New Koko Lunch Totes Really Look Like Fine Purses.

Imagine that.  Before I even got a chance to tell everyone about our hot new Koko Christy lunch bags, we sold out.  It seems everyone was searching for a fashionable and functional approach to healthier food choices by packing a lunch tote everyday. Koko's new styles were the answer for many of our customers. So we got busy and added more new Koko designs of insulated lunch totes. 

Cosmoda Lunch Bags promotes healthier lunch ideas with its Christy Lunch Bags and now with newer Koko designs. Their motto Eat Well, Be Green, Take Lunch tells the story to the environmentally conscious.

Taking a healthy lunch is a must for people on special diets, such as diabetics and the new wave of obese adults and children.  For those within a healthier range of weight and health, it never hurts to take special care to eat well,

On our website, you can find the newest models including Koko Christy Black, Brown and Geranium.  The newest arrivals are Koko Kate Lunch Tote and Koko Megan Preppy Plaid Lunch Tote.

These lunch bags all come with a Free Freezer Pack and promote the same healthy way to eat lunch as our original Cool Tote (no brown bags, please) and our newer lines of Built, Built NY, Laptop, Bento Boxes and Picnic at Ascot.

All of our Lunch bags are fully insulated and feature lead free materials and insulation.  All are easy to clean with a quick spray and wipe clean at the sink.

Insulated Lunch Tote Cooler Keeps Food Safe

Still using a brown bag or plastic sack to carry your lunch to work or play? Why not try a reusable insulated nylon lunch tote and make your lunches or snacks healthier? Let’s look at the options opened up for you if you use a lunch tote cooler bag plus a freezer pack to tote lunch or snacks.

If you are using any old bag or sack, your choices are limited to dried foods, nuts, bananas or apples and oranges, energy bars, PB & J sandwich, crackers and other pre-packaged products. Cheese would be okay, but wouldn’t taste as good as it does when it’s cold. Vegetables like celery and carrots would get limp in a brown bag, while in an insulating lunch tote, it would remain crisp until lunchtime. You could also pack other healthy food like yogurt and a hardboiled egg, fresh turkey sandwich. Leftovers do double duty by saving you money and time.

Coollunchbags Store has many design choices depending on which type of insulated cooler tote fits your lifestyle. Our site carries insulated bags because we are committed to food safety. We also offer free freezer packs with most models and sell extras so you always have a spare in the freezer. Our original product, Cool Tote, was designed in the USA with careful planning to make sure the insulation and fabric is lead free and that the product works for you and you family’s lunch and snack time. Cool Tote’s fashionable insulated lunch totes are very colorful and give you enough choices to fit your family’s personalities. Another plus is the fact that Cool Totes lunch bags fold flat for easy storage.

Our website offers many choices in lunch bags and boxes by other designers. If you like to serve leftovers or a wide variety of foods in each lunch, you should consider the Laptop Lunch System which comes with plastic containers. These insulated zippered lunch totes look like the old-fashioned lunch box.

For the fashion conscious lady, Built and Built NY offer an abrasion-resistant neoprene gourmet getaway insulating lunch tote. This waterproof sack comes in sleek black or many designer multi-color bags that actually look like a purse. Built NY’s lunch bags have the obvious advantage of being waterproof, flexible and a great insulator. These zippered insulated totes also fold flat.

For adult men, there’s a perfect stainless steel Bento Box which looks like the old metal lunch pail, and it is masculine. Even liquids and soups can go to work with you. Two versions, one with two compartments and one with three can hold hot or cold foods.

Lunch Bags for Women

Are you a woman on the go? Are you trying to save money by bagging your lunches? It doesn’t have to hinder your lifestyle. You, as a woman in the know, have options to making that lunch experience a good one, not just the pb&j lunch experience.

