BentoBoxes -- Keep It Separated!

If you've been looking for a lunch box for your child, have you checked out Laptop Lunches Bento Boxes yet? The bento boxes are a fantastic way to pack healthy, well-portioned lunches for you or your children. They are stylish, eco-friendly lunch boxes that are reusable, recyclable, long lasting, and dishwasher safe. Better yet, they contain NO phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), PVC, or lead. They are great for traveling, going to work, or going to school.

Laptop Lunches sent me one of their awesome Bento boxes to try out:




I was thrilled to find out that they were (top rack) dishwasher safe, as this would make it a lot easier to clean on those days where Bobble just won't stay in one place long enough for me to collect my thoughts before he makes another mess!

As you will be able to see from the pictures that will follow, Bobble wanted to make certain that he helped with showing off the Bento Box. I was thrilled that he was so excited about it, because it was for him to take to daycare, after all!

The box is easy to open, but not so easy that Bobble could do it himself. I find this a HUGE plus, personally, as he is in a "throw everything that you can" phase when it comes to food.

Of course, once it's open, he has no issues what-so-ever!

It was very difficult for me to get a shot without Bobble running in the way or grabbing items and moving them around, so this was the best I could do once it was open:

The compartments are separated and easily moved around inside the box to be however you like it set up best. You can see there is a compartment on the right hand side of the box for eating utensils, and three of the five containers have lids.

The lids have different pictures on them to show what's inside (assuming you want to follow the suggestion on the lids!) like fruits and veggies. The tiny container doesn't have a picture, but it's obviously for something like dressing, sauce, etc.

I love how well these containers seal, because nothing can spill from them, but they aren't difficult to open up. I also love the pictures on the lids because it makes it a bit exciting for Bobble. While this can hold much more food than the can eat in a day at childcare, this will be perfect for him when he gets a bit older!

Okay, I admit it. I've totally stolen this for myself until that point in time.... but at that rate I might as well just get him a new one! That doesn't mean he doesn't get to enjoy this while we are out and about, though! I can put some broccoli in one container, some ranch dressing (his favourite!) in the tiny container, and a few pieces of fruit (like sliced grapes) to enjoy while we're out running errands for an extended period of time.

While I don't have a carrier for the BentoBox, you can find them on the Laptop Lunches store page under Carriers, Totes & Sleeves.

The BentoBox is also the perfect companion to MOMables lunches (my review seen here), and are featured in many of the recipes they send out. (Such as the Philly steak sandwich that can be seen on their Sample Menu page.)

Laptop Lunches has offered to give one of my readers a $25.00 gift certificate to their store! You can enter below for your chance to win! If you don't win, don't be discouraged! These containers are durable and will definitely save you money by ensuring you don't need to keep purchasing a new lunch box (or containers for inside it!) year after year. Check out their store to see all the great items you can purchase, including their Bento Buddies (extra containers, all with lids!).


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Disclosure: I receive sample(s) for the purpose of testing and review. These opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipment of the prize(s).

Healthier Lunches In a Snap!

Getting our children to eat healthy is not as easy as it sounds. Fastfood chains advertise everywhere imaginable, school lunches are not that good for them (nor are they usually good tasting, either), and pre-packaged lunches are stuffed full of preservatives (among other things). Many places also are implementing a "no peanutbutter" policy due to the high number of allergies people have. Even then, pb&j gets old after a while, doesn't it?

There is a solution! MOMables!

Wait, you haven't heard of MOMables yet? Let's take a peek at a few things from their About MOMables page to get a bit more insight!

What is MOMables™?
MOMables shows busy parents how to make fresh school lunches in 10 minutes or less.

MOMables = ˈmɑm·á·[bles]. Mom made, simple and nutritious. We’ve worked with dozens of moms, a chef and a nutritionist to create healthy lunches kids will actually eat.

Every parent I know, wants to pack a wholesome school lunch for their kids, but packing them daily, and oftentimes year-round, can be time consuming and boring. As a mom of 3 kids myself, I know this process very well.  I personally pack over 540 lunches in one school calendar year. Without a plan, I run out of ideas fast.

Yes, you read that correctly... fresh lunches in TEN minutes or less! What could be better than a homemade lunch that is healthy, fresh, the kids will eat, and will save you on average of $1-2 per day, per child. Oh, also the impact on the environment! You're eliminating all that garbage generated by pre-packaged lunches, too. MOMables fit great inside many types of lunchboxes such as the EcoLunches Boxes (see one of my reviews here for their sandwich box and ecodipper), the Laptop Lunches Bento Box, and more. These will eliminate your need for ANY disposable products in your little one's lunch, and you can find them in the MOMables store!

So how does this MOMables meal plan solution work? Each week a new file is available for you, full of different meal solutions for that week. You have enough 'menus' for the school week. There are separate sections for "cook ahead items", some kitchen notes, the recipe/directions for each menu item (along with awesome pictures of the meals ready to go), and even a shopping list to make it easy on you. One of my favorite things was the dinner recipes that would get sent out (I saw those in the summer) that double for an easy leftovers lunch! There are also little snack/dessert ideas to accompany the lunch menu, though they (thankfully) aren't always something really sweet. (I'm not a huge fan of high-sugar items).

