Healthy Bento Boxes
Healthy Bento Boxes
How I prep healthy snacks while running my business on the go.
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Do you constantly feel busy and overwhelmed? Do you feel frustrated when you’re in the middle of a busy day and get hungry, knowing you don’t have time to find something to eat? Are you tired of eating unhealthy food because it’s accessible on the go?
I felt ALL OF THOSE THINGS!!! I’m a busy working musician and spend a lot of time in my vehicle. I also have Celiac Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis so I have to be very careful with my food choices.
When I would leave my house for the day with a full schedule of piano students in front of me I would usually pack a protein bar and a 24oz cup of water. Inevitably, the protein bar wouldn’t fill me up and I would get hungry. I would feel frustrated with the situation and with myself and end up stopping at a gas station for a snack. There aren’t a lot of gluten free options for me so I would usually get nuts or some kind of chips.
Not only did the empty calories and excess salt add up, the cost added up too. I felt gross, I was spending too much money, and I was just unhappy all around.
Finally, I had a little time off over Christmas break and it was a really nice opportunity to reset my nutrition. I know how to meal prep and plan ahead, I just wasn't doing it. The fall semester was challenging in a lot of ways and I was just doing the bare minimum. (Can anyone relate???)
I decided to splurge on a couple of items that helped me be more deliberate with my meal prep and I’m going to share them with you today! It’s made a huge difference in my routine and I feel so productive.
Veggie Bento Box
Baby carrots, broccoli, gluten-free crackers, and a 2oz cup of ranch for dipping.
I like to eat my veggie bento box in the early afternoon. Somehow, in my mind I need to get the vegetables in earlier than the fruit because I like fruit more.
I make 4 or 5 of these at a time depending on my schedule for the week. This week I made 4 because I’m taking Friday and Saturday off for a little weekend trip.
Usually a bag of baby carrots, a single broccoli crown, and a box of crackers is plenty to prep all the boxes I need. Make sure you put your crackers in a separate snack bag because the moisture from the veggies will make them soggy.
I got everything opened, cut up, and ready to portion into these handy-dandy meal prep containers with 2 compartments. I put my ranch dressing in these equally handy-dandy 2oz containers, I previously only knew as Jello shot cups. Links to order both kinds of containers on Amazon are below, and you’ll probably have enough of the 2oz left over to make Jello shots anyway!
Fruit Bento Box
Apple slices, seedless red grapes, and cubed cheese.
I like to have my fruit bento box in the car when I’m driving to my piano students homes. This is usually in the afternoon and evening time and I can easily reach over to the passenger and eat these on the go.
It’s so much easier for me to have my apples already sliced because a whole apple can drip on my hands and get sticky. Pretty unpleasant when I’m driving.
To keep the apple slices from turning brown, I just soak them in some lemon juice and water. To make the lemon juicing easier, I like to use this manual juicer (link below).
Then I just pick and wash the grapes, weigh out an ounce of cheese and cube it up, then assemble everything in the containers!
Veggie Bento Boxes
Fruit Bento Boxes
There ya have it! It’s not hard, you can totally do this too. It just takes a little planning ahead and reassessing what doesn’t work.
Having so many fresh fruits and veggies available throughout my day has made me feel like myself again and I’m so much more energized and productive throughout my day.
I hope you make something like this for yourself and have a wonderful day!