Many of our long-time customers love our Lunchboxes for one thing in particular: Day in and day out, no matter what’s going on in their lives, they know they can fill their containers with something from each food group and easily have all of their nutritional bases covered.

If you’re reading this post, you may be thinking: what is a Lunchbox living? In Japanese, bento refers to a compact, nutritiously-balanced, portion-controlled, visually appealing meal served in a box.

If you’re new to using Lunch boxes, it can seem overwhelming or look like a lot of work. However, packing nutritious lunches using the lunch box method can be easy once you know these tricks!

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Top 10 tricks for how you can get started packing your beautiful Lunchbox:

• Know which containers belong to each food group.

Lunchbox have separate containers corresponding to each food group. For example, the two large containers should be filled with veggies and protein, while the medium containers should contain fruits and whole grains. The smallest container can house healthy fats.

• Dividers

Dividers help keep your box organized and ensures you’re eating the recommended amount of each food group. You can mix and match different sized containers. They do not allow smells mixing and keep food at its place even if you turn the box 180 upside-down.

• Find out what foods are easy to pack

Find out which foods work best for you and use these foods as staples in your Lunchbox. Some of our favorite staples include sandwiches, wraps, hard-boiled eggs, pasta, yogurt, cheese and crackers, and sliced veggies and fruit. Remember that the tighter the foods are packed in your bento box, the better they’ll stay together.

• Pack leftovers

Make packing lunches quicker and easier by making more servings of your dinner meals. Leftovers can be lifesavers when it comes to packing your Lunchbox. You can also pre-cook certain foods and keep them in the freezer. Just make sure to reheat the food appropriately and add in any foods that need to be fresh in the morning.

• Add color

When your Lunchbox contains foods in as many colors as possible, it makes it more nutritious because you’ll most likely be including lots of different food groups. And picky eaters are more likely try foods they are presented in a fun and appealing way.

• Practice food safety.

Follow normal food safety practices, like washing your hands before packing your Lunchbox. If you’re packing both cold and hot food in your Lunchbox, make sure the hot food has cooled down before packing or closing the Lunchbox as bacteria love to grow in a warm environment.

• Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot.

Use an insulated food jar to keep hot foods hot and make sure to include a cool pack to keep cold foods cold. For soft foods, make sure to pack them in containers with secure lids to avoid any leakage.

• Look for inspiration.

The Lunchbox community is quickly spreading as more people realize its benefits. Do some research to find out what other people pack in their everyday Lunchboxes or for more elaborate Lunchbox designs. Our Lunchbox Recipe Blog and Lunchbox Living blog have lots of healthy ideas and recipes for fun!

• Become as involved as you want to be.

Being a part of the Lunchbox community is a healthy choice you make to save money and pack a more eco-friendly lunch. Once you get the hang of it, you can decide how much time you want to dedicate to making each lunch and how creative you get with your food choices. The average bento can be packed in as little as 15-20 minutes!

• Think Lunchbox – have fun

When packing lunches try to balance. Yes we know there is a place for each group. But how to decide whether the lasagna is grain or protein food. In case meat is not a steak, it is cooked with veggies or grains. Try to compensate with the other containers the missing quantities. If you pack lasagna – the carbs will be high, so it is not a good idea to add a cake in the Lunchbox. But if you pack light fish and green salad, there is some good place for a dessert.

When you have combos, casseroles, tortillas and ctr, use this chart and make wise choices.

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