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Brown Bagging it with Bento Boxes – JENRON DESIGNS

August 7, 2026

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Brown Bagging it with Bento Boxes are the perfect lunch solution. Whether you are headed to the office, packing a lunch for the kids, or just want to have a quick bite prepared for yourself in the refrigerator.

My husband and I both work from home and it seems like we are constantly preparing meals; 3 meals a day at home can start to become a chore. In order to make life a little easier I have started to prepare Bento Boxes. These are a type of grab and go snack box, perfect for lunch or dinner, when we are both just too busy, or too tired to cook.

* This has been such a popular post since I originally posted back in 2018, with a LIVE promotional partnership with Dillard’s at the time. Yes this post is that old, but it is still a perfect go too for back to school. The only things that I have changed since the photo shoot is: I now use glass Tupperware verses plastic, just to keep the BPA’s out our bodies, we are also trying not to eat as many GM-O’s as well so more organic based food.

The term Bento comes from Japanese cuisine for a single-portion, take out, or a home-packed meal. While a traditional Asian style Bento box usually contains rice or noodles, a protein such as fish or meat, with a side of pickled or cooked vegetables. Today the term is more loosely used for a variety of snack based boxes that contain a source of protein, vegetables, and fruits.They also make great healthy snack options for those days you might decide to binge watch some Netflix, and if you have them separated in portioned containers it will keep you from over indulging. I would also imagine that for families these could also be a great option for Back to School lunches, or if you just need a car snack for between school and after instead of the almighty fast food drive thru options which can break the bank and are not good for you; they can be custom designed to meet all kinds of dietary requirements.

Don’t even get me started about my plug car refrigerator,such a life saver in Hotlanta link here –Wagan EL6214 Personal Thermoelectric Cooler/Warmer, 14 Liter Capacity, Portable Electric Car Cooler.We personally like to use the single serve nut butters and hummus, which is another great way to keep our portions in check. Along with the single serve cheese stick options now available in different types of cheese, aside from the old standard mozzarella string cheese. Now you they make more gourmet versions like sharp cheddar and Gouda, which is our favorite. We even like the laughing cow cheese, too although it feels like they have altered their recipe some recently. However, we tend to pass on the Baby-Bels, as they have a long family story; that ends with a moldy one found stuffed in my first car’s backseat cushions, by my grandmother with Alzheimer’s disease, 3 years after she had passed away. So, we are not as keen on eating those as much anymore, lol. I always like to try and have a protein, fruit, vegetable, and carb in each of the boxes. This particular box, I am using the cheese and peanut butter as my protein source. I also love these wheat bread sticks, they are a nice low carb with good flavor and great crunch. Plus, they give you extra dippers for your peanut butter, guacamole or hummus. Another tip I always like to recommend is to soak your apple slices in lemon juice, or some form of citrus juice to preserve them. This is what keeps the apples from turning brown. So, when you see those prepackaged apples at the store and wonder what the juice is in the bag, it is basically lemon juice.

*For School lunches you may need to use the Sun Butters, for allergy issues since some schools do not allow peanut products. Hard boiled eggs also make a great low fat high protein option and fit nicely into the boxes. Another great protein option could be a dried fruit mix like a trail mix, smoked almonds or Pistachios which all contain good fats and a bunch of flavor. Just be carful, if these are going to schools I know they have nut rules in place these days. I also do themed boxes depending on what is on sale at the store, below I have created an Italian/ Mediterranean box which I have added in Pepperoni, olives, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella chunks, bread sticks, roasted red pepper hummus and grapes. Think of it like a deconstructed pizza. Also don’t forget something a little sweet, I like to use a seasonal fruit if possible. However, you can get apples and grapes year round. I do like the antioxidant properties of blueberries, strawberries and cherries, which pair nicely with the cheeses and nuts. Another cost saving tip I have is to use cupcake liners to keep the items separated in the boxes or if your a thrifty and re-using Tupperware that may not have little individual containers, especially since nuts sometimes can get shuffled around during transport. Also they work great for portioning out spoonfuls of nut butters, and hummus too, if you are trying to save a few bucks with buying the single serves. At the end of the meal you just toss the liners away and it saves on mess too. Here are a couple of other great snack box options we substitute in that are not pictured:

Grilled Chicken Bites
Mixed Pepper Strips
Guacamole Dippers
Edamame
Zucchini Sticks
Lunch Meat Roll Ups
Pinwheel Sandwiches- (Lo carb tortilla)
Pickle Spears
Stream Shrimp
Banana Bites with Nut Butters
Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges
Baby Bel Rounds
Tuna Salad Cucumber Bites
Hard Boiled Eggs
Trail Mix
Parmesan Crisps – (makes a great taco shell)
Pickled Okra
Candied Pecans or Walnuts
Mini Waffles with Nutella

*I was compensated for this post. Please note that this post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. These involve no extra cost to you, but may result in me receiving a small commission – for which I am very grateful! You can view my full advertising disclosure here.

KEEP TRACK OF YOUR ESSENTIALS- TAG IT

Again these make amazing Back to School lunches and if you are thinking about this as an option for your picky eaters make sure you have them labeled properly. Amazon offers a great line of colorful, stick-on custom labels that are waterproof, dishwasher-safe, laundry safe, made from non-toxic materials and perfect for practically any item leaving the house. For machine washable items, peel and firmly stick your clothing label to care tags on clothing or plush toys.

I have add a list of few of my favorite below along with a link for you your shopping convenience. The food allergy tags are really handy too, even though most schools have a no nut rule these days, they still offer no dairy, no eggs, and gluten free tags.