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-> Household Management
seeker
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 Wed, Apr 27 2016, 10:15 pm
Starting Monday I need to send lunch to school with my child because we're starting a gfcf diet experiment. Kid friendly, not too heavy, leak-proof, separate compartments. Preferably inexpensive enough to get a few so I can rotate and not have to worry about washing them immediately every single time.
Non-plastic would probably be a plus health-wise but I'm imagining it's also heavier and more expensive. If anyone wants to disprove me on that I'd be very happy.
If you have a good leak-proof container do you also need a separate lunch box/bag to put it in or can it just go in the backpack? If needed then I'm looking for a good choice at a good price on that too.
Sending lunches will be enough of a hassle and I really don't want to spend too much on accompanying gear...
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mha3484
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Wed, Apr 27 2016, 10:51 pm
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I don't know what you are planing to send but I use this for my child http://www.packit.com. I put baggies of fruits and veggies a sandwich or more recently a yogurt. It cleans easily and keeps food cold for 10 hours.
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musicmom
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Thu, Apr 28 2016, 2:29 pm
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I like the airtight round containers on lifewithoutplastic.com. They do not leak for things like homemade yogurt. Tupperware also has cute snack containers. I like the retro lunchboxes at pbk and the bento boxes that fit in them. They usually go on sales if you keep checking. If you email lifewithoutplastic and say you are a new customer they could give you a discount code.
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mummiedearest
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Thu, Apr 28 2016, 4:41 pm
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if you're in bklyn, amazing savings on ave. m sells rubbermaid lunch blox, which I have never had leak. they are really cute and come with an ice pack. they're located in the back of the store in a small display, so ask for them if you can't find them. also in amazing savings: thermos funtainers, which are great for sending hot food. reasonably priced there, about $6 a container. I send my kids with soup in those sometimes. leak proof if you close them fully. I had to teach my kids to dump out the excess soup because they forget to make sure the lids are fully twisted.
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groisamomma
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Thu, Apr 28 2016, 5:01 pm
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I wouldn't risk putting lunch in a bookbag, no matter how airtight the container is. I don't know about containers (I prefer the disposable ones) but I use a great lunch bag for years now. Built NY makes a neoprene stretchable fabric with a zipper, it literally stretches to accommodate any food, fruits, and drinks I take and is lightweight and washable. I throw it in a load every so often. Target carries the same thing for half the price from another company but it works just as well.
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seeker
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Mon, May 02 2016, 2:10 am
Thanks all!
I vaguely remember seeing the rubbermaid lunch blox at Amazing Savings but does anyone know about how much they cost? Would like to figure out whether it's worth a trip or just order on Amazon. Amazing Savings is not so far from me, but you know how it is - any time you leave home is already a huge blip on the overpacked schedule...
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mummiedearest
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Mon, May 02 2016, 7:34 am
| seeker wrote: | Thanks all!
I vaguely remember seeing the rubbermaid lunch blox at Amazing Savings but does anyone know about how much they cost? Would like to figure out whether it's worth a trip or just order on Amazon. Amazing Savings is not so far from me, but you know how it is - any time you leave home is already a huge blip on the overpacked schedule... |
I bought them on amazon for about $6 a set on sale. I think the amazing savings price is similar, but I don't recall exactly. the set comes with three or four interlocking containers, don't recall which one they carry.
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mummiedearest
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Mon, May 02 2016, 7:36 am
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little_mage
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Mon, May 02 2016, 8:18 am
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We bought these. http://www.amazon.com/EasyLunc.....6_s00 If you've got something really liquidy, though, they aren't lead proof. We also got their set of sauce containers that are pretty leak proof and fit inside. I would probably put it in some sort of insulated bag, regardless, though.
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goforit
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Mon, May 02 2016, 8:52 am
| little_mage wrote: | | We bought these. http://www.amazon.com/EasyLunc.....6_s00 If you've got something really liquidy, though, they aren't lead proof. We also got their set of sauce containers that are pretty leak proof and fit inside. I would probably put it in some sort of insulated bag, regardless, though. |
The 99 cents store on 13 and 45 sell these. Obviously in a cheaper quality, but then you can get a few and replace them often. Put the whole thing in a zip lock bag (the challah ones).
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seeker
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Mon, May 02 2016, 11:50 pm
OK all you lunch-sending mavens - seriously, around here the schools all provide lunch so this is like a totally foreign culture to me! And I feel ridiculous splitting hairs over it but the food itself is going to break our budget, and coming right after Pesach and season change is just a real doozy. And I'm realizing that I will need to send lunch with both kids to daycamp, though I will be working in the same place so theoretically I could handle it personally, but probably easier for them to each just have their own lunchbag. So I am going to have to get this right and get it cheap.
People with experience: Do I want a lunch bag that can hold a water bottle for camp, or do I prefer that the water bottle stay separate so they keep it with them instead of staying in a cubby or something with their lunch?