Cool Tote has been making insulated designer lunch bags for women, men and children for 25 years. Cool Tote’s light weight and flexibility make it easier to carry and store. High performance insulation and a free freezer pack with each lunch sack guarantees freshness. Our reusable lunch totes come in two sizes, one smaller size for three to four items (sandwich, juice box, fruit and/or veggies) This one is perfect for a boy or girl to carry inside a backpack. The larger tote holds plastic lunch size storage containers and works well for women on diets.

Cool Tote’s motto long has been to save a tree by recycling a cloth lunch bag and not using a brown bag. One quick wash and rinse at the kitchen sink, and your lunch bag is ready for the next day or wash it occasionally in the washing machine.. The extensive choice of fabrics (everything from cats and dogs to sunflowers) gives a buyer many options. Cool Tote’s seller reviews are very positive and include customers who have ordered for many years.


Now our website CoolLunchBags.com offers many more choices in lunch bags and boxes by other designers. Built NY’s neoprene lunch tote is a natural with its obvious advantage of being waterproof, flexible and a great insulator. Picnic at Ascot is a favorite of many busy women. These stylish lunch totes look good enough to double as a handbag. Women’s accessories have never looked so stylish as the ones we offer.

Back to School Lunch Bags for your Child

It seems hard to believe that summer vacation is just beginning, yet we are busy getting ready for the Back to School Lunch Bag rush. So many schools now start in August that it seems parents and kids don’t get much of a break. I am certain you are not ready to think about back to school shopping.

If you can afford it this year, there is nothing like a new lunch bag and back pack to get your child excited about the new school year. Unlike new clothing, you only need to buy one and most are not expensive. Probably last years model is pretty much worn out anyway.

If your child is grade school age, I highly recommend a cute and colorful design for school lunches, and let your child pick the fabric. This will let them show a little of their personality in the lunch bag choice. It has the added benefit that it is unlikely to get mixed up with other kid’s lunches since most will be different.

Coollunchbags.com has many design choices depending on what kind of lunch and or snack your child wants to eat. Our site only carries insulated bags because we are absolutely committed to food safety. Nothing like an upset stomach, or worse, to ruin a child’s school day. We also offer free freezer packs with most models and sell extras so you always have a spare in the freezer. Since most lunches sit in a cubby or locker all morning, it is best to also put a freezer pack in your lunch box every day.

If their favorite food is a sandwich and a drink, you will like the Cool Tote Lunch Sacks since they fold up after use and are very colorful. If you like to serve leftovers, or several different foods, you might consider the Laptop Lunch System which comes with plastic containers. Of course, if your child is a fan of Hello Kitty, Thomas the Tank, Hanna Montana, or many other cartoon characters, you know what your kid will choose. These bags have plenty of room, will hold containers, and come with a water bottle.

One last thing to consider. Make sure your lunch bag or lunch box is lead free and water bottles are BPA free. There have been warnings on this issue for several years now, but there are still some on the market that haven’t made the change. If the lining of a lunch bag is PVC, you probably should beware of that item. Of course, all our lunch bags meet the highest safety standards and have been lead free since we started selling lunch bags on this site over 5 years ago.

Pack Lunch in an Adult Lunch Bag. Save Money. Stay Healthy

 

If you work in an office or factory, it is very tempting to go out to lunch everyday with your friends. While this is fun, and may have been the expected norm, it also isn’t good for either your body or your pocketbook. Packing your lunch in a lunch bag may seem a bit old fashioned, but if you get into the habit, you will see some awesome benefits.

Keep your body Healthy

Are you one of those folks on a constant diet? Could it be that you eat fast food or restaurant food every day at lunch? All restaurants add lots of salt and fat to their food because they want it to taste great so you will come back, and guess what? You do. If you pack your own lunch each day, I am certain you will eat just as well and save 3-400 calories or more per day. This alone can make the difference and let you get off the dieting merry-go-round.

If you use an insulated lunch bag and load it with a hardboiled egg, fruit, yogurt, and a healthy drink, or a myriad of other healthy choices, you will start to treat your body right. You may also have some other diet requirements such as low sodium, sugar free, or gluten free foods. You can never be sure what you are getting in a restaurant, and even small amounts of foods you are allergic to will affect your health.

