Have u looked at reuseit.com ? They have so many lunch bags maybe u can find one that would work

Or this

For a few years when DH was a high school Alegebra II teacher, I used to pack homemade yummy lunches for him. All the other teachers were eyeing his lunches everyday!

I found that the cavernous lunchbag was actually the best choice. The key was the containers that you put in said cavernous bag.

Let's say you have red bean and rice, soup, chili, or stew; you need to use the Thermos double-insulated food conatiner. If you want a nice fresh salad with dressing, you need a zip lock container and a blue-ice cold pack. The heat from the hot food won't get to the salad.

I also have been packing kid-lunches for 20 years. I don't send pbj. I do yummy hot or cold lunches and the key all these years has been the containers within the bag. The food containers will keep everything the way you want it.

So just think about the things that you would like to bring in your lunch. The issue might be the containers within the cavernous bag.

I bring lunch every day and I have an expandable bag I found at Costco USA. It is a rectangle shape and has no space for a drink container, but I carry my water bottle around in my hand with me.

I will second what Strayer said. I think the key is the containers. If I'm having a lunch I'll heat up I use a glass rectangular dish with a plastic locking lid. For the rest of my stuff, salad, sandwich, fruit, veg etc, I use Rubbermaid LunchBlox. And I bring a tupperware cup with a lid for my glass of milk. I can cram an unbelievable amount of stuff in that little bag. I work 12 hour shifts and have a small snack in the morning, lunch and sometimes a small snack in the evening if I have time. Often I have a home-made smoothie/protein shake for my evening snack.

My ugly pink plaid lunch box (because no one will steal it, it's so ugly!): http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Ultra-Performance-Expandable-Cooler/dp/B00DYAEEI2

Here is a link that might be useful: LunchBlox

Following this one with great interest! I searched high and low for exact the same thing a couple of years ago. I did try the ebags one, but it was just too structured, too big, and still did not fit my salads and big water bottles right.

I ended up grabbing a single compartment bag one day in World Market, and it's actually been great. Not perfect, since its just the one compartment, but the drawstring top makes it very flexible for fitting tall waters, or setting non-cold items on top.

If you have a WM nearby, give it a try. I think it called the Jane Bag, and it seems to always be there but in different fabrics. It was only around $10, so worth a try!

I agree about the right kind of containers. I used to do that all the time with thermos jars. Nowadays there are all kinds of wonderful insulated tiffin jars and vacuum sealed bento stackers, as well as bento boxes with freezer cores.

Remember you can use an empty container to block out space in an open tote if things are sliding around.

Regarding the things you don't want to get cold, you can also put a small insulated bag inside a tote! Keep all the crackers and nuts at toasty room temp. :)

I thought I knew a divided tote to recommend, but it won't fit your containers. Something else you can do to keep things from flopping around in a standard insulated tote is sew in some velcro straps. If you don't feel confident doing it, you can take your Nalgene and anything else you want to strap in, and some velcro, to a shoemaker. You can put a tab to hold the cracker bag too. :)

If you click on the link provided above by MGM, there is a Rubbermaid lunch bag. I skimmed through the comments and questions and learned that the side pouch is designed for a bottle up to 2.5" in diameter, but has been stretched to hold 3" (not necessarily recommended.) You should check the size of your nalgene bottles and see if it will fit. Even if you don't get the containers, the bags look pretty nice.

I think it would be not hard to create dividers for any single compartment bag that you like. Material like an inexpensive flexible cutting board, or some kind of nylon, and hot glue, staples, or Velcro to secure. That way you could have your compartments exactly as you need them.

Love, love, love our eBag Crew Cooler IIs. Hubby and I each have one.

Here is a link that might be useful: See them here

Paper bags. Heat what you want, chill what you want.

For DGS, DD2 has one of the $7.99 LunchBlots. Also bought him 3 of the stainless steel LunchBots variations. She recently bought him a Bento laptop box. All of these are easy to clean. The Bento boxes come with or without case.

For DGD, DS bought her a PlanetBox. Also stainless steel with a case. Pockets for cold packs.

I think I found one at Amazon!

It looks like it's big enough for your bottle to stand upright, and not fall over completely if the bag is otherwise empty. The main compartment and top area are insulated, plus there's the big front pocket for the nuts, etc. 14'' H x 9'' W x 9'' D are the listed dimensions, but that's probably for the packaging.

Do you have a Marshall's or TJ Maxx? They seem to have a lot of nice lunch bags at the stores here.

Lots of good ideas for me to agonize over. Thanks.

I happened to be at a center with a World Market today, so I checked out their selection. I didn't see one tagged as 'Jane', but I picked one up that seemed like it could work (I think the nalgene will fit and the pocket on the opposite side could hold things outside a cold zone). When they rang it up...it said Blue Jane. :) I'll give it a go tomorrow.

I also got some Lunch Blox at Costco. It was a set with two salad and one sandwich, I think. Which is pretty good for what I take. I wasn't sure I was going to keep them, but they were a pretty good deal for what you get.

Thanks.

Yay, I'm glad you found one! The Jane wasn't really what I had wanted, but I figured it would hold me over until I found
The One. I've been using it for a couple of years now and have been very happy with it. I guess it is The One, after all :)

My insulated lunch bag lives inside a canvas tote bag (think Lands End/LL Bean). Cold stuff goes in the insulated part.
Outside of that, there is room in the tote for reading material, any room temperature food items, extra napkins, etc.