The biggest thing to look out for is NO BPA. This discovery led to a mad rampage of me throwing out all my zip-lock containers and zip-lock bags, and a Saturday at The Container Store wondering how I just spent $200 on lunch containers. HOWEVER, this one time purchase was totally worth it to me since food stuff is kind of like my thing and I bring them to work every day. Having pretty, prepped containers of food prevents me from buying out and dilutes the temptation of vending machine snacks when I know that the food I made will go bad if I don’t eat it. If you total all of your on the fly convenient food purchases over the course of a few months I’m sure it’s less than the cost of pretty containers. End justified means.

I have 5 of each of the following:

The large are for salad, the small are for snacks, and the rectangular (below) perfectly fit my hummus and carrots. Life hack: sign up for The Container Store emails or buy something small there. They always print 15% off on the bottom of receipts – a fact I wish I knew prior to making my purchases.

 I store breakfast and dinner in mason jars.  1L jars hold prepped dinner salads, 1 pint jars hold breakfast, 2L jars hold coffee and full containers of cashew milk.The glass preserves the flavor of the food and since they’re airtight they generally keep things for a couple days longer than conventional storage.I’ve found them at grocery stores, Target, and Ace Hardware. You can also buy lids with holes for straws and use these on the go - make sure to specify regular or wide mouth. All the options I've listed are wide mouth.

Lastly, i have 2 sets of Joseph and Joseph containers. I love that they're nested for easy storage when not using. They're great for storing any random ingredients I prep in advance, and I always transfer any herbs like basil and mint into them to prolong their shelf life.