A couple friends have asked recently if I’m still packing Erik’s lunches. Yes! Since I started packing a bento box for him in January, I’ve missed only about 10 days (compared to the previous six years when I had only packed about 10 lunches total). The financial impact? We’re saving about $200 a month, since he doesn’t have to buy lunch any more. Really.

The health impact? It benefits all of us. I know he’s eating meals that are good for him, rather than fast food junk, and that taste good, rather than chow hall. I’m cooking a greater variety of food every evening, so I’ll have something different to put in each container. It is also helping me to branch out and try new recipes, so he won’t have to eat the same things over and over.

In turn, it exposes the kids to new foods, teaches them about portions, a balanced diet, food handling safety (they’re not too young to learn… ask any little kid what happens when they leave a glass of milk out over night), and home economy.

Today’s lunch is made of leftovers from last night and the night before. Fried pork chops, cut up for easy eating (and so I don’t have to pack a knife), sauteed apples, and underneath them mashed baked sweet potato (both naturally sweet, so no need to add sugar), pretty salad with healthy vinegar-based dressing, and grapes.

The bento box has a plastic lid, but unlike plastic containers we’re used to that snap on, the lid is held on with an elastic band. (A quick note: you should always let the lunch cool before you put the lid on so condensation doesn’t form inside the box. I opened this box up again after I took the picture when I noticed the chops were still steaming.) Then the whole box is tied up in a furoshiki, or Japanese wrapping cloth. We have quite a collection of furoshiki now, thanks to my mom who finds them in thrift stores in Utah, of all places. This one is Erik’s favorite.