Back at it! You guys really seem to want these posts so I will try to keep them up on hhh, but for more frequent bento ideas, I started a highlights tab in my IG (@elisehippie) so you can go there to see them as well.
Prep for this week includes: roasting chickpeas, hard boiling eggs, chopping veg, and popping popcorn
Feel free to use any leftovers (from dinner or weekend festivities) in place of the mains.
Grocery list:
- dried pineapple
- raisins
- dried apples/pears
- popcorn kernels
- chickpeas
- pitas or bagels
- eggs
- sun butter or nut butter of your choice
- crackers
- salami
- carrots
- cucumber/zucchini
Everything in bold can be purchased in the bulk section at your natural grocery store.
Bring your own bags (for produce) or jars (for pantry goods) and write the tare and bin number on your shopping list to keep things low waste!
I know the weight of most of my jars when they are empty, but sometimes they still have a bit leftover (because running ALL the way out of coffee is a big time no go) so I still tare them just to be sure.
Once you get into the routine of shopping this way, it is less awkward and time consuming. I always bring an extra jar or two along just in case I want to buy something else that looks good but isn’t on my list.
MENU
- dried pineapple + raisins
- carrots
- crackers + salami + cucumber/zucchini
- apple/pear rings
- hard boiled egg
- pita (or bagel) with sunbutter
- roasted chickpeas
- carrots
- crackers + salami + cucumber/zucchini
- apple/pear rings
- roasted chickpeas
- pita with sunbutter
- dried pineapple + raisins
- hard boiled egg
- popcorn + roasted chickpeas
To make vegetarian: swap salami for pieces of cheese
To make vegan: swap egg for edamame, swap salami for vegan meat or cheese
I put the salami between the crackers and the veggies to prevent them from getting soggy. Let’s be real, after getting tossed in his backpack and enduring a bike ride on the way to school, there’s no way they stayed layered. No complaints on his end though!
I don’t usually buy crackers (if I’m purchasing something processed, it is usually tortilla chips – ideally in a non-plastic bag), but I was at grocery outlet and these were on sale for $1 so I figured it would be a special treat for them to see when they opened their lunches.
FYI grocery outlet is now my go-to place for organic yogurt. I was never disillusioned enough to think that we could be 100% no waste (that’s impossible!), but the fact of the matter is P still has to have dairy doses twice a day, so buying milk/yogurt/cheese is something that we can’t avoid. Might as well get it for cheap and save food from being wasted, right?? They have organic yogurt for wayyyyyyy cheaper than you’d find anywhere else at grocery outlet. Yes, it means I’m buying things in plastic, but I just try to remind myself that a ton of people doing low waste imperfectly is better than one person doing it perfectly.