Save Time and Money

In these tough economic times, we maybe should put this consideration first. Lunch will cost at least $5 at a fast food joint, and more like $15+ at a standard restaurant. You are looking at a minimum $100-$300 per month which is a big chunk out of the average budget. If you use lunch bags and some plastic containers, your lunch can be almost free since you can use leftovers and food from home.

Another big saving is your time. If you eat in at your workplace, you probably with have an extra 30 minutes each day to use in a productive way. Maybe you are taking a class and this can be extra study time, or catch up on your favorite novel. You also might use this time to get some work tasks taken care of that are hard to do when everyone is around.

What type of Lunch Bag Should you buy?

There are many different choices from a cheap nylon lunch box available in most supermarkets to very attractive shoulder bags available primarily in web stores. One thing for sure is it must be insulated. Insulated lunch bags will give you much more flexibility in your choice of foods. This is particularly true if your workplace has no refrigerators. If you don’t keep perishable food cold, it can quickly start to grow bacteria and spoil.

If you like hot foods such as soups, or rice with veggies and meat, you might consider a thermos style bento box. If you prefer a diet of sandwiches and a drink, go for an insulated fabric lunch bag. If you plan to pack leftovers or maybe a salad in plastic containers, make sure your bag is large enough to accommodate them.

Packing your lunch is a little extra work, but start to think about what you can buy with that extra money, and how much better you will look and feel if you get into the healthy lunch habit.

Designer Insulated Lunch Bags for Men and Women

Attentiion Adult Lunch Baggers: Do you feel like a kid carrying your PB&J sandwich in your purse or briefcase? There is a much easier solution, and it helps keep you organized. You don't need to pull out a soggy paper sack buried with your personal items or papers. CoolLunchBags.com sells designer lunch bags that actually look like a purse or for men, a lunch pail.

There are lots of reasons for carrying a lunch sack to work, among them the fight against diseases like diabetes or food allergies. I, personally, have an allergy to gluten, so sandwiches don't work unless I use gluten-free crackers or bread. But there are plenty of healthy options to add to a lunch bag, starting with fruit, vegetables and nuts.

Women can look sophisticated with any one of several choices of women's insulated lunch bags found on CoolLunchBags.com. Currently, one of the favorites is an abrasion-resistant neoprene insulated and waterproof lunch sack by BuiltNY in black, stripe or polka dot. Sleek and simple, this sling style designer lunch sack looks like a purse.

Another version of the purse style are the lunch sacks (also insulated with a waterproof lining) by Picnic at Ascot. These come in the popular Santa Barbara stripe canvas, Santa Cruz summer stripe and Hamilton Canvas and Tweed.

And for adult men, there's a perfect stainless steel Bento Box which looks a bit like the old metal lunch pail, masculine. This holds soups or other food items in two or three compartment stacking plastic containers. Also, the Stainless Steel thermos is an option for men or women to carry liquids.

We can't forget the always popular original Cool Tote Lunch Sacks established in 1985 and still going strong in solid colors and printed patterns for men, women and children. These are still the best sellers on our web site.

Of course, all of these mentioned lunch sacks are BPH and lead free.

My Child always wants Peanut Butter

There is no doubt the PB&J sandwiches are a staple of children's lunches and have been the norm for many years. I had one for lunch myself today, although I skipped the jelly. I don't need extra sugar. Should you worry if that is all your child wants to eat? Not at all, peanut butter is actually very healthy. Diets of peanut butter eaters are high in vitamins A and E, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and lots of fiber. Peanut butter is 14% carbohydrates, 15% protein, and 71% fats, but fats are monounsaturated fats which are linked to lower cholesterol so, unless your child has a weight problem, its a great lunch.

