Travel essentials: Food containers, lunch bags and more – Nationwide

If getting everyone dressed up and out of the house feels like a full-contact sport, this is a simple solution. Five labeled shelves give each day of the school week its own place, so you can make outfit decisions before Monday morning rolls around. Clothes, socks, accessories – everything is ready to grab and go. When I was little, I was the fashion forward one in my family. My sister was very happy with one outfit choice for me, not so much. My mother quickly recognized that I needed options. Apparently I was channeling my inner OOTD long before OOTDs existed. So I say let the kids get involved and choose their outfits on Sunday. The shelves are wide enough for several choices, but once Monday morning rolls around, the rule is simple: pick from the shelves. No need to go back to the cupboard and start all over again. A little independence for them. Less morning chaos for you

Backpacks have a way of landing everywhere: the kitchen floor, the front room, the bottom of the stairs. What I love about these oversized hooks is that there is nothing to attach. No drilling holes or adding hooks to the wall; they just hang right in the closet. And what’s even better, the backpacks are hidden, but you still know exactly where they are. Give each person their own hook and suddenly there’s room for school bags, work bags, and even gym bags. Go home, empty the lunch, take care of the forms and hang up the bag. The next morning? Take it and go. Out of sight, but never out of mind.

At some point, leaving the house starts to require a small collection of bags. Your wallet, your laptop bag, your lunch bag, and somehow your lunch bag is never where you think you left it. By the time you find everything, you’ll already feel like you’ve done a full day’s work. This bag is really cool because it combines two jobs into one. Up top, this looks like a great everyday work bag with room for your laptop and all the items you need for the day. But underneath there is a completely separate insulated zippered compartment for your lunch. So your lunch is packed, your laptop is packed, and you only have one bag to remember. Sometimes the best organizational findings are not about adding another system, but rather about having fewer things to track.

I’m a big believer in breakfast, I just don’t always believe it should be done sitting at the kitchen table. One morning you eat at your desk, in between deliveries or five minutes after you were supposed to leave the house. This little container is a smart solution. Put yogurt, milk, or overnight oats in the bottom and spread granola, cereal, or fruit on top, so nothing gets soggy before you’re ready to eat it. There’s even a spoon built into it. Prepare it the night before, grab one from the fridge and go. Breakfast is served, wherever you land.

OK, this one is really cool. Packing a lunch is easy, finding a place to heat it up is another story. Whether you’re at work, on the road, at the arena, or spend half your life driving from place to place, a microwave isn’t always part of your plans. This portable lunch bag actually heats the food for you. Plug it into a regular outlet at work or use a car adapter when you’re on the go. Pack leftovers, pasta, soup, anything you’d rather eat warm rather than straight out of the container. And I love that it opens up lunch beyond the sad desk sandwich or salad. A great hot lunch, wherever the day takes you. Now, it can be done easily.