What Is Your Favorite Easy Way To Prepare Bento Box Lunch?

Packing a bento lunch box seems challenging in the beginning but as you get a hang of things, it starts coming to you naturally. This is because it is quite a bit of challenge to think of foods your kid will actually eat and to pack it in a way it looks appealing to them.

Go Easy When You Prepare Bento Lunch Box

This is definitely the key to bento Meal prep. Keep it simple, natural and easy. Don’t be too hard on yourself with the meal prep. It should be fun and not feel like a burden. Opt for simple meals and fresh foods instead of ones that take ages to cook and prepare.

Plan the Meals

This is the best favor you can do to yourself when it comes to lunch for your kids. You will thank us and yourself for this. Meal planning saves a lot of time in the mornings. Plus helps you prepare lunch faster. Decide on a weekly menu. Think of what you will already have in the fridge, what you can make ahead and what dinner leftovers can you use for the lunch. Be creative and you will have half of the meals already prepared.

Involve Your Kids

Engage your kids for whom you are going through all this effort. They can share what they want to eat. It will make your job easier. Also, this way they can have an early start to making healthy food choices. Don’t just make your kids a part of your meal planning. Indulge them in your daily meal prep too the night before. Make them cut the veggies and fruits and even sandwiches with cookie cutters. It will be fun for them. Moreover, your kids are more likely to eat food they helped prepare.

Add Appropriate Proportions

The main purpose of a bento box is to provide a balanced diet to the kids. Keep that in mind and add everything in the appropriate proportion. The ideal ratio is to add 4 parts Carbs, 2 parts proteins, 1 part veggies, and 1 part fruits. Apart from this, you can add in some sweet treats your kids love to make them look forward to the lunches.

My Favorite Way to Prepare Bento Lunch Box

I love to divide the bento lunch box prep into parts. It makes it much easier for me and fun for the kids. We always plan the meals for the whole weak on Saturday evenings. I do this especially the kids. It is my way of teaching them to love and respect food. I first decide on the kind of breakfast we want then the dinners and finally the lunches. This way, I don’t have to prepare especially for lunch. Most of the times, we get creative with dinner to assemble a different recipe for lunch. When planning for the bento lunch box, I divide it into 3 parts.

• The main
• The sides
• The dessert

My main is always something with carbs and meats. It could be anything from a sandwich to pasta or even a pasta salad. For the sides, I add fruits, veggies, yogurt, and stuff. I love adding a bite or two of dessert. So it is mostly a mini muffin or cookies or anything the kids want. My kids simply love their lunches. I think it is mainly because they are the ones who plan and prepare them.