I recommend all natural peanut butter since there are no added transfats and stablizers which are not as healthy. Spread on some on healthy whole wheat bread, and serve with a glass of milk and your child is ready for the afternoon. There is a lot you can do to provide variety, even if your child wants peanut butter every day. One of my favorites is PB&Bananas. Try using a bagel or pita bread and adding lettuce and a little crisp bacon. Peanut butter on celery or crackers makes a great snack.

Of course, variety is the spice of life so you should encourage your child to try other foods for lunch, and eventually they will come around and want a lot of lunch foods. Peanut butter can still make a great lunch later on for special occasions.

Don't Get Far From Your Healthy Snacks

I am going back to basics. My friend Sue needs my help. She is joining WeightWatchers for the second time. When she joined with me two years ago, she quit before she reached her goal weight. So I decided to write down all the rules that helped me the first time when I lost 20 pounds. I gave these suggestions to Sue. I also decided it wouldn't hurt me to try to lose that nagging five pounds that keeps creeping back onto my hips and thighs.

This time to get started, I didn't need to go through my cupboards and get rid of fattening and junk foods. I rarely stray from buying only healthy foods at the store. That is Rule Number One.

However, I have been known to eat a French Fry or two at the restaurant when we go out. I could blame it on my husband, because I don't order the french fries. He has no weight problem, so he orders french fries. Somehow, it doesn't seem to count if I filch from his plate. So Rule Number Two for me is to carry two lunch sacks. One filled with healthy food for lunch, another for snack food. This I do every day and try to avoid restaurant and fast food. If I do get caught in the trap and end up in a restaurant, I will have a healthy snack before I get there. I have a second Lunch Sack packed with healthy snacks to help curb the hunger so I can avoid the French Fries.

I find that packing one Lunch Sack with non-perishable snacks like apples and nuts help me stay organized because I don't have to do it every day. Pack it once or twice a week and snacks are ready to go. The first Lunch Sack is packed daily and gets the lunch items which are often perishable.

I also carry a washable stainless steel water bottle with filtered water from my kitchen. This is so much better than drinking from a plastic bottle. Rule Number Three: drink lots of water. I sometimes count my cup of green tea as water.

Rule Number Four: write it down. I keep track of the food and the number of calories I eat. On WeightWatchers I track the point value as calculated by a team of experts. Sometimes I'm surprised by the count total and how early in the day I can go over my limit. This limit is also calculated by WeightWatchers depending on height and weight.

Rule Number Five for me is to eat smaller portions of everything except vegetables. This is a suggestion that can't hurt anyone, especially overweight people. By eating lots of vegetables, I'm sure to get plenty of essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. For me, I try to eat two or three portions of fruit each day and vary it by color and type. Fruit does have more sugar than most vegetables, so I load up on the vegetables. I always eat some fruit each day for the health benefits.


Rule Number Six is for me is to get 30 minutes of some kind of exercise each day. There are many more lessons and suggestions made by WeightWatchers, but I feel these are the ones that worked for me the first time.

Good Luck, Sue.

Lunch Bags Saved My Waistline

Imagine my amazement two years ago when a friend asked me to join WeightWatchers with her. Who me? I wasn't THAT overweight. Turns out I was putting on five pounds a year and creeping up towards 30 pounds overweight. Now that doesn't sound like a lot to some people, but figure out what it would be if I kept adding five pounds every year. Yikes, my mother had almost reached 200 pounds, and she is my size. Lucky for her, she had joined WeightWatchers years ago, and has maintained a healthy weight. Up to age 40, I had no weight problem. But figure in a lower level of activity (no kids to chase, less gym activity). I had a problem.


Now you may wonder what my mother and my overweight problem have to do with Lunch Sacks? Everything. I carry healthy lunches and my snacks are geared to ward off the hunger that comes from filling up with "Bad" snacks, causing an energy crash, repeated by more over eating.

