How To: The Foil Lids on Your Snack Pack Foods = Handy Makeshift Spoons

You've packed your own lunch and can't wait to get to the little vacuum-sealed cup of dessert you brought along. You keep rummaging in the bottom of the bag, searching for the spoon you're certain you packed…except you didn't. Uh-oh.

If you're in a break room that keeps plastic utensils around, you're okay. But what if you're lunching outside, or there aren't any spoons lying around? Then what? Do you dig at your dessert with your fingers or try and eat it straight from the cup?

Both of these are possible, but they're unsatisfying and messy, to say the least. Well, I'm here to tell you there's another way. That tinfoil lid on your applesauce, yogurt, jello, and pudding snack pack containers is actually a spoon, you just never knew it.

Any snack pack that comes with a aluminum foil lid has its own spoon. Just to be sure, we tried it with a few types of dessert, including applesauce, fruit gelatin, and Greek yogurt.

All three formed pretty good makeshift spoons.

However, it's good to note that not all foil lids nor desserts are created equal. The square tinfoil lid on the fruit gelatin dessert was appreciably lighter and thinner than the other two. We also noted that the Greek yogurt was denser and heavier than the other desserts. In both cases, that necessitated folding the edges of the lid over to make a heavier bowl for your spoon, like so:

This means your makeshift utensil will actually last for the entire time you need it, and not bend or break at the neck.

Now that you know this hack, you may decide to skip bringing your own spoon entirely the next time you pack lunch. After all, it saves waste or the hassle of washing another utensil.

All photos via Karen Ahn