Ugh…school lunches! I don’t know about you, but packing school lunches is not one of my favourite “Mum-jobs”. My kids have such different likes/dislikes, it takes a lot of early-morning brain energy to remember what they will and won’t eat! Plus, I’m usually tired when I’m packing school lunches and stare blankly at the fridge/pantry looking for inspiration!!
Just before school went back this term I received two VERY COOL YumBoxes from YumBox Australia in the mail for a blog review. They couldn’t have arrived at a better time – at the start of a new school term I was ready to put some effort into the lunches again!
YumBox is the bento of all bento boxes. It has a unique one-lid closure that is leak-proof and ensures that all of the food in each compartment stays separate. I get so sick of chasing after containers and lids in the kids lunchboxes, and don’t have to worry about that anymore! YumBox’s illustrated food tray is divided into five 1/2 cup portions of the key food groups: fruit, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy – reminding you to pack a variety of different foods. As well as a small treat or dip well too. I don’t always stick to the five suggested food groups, but it is handy to have a quick reminder anyway.
My kids have always loved to eat picnic-style – in fact, our favourite weekend dinner is a “picnic” with cut-up bits and pieces of anything I can find! I can cut up a salad and they will hardly touch it, but if I cut the vegetables up like a picnic, with everything separate they will eat so much more! I knew that YumBox would be a hit with them for this very reason. They get so sick of sandwiches and the same things for lunch every day, I find that when I’m using the YumBoxes it is easy to fill it with little bits and pieces that I usually wouldn’t bother with because I would end up with too many plastic containers or bags. Here are photos of some of the kids YumBox lunches…some days their lunch might include a sandwich or bread roll or something else on the side – the cool thing about YumBoxes is that they fit snugly into most lunch bags so if I needed to include a fork or spoon or something else to eat, I could sit it on top of the box and zip up the bag keeping everything in the one place.
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| {pasta, apples, rice crackers, mini muffin, pretzels, mini marshmallows} |
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| {greek yoghurt, grapes, dried apricots, baby carrot, shapes, chocolate biscuit, mini marshmallows} |
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| {cheese, grapes, cabana, crackers, biscuit, marshmallow} |
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| {cheese stick, grapes, celery, cereal, biscuit, marshmallow} |
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| {cheese, grapes & kiwi, cherry tomatoes, cereal, mini marshmallows} |
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| {lamington, grapes & kiwi, vegemite sandwich rolls, cereal, mini marshmallows} |
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| {cheese, cherry tomatoes, salami, crackers, jelly} |
For my children, the best way to keep school lunches exciting is not to do the same thing every day, it is so much easier to include different foods when there are compartments to fill. Using a YumBox really eliminates the temptation to include too many pre-packaged lunch treats and it’s such a good feeling to get rid of plastic bags and countless little containers to wash up each night – that’s if they even make it home!
If school lunches are a drag, then I highly recommend investing in a YumBox for your children (or yourself!) they are so easy to pack and clean and have really made my mornings so much easier.
YumBoxes can be purchased from YumBox Australia.
You can read more about YumBox here.
And visit YumBox Australia’s Facebook page for great inspirational photos of kid’s lunches!
