School Lunch Box - Rice and Beans

I make this lunch for my daughter the night after we've had a chicken fajita bowl with rice and beans. Just microwave the rice, beans, chicken and place in a container with a lid that fits inside the largest compartment of your lunchbox.

From there I added in some tortilla chips, halved cherry tomatoes and sliced cucumbers for some vegetables, a clementine and blueberries, and leftover pancake from breakfast.

If you didn't make chicken, rice or beans from the night before, you can use some rotisserie chicken, some precooked rice from the grocery store (trader joes and others sell it), and just drain and rinse some canned black beans, which is what I do anyway.

*Tips for bento boxes:

- They work best when you fill up the compartments all the way, otherwise the ingredients have room to move around and get messy.

- Always have at least 1 item you know your kid will eat, then feel free to experiment a little.

- Leftover fruit, pancakes, etc from breakfast? Add it in. I find when Aila likes something in the morning she is still interested in it later in the day, and you'll waste less food.

Skip the chicken and this whole meal is vegetarian and vegan optional (depending on how you make your pancakes!). Gluten free if you use GF tortilla chips.

*Note: Aila's school is nut free, so I will only ever have no-nut or nut-free-alternative foods in her lunch. She is also allergic to raw or whole egg, so there will never be any hard boiled eggs, frittatas, mayo, store bought salad dressing like ranch, etc in her lunch, until she grows out of it!*

*Everything in these lunch boxes can be eaten cold / room temperature - they don't need to be heated up. I suggest adding an ice pack to whatever bag or carrier you put your lunchbox in to keep everything as fresh as possible.*

Makes 1 lunchbox.