all-important dessert food group. Each level could probably hold a person's sandwich and veggies or a decent-sized serving of pasta salad if you wanted to divide the food that way. This thing is definitely coming to the beach with us this summer!
On a last note, we are also big fans of the Laptop Lunchbox, a modular plastic lunchbox that has four different sized colorful inserts to help remind us to include a variety of food groups and veggie/fruit colors. Enjoy your lunch today!
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