The first thing I had to change was my grocery list. No more large buckets of cashews (which I bought as healthy snacks for family and guests, but finished off what was leftover by myself). That and the potato chips and dip were the first things to go. The lucky thing for me was I like almost all vegetables, cooked or raw. So I headed for the vegetable aisle first stop at the store. . Now, when I start dinner or pack a lunch, I start with vegetables. When I do eat a meal, I eat the healthiest food first and get a full feeling before I hit the heavy stuff. That, plus a couple helpings of fruit a day changed my weight problem plus gave me the added bonus of a much improved cholesterol and general health checkup.


My favorite "good snacks" are nuts (less then 10 per day), fruit (usually an apple or half an apple), sometimes a small banana or blueberries. I try to vary the fruits to get the most out of the "good" things they do for my body. I usually carry a few carrots and celery because they keep so well in a Lunch Sack. My "bad snacks" that I try to avoid are chips. I don't eat bread or most crackers because I also have a gluten problem. (More about this in another blog.)

Are your Kids Bored with their Bag Lunch?

Does your child eat his lunch everyday, or are they trading it or discarding it? How many days in a row do you fix the same thing just because it is easy, or you forgot to go the the store? How can you give your child a healthy lunch with lots of variety without a lot of extra work and stress?

• A little planning will go a long way towards making lunch time more enjoyable for your child. Sit down with your child and find out what is happening to his lunch. Have a monthly discussion about likes and dislikes. What new things might we try. It is also a great idea to take them shopping and point out some new alternatives.

• What is Healthy for your child? Does your child have any allergies or special dietary needs? If so, this will make your job more difficult, but much more critical. They may trade off something they don't like for a food they are allergic too and not realize what they are getting. You will also need to work with your child to help them find a balanced diet that they like. Introduce new foods at meals served at home so you can see their reactions before you send them off to school with something new.

• Plan for variety. After you have worked through the items you will serve, plan a menu for the next week that is different for each day. Make sure to include a fun food each day. Your child will look forward to lunch if you include either cookies, chips, granola bars,chocolate milk, or other favorites on the menu. If you also plan your weekly dinners at the same time, you can plan to use some leftovers in the lunch menu. Turkey sandwiches the next day are always the rage.

• Go Shopping. Nothing sucks up your time like a trip to the store every night on the way home from work. After you have your menus planned, make a list and do your shopping. In addition to the menus, you should include extras of things like fruit, granola bars, trail mix, nuts, dried fruit, cookies, and other favorite snacks so you also have after school snacks when you need them.

• Pack the night before. If there is only one suggestion you follow, this one will reduce your stress level immeasurably, and it is guaranteed to give your child a healthier lunch. There is never enough time in the morning so we are prone to forget things. Also, if the lunch stays cold in the refrigerator all night, then goes into a insulated lunch bag with a freezer pack, there is little chance of it spoiling.

Maybe we have added to your immediate workload by taking these suggestions, but I am willing to bet that lunches will be better and your life will be less stressful in the long run. Best of all, your child will have fun at lunch opening a surprise food every day.

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Lunch Bags in the 21st Century

We have been selling lunch bags for 20 years and decided it would be helpful to share some of our ideas and suggestions. When I was growing up, there was one lunch box. It was black, made out of tin, round on the top and square on the bottom. The top held a thermos and the bottom several sandwiches and maybe an apple. That was the Henry Ford approach and worked well in the fifties.

Today there are thousands of different options. What happened? As with most products in this century, people want lots of choices so they can carry a lunch bag that reflects their own style. Cool Tote Lunch Bags offer over 25 different fabrics. There are lunch bags for Hello Kitty, Spiderman, and many other comic book characters. We even have lunch bags that look like a purse in many fashion colors.

More importantly, medical research has discovered a myriad of food allergies in the past 20 years so many of us need special lunches. Gluten Free, Peanut Free, Low Sodium, Sugar Free, and many other types of lunches are needed.

In addition, this generation is gaining weight at a rapid pace, so a healthy lunch is essential to maintaining your waistline. There is WeightWatchers, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, and, of course, the latest fad diet that needs special food to be carried to school and work.