So... drumroll please in honor of my extensive research... What is my best bet for shoestring budget, kid friendly, insulated lunch transportation:
A) Lunch Blox $24 3-pk (Amazon via mummiedearest above) plus $5 bag from Target (http://www.target.com/p/embark-basic-lunch-sack-purple-9/-/A-15036838#prodSlot=medium_1_30&term=lunch+bag) = $35 for both kids' lunches plus just a few spare containers and extra space in bag for add-ons? I wonder if a water bottle could squeeze in. (could also use the $6 lunch blox from Amazing savings making the total cost a little less but with much less versatility in containers/compartments- they only have the one square+two rectangle set)
B) Really cute bento box with its own ice packs and right size insulated bag (http://www.jcpenney.com/jsp/browse/product.jsp?fromBag=true&selectedSKUId=78113160018&commerceId=ci46712011047&selectedLotId=7811316&fromName=false&catId=Bag&quantity=2&ppId=pp5004800021 with coupon and ship to store which is a little extra effort but whatever) = $25 approx for both kids but with no extra space for anything else (water bottle in day camp? ec) and possibly needing to get my own mini-containers if I want a leakproof sub-compartment (Amazon reviews of same product are mixed - they all say the whole container is leakproof but there are different opinions about the inner mini containers)
C) Packit ($5 in amazing savings - sure hope I can find 2 pink by the time I get this done) with random cheap leaky disposa-bentos (Amazon as linked above or local 99c store if they have) and just use separate random tupperware for those occasions when I want to send liquid? Total cost $5 each packit + approx $10 for ~6 disposable cheap bentos which will need replacing at some point + a couple of little tupperwares or whatever = probably about $30 altogether, less of a convenience system but flexible, iced, and pretty roomy.
D) None of the above, share your convenient, affordable, brilliant solution instead.
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little_mage
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Tue, May 03 2016, 6:15 am
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I'd go with A or B. If I'm remembering correctly, your children are fairly young. If you invest in something more expensive, hopefully it will last for several years. For camp, it may actually make sense to send two water bottles/drinks; one that will stay with them during the day and one that stays in the lunch bag so it's cold/cooler at lunch time. And what are you doing about drinks during the year?
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mummiedearest
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Tue, May 03 2016, 8:38 am
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I'd go with a or a similar idea (not sure the lunch blox will fit in a rectangular bag if you want to stack them. if you don't care to stack them, it doesn't matter). the bento doesn't allow room for separate snacks. I prefer a lunch bag with room for lunch and snacks and water bottle if possible. I would send one water bottle to keep in their bags and drink when necessary. keep in mind that there are water fountains around and that they are likely to lose any bottles they carry around routinely. fill halfway and freeze overnight, then fill the rest of the way.
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ra_mom
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Tue, May 03 2016, 9:26 am
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I'd go with option C because with little kids I find that items get lost, menus get changed a lot and not necessarily consistent so need flexibility, and that often you don't realize what features are really needed until you've already used the items bought and having to replace something expensive is hard.
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Raisin
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Tue, May 03 2016, 9:30 am
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I have bento style lunchboxes and they are annoying if you want to put in something that doesn't fit. (eg yogurt) I think Option a is a good one.
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seeker
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Thu, May 05 2016, 3:29 pm
So I've eliminated Packit as a "best" option because I started to put food in it and felt it was a little too much on the heavy side for little kids to carry around all the time. I'll go with a lighter insulated bag and in the summer I'll freeze one of their water bottles. A lot of the things I send aren't *that* perishable anyway. I'm thinking of keeping it anyway just in case because I'm not going to find one for $5 again, but right now the money situation is just that tight I can't even think clearly (don't worry about us too much, BE"H we will balance out within a couple of months, we just had some unexpected bumps in the road recently that were big setbacks. I'm carrying a credit card balance which I never do, it is not a big one but THIS IS NOT WHAT I DO so I'm a little panicky.)
I might stick with the Amazon LunchBlox because while they are not the cheapest containers, they seem to have a pretty tight seal and I'd need more ice packs anyway. I just wish that they clicked onto the base more effectively, that's basically the point and it doesn't do that especially well. It would also be smart if it would work other ways - like if you want to take small containers from two sets and use them instead of the bigger container, they don't snap on well at all. They make a "click" sound and fall right off. The intended configuration works pretty well. I'll wait and see if the target lunch bags are any good and if they fit them. The Amazon ones are about $2 a set more than amazing savings, but they come with the little dip sized containers while the AS ones have two rectangles and no little ones. Though I could always just get something else tiny and cheap to put dip into and stick it inside a bigger unit. There I go, unsure again. Ugh.
And I'm going to hit Amazing Savings one more time and look for those thermos containers people keep mentioning.
What is wrong with me that I can't buy a bleeping lunchbox without a support team?!
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mummiedearest
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Thu, May 05 2016, 8:04 pm
was just in amazing savings on m today. they have multiple configurations of the lunch blox now, including the dip containers. didn't check up on the thermos containers, so no specific directions on that.
btw, the click-together aspect really doesn't serve a purpose other than fun/cute/slightly more space efficient. if you're using an outer lunch bag anyway, you don't have to worry about things clicking together. I attached them the first few times I used them, then I gave up.
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seeker
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Thu, May 05 2016, 9:01 pm
I could see the clicking together thing (in the intended config) being useful for keeping things somewhat organized in a lunch bag that is not a perfect fit. Also keeps things up against the ice pack whereas otherwise the items that need to stay cold could float away. But I do think it is a bit overrated. At the $6 Amazing Savings price, though, pretty decent for a handful of containers that won't leak with their own ice pack.
If I get into Brooklyn again I guess I'll have to check out the M store. Anyone know if Ave I has the same things? I was in Williamsburg and the kid-size thermoses were NOWHERE (they do now have hot-and-cold ones, but only big) and there was exactly one LunchBlox with the small boxes. But the small boxes really are tiny so now I'm waffling back towards wanting the bigger ones and just using some other mini container for ketchup or dips.
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