I pack the boys lunch when they go to daycare, partly because I don’t want to pay $3.50 per meal, and partly because I fear they wouldn’t eat the food and I’d be wasting my money.

The bento pictured here is a good example of what I pack most days. The lower, shallower tier contains two halves of a fried macaroni and cheese ball, and two frozen chicken nugget balls. The macaroni and cheese was left over from the previous night’s Cheesecake Factory takeout, and the chicken nuggets are Ian’s brand. It turns out neither Alex nor Tyler cared for the Ian’s chicken nuggets so I’ll have to find another brand that uses organic chicken. (Any suggestions would be appreciated.) I packed the chicken nuggets in a doubled paper cupcake liner to keep them separated from the mac and cheese.

The upper, larger tier contains two silicone cupcake liners with organic grapes, and a Trader Joe’s vanilla wafer. There are probably a couple of Trader Joe’s animal crackers tucked under the wafer, but it’s hard to tell from the picture. I would prefer to pack a fruit and a vegetable, or even two different types of fruit, but Alex in particular has rejected just about everything I offer lately. I would have used a silicone liner in the bottom tier for the nuggets, but the container is too shallow and it’s easier to crush the paper ones down.

I get a lot of great tips on packing lunches from Biggie at Lunch in a Box, which is where I learned to use the silicone cupcake holders as separators. I use them almost every day no matter what I’m packing. Biggie also turned me onto Ichibankan, a discount Japanese store that sells lots of bento gear at very reasonable prices. They have a varied selection of two-tier bento boxes, as well as other supplies like sauce containers and picks. If you’re looking for bento gear, you may also want to check out Biggie’s Bento Store Locator to see if there’s some place local where you can pick some things up.

A while back, I mentioned that I was going to stop buying school lunches for Alex and start packing his lunches myself. It’s been going well, but I’m usually too rushed in the morning to grab the camera. I did manage to get a shot of this one and wanted to share how I put it together.

The contents are:
1 Ian’s frozen chicken patty
1 container sweet & sour sauce (from fast food chicken nuggets)
2 packets ketchup
1 string cheese
halved red grapes
4-5 animal crackers

Alex likes these chicken patties, so I try to keep some on hand in the freezer for when I don’t have leftovers to pack. I packed this one in a large paper baking cup (for jumbo size muffins), tucked the sweet and sour sauce container and ketchup packets next to it, and laid the string cheese right on top. Off to the side, I filled a silicone baking cup with halved red grapes, and put a few animal crackers into another silicone baking cup.

The night before school, I cut the grapes and wrapped the silicone baking cup in some plastic wrap to keep the grapes contained during transit. I packed the lunch in the morning in a basic reusable plastic container. It went into the refrigerator when we got to school, and his teachers microwaved the patty before giving it to Alex.

Alex would devour the grapes and animal crackers in a heartbeat, so I have a deal with his teachers that they give him the “main course” first. After he’s eaten a decent amount of that, he gets his fruit and then “dessert” (the animal crackers). If he doesn’t eat most of his lunch, he doesn’t get the animal crackers.

I use silicone baking cups in just about every lunch that I pack for the boys. They make great dividers and really keep the food separate. I got a pack of one dozen at Target for $5.99 a few months ago.

Much of my bento inspiration comes from Lunch in a Box, so if you want more lunch ideas, I highly recommend heading there.