Reinventing the bento box

As the old saying goes: Once you go Bento you never go back. Okay, that's not it at all. But it's exactly how I feel every morning that I pack my kids' lunches. After discovering the perfect reusable, food-safe containers, those plastic baggies and reused Chinese takeout containers just don't seem to do the job.
Canadian company Steeltainer, has a really terrific take on the classic Bento box. Each side of the lid has a simple snap up/snap down clasp to really keep the thing sealed. And yet it's so easy, my four year-old doesn't have trouble at all; I definitely can't say that about every Bento container I've tried.

I love that the smaller snack container has a steel divider that can be repositioned, should you need more grapes than goldfish, or a 50-50 split. It also stays nicely sealed, thanks to a little grippy green leak-proof rubber strip on the inside of the lid. Now at first, it popped right out and I kind of freaked (oh my God! I broke it on the first use!) but as it turns out, there's a little well around the perimeter of the lid and it pops right back in in a sec.

The containers themselves are elegantly simple and nicely designed, but you'll find the for-the-trade website rather perfunctory; models have sexy names like "SE-560 Deluxe Salad and Sandwich Container." Good thing you can find them on Amazon. -Liz

Find Steeltainer bento boxes online at our affiliate Amazon, or a list of webshops in the US and Canada on the Steeltainer website.