Have you ever been at school at lunchtime and marveled at the amount of waste that bag lunches create? Baggies, juice boxes, boxes from Lunchables, individual chip and cookie and granola bar packages. There must be a better way. Now a company in Santa Cruz, California has created Laptop Lunch containers, four colorful, reusable individual containers, packed with a fork and spoon, in a larger, hinged container. The containers are modeled on Japanese bento boxes and can go in the microwave and the dishwasher. The containers come with The Laptop Lunch User's Guide, a food, nutrition, and recipe book with lots of useful lunch-packing ideas. Laptop Lunches also offers an insulated carrying case and reusable water bottle.
        We "test drove" Laptop Lunches this spring. The containers really appealed to all the kids who tried them, only the littlest ones (3 and 4 years old) at preschool had trouble opening the containers.
        We had mixed results with the recipes in the user's guide, but everyone loved this idea for cucumber chains:

Cucumber Chains

(From The Laptop Lunch User's Guide)

• Cut a cucumber into 2-inch long cylinders.
• Remove the core with a paring knife.
• Slice it into 1/4-inch rings.
• Make a slit in every other ring.
• Link the rings together to form a chain.

        Laptop Lunches are available in some grocery stores in California, $19.99 for the 5-container set, utensils , and user's guide, $14.99 for the carrying case and water bottle, or $33.99 for everything. Sets for families with several children are available. To order, call 1-831-457-0301 or visit www.laptoplunches.com.