Let's take a look at an example of one of the recipes! (Nothing like a sneak-peek, eh?)

BBQ Chicken Salad Sandwiches Lunch!



So the above is one of the lunch recipes for BBQ Chicken Salad Sandwiches. There are also MOM tips that are really helpful/handy with these recipes (as you can see below the directions).

And below, you can see a fully assembled lunch, ready to go!


Don't forget the shopping list!!!




What could be any easier? Well, aside from them coming to your house and making it, too! Healthy, fast lunches for your children, tips to help accommodate pickier eaters, and a shopping list ready to go.

You have the opportunity to win an awesome THREE-MONTH subscription to MOMables here on my blog! If you are wondering if it's really worth it, just remember that the subscription fee evens out to be about 25 cents per day. That's not very much! Still wondering if this is really something you could us? Why not check out the sample menu available on their page? You can also get access to one of their weekly menus for free by signing up HERE. If you are questioning a subscription


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Disclosure: I receive sample(s) of the product for the purpose of testing and review. These opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipment of the prize(s).

Earth's Best Organic Greek Yogurt Smoothies

Have you heard that Earth’s Best has a new product out? Meet Earth’s Best Organic Greek Yogurt Smoothies! 

An Earth’s Best  2ndfood, these are made for children six months and older and are a blend of real organic fruit, delicious greek yogurt, and whey. They come in three awesome flavours of Apple, Banana, and Cherry. They are packaged in the squeeze pouches that many of their other snacks and foods are, so they are very convenient to just grab-and-go! Best of all, they don’t have to be refrigerated before opening like other yogurts do. This means you can slip one of these into your child's lunch box and not worry about it going bad before they get to eat!

Speaking of other yogurts, similar regular yogurt smoothies will have  2 grams of protein, but these smoothies, being made with Greek Yogurt, have 3 grams of protein! They also are a fantastic source of calcium, and they provide your little one with at least 20% of the daily recommended value of Vitamins C and D per serving! This helps build strong teeth and bones, and also helps support a healthy immune system.

If you haven’t tried greek yogurt yet, you definitely should. We always use greek yogurt in my house – it’s better for you for multiple reasons! Greek yogurt has more nutrients than regular yogurt, containing nearly double the protein and having around half the sodium of regular yogurts. Greek yogurt is also thicker and creamier than regular yogurt, so it helps fill you up without eating too much. 

Your whole family can use greek yogurts (not just in squeeze pouches), as they are great for cooking and baking, too! Regular [plain] flavoured greek yogurts can be used in lieu of sour cream in baking or just on potatoes/tacos/anything you’d use sour cream on! Bobble is a huge fan of greek yogurts, so that’s why I was even more thrilled to receive these Earth’s Best Organic Greek Yogurt Smoothies. 

All three of these flavours are a win for our little Bobble! He loves any fruit flavour, and he loves yogurt, so he loved these! Hard to go wrong with it being an Earth’s Best Organic product, too! This, of course, means that these new Earth’s Best Organic Greek Yogurt Smoothies contain no artificial flavours, colours, or preservatives, and they contain no Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

You can find these new Organic Greek Yogurt Smoothies at a grocer near you that carries Earth’s Best products, or you can use the Earth’s Best Store Locator to find a location near you! You can also order them online at the Earth’s Best Store, from Amazon.com, any other online retailers where you can buy Earth’s Best pouches!

Disclosure: The product mentioned above was provided to me by Earth’s Best for review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Earth's Best Kidz Organic Apple Sauce (review)

Ever since I was a toddler myself, I’ve loved dipping breakfast sausages in applesauce. It was something taught to me by my grandmother, and it stuck with me all throughout the years. Bobble loves applesauce too, so finding a healthier applesauce was on my to-do list for quite some time. It’s hard to find applesauce that doesn’t have high-fructose corn syrup in it as a sweetener, or that tastes good without some sort of sweetener. Once again, Earth’s Best came to the rescue! Enter Earth’s Best Kidz Organic Apple Sauce!

Made with 100% organic apples, this apple sauce is pure goodness with no artificial flavours, colours, or preservatives. The containers are a wonderful size for lunchboxes or to just take on the go, and they are great for breakfast sausage-dipping too!

Available in both cinnamon and original flavours, you can find something to suit your little one’s pallet. Bobble likes spices and flavours, so he loves cinnamon in most things, and apple sauce is no different! If your little one doesn’t like stuff like that and prefers plain items, the original flavour won’t disappoint! These little apple sauce cups are also great for those little ones that don’t really show an interest in whole fruits. With Earth’s Best Kidz Organic Applesauce, they can get the goodness of whole apples without the cleaning, cutting, and peeling!

For more healthy snacking ideas, check out “Healthy SnackingThroughout the Day” on the Earth’s Best website!

These organic apple sauce cups (in both cinnamon and original flavours), along with many other Earth’s Best products, can be purchased online from the Earth’s Best Store, from Amazon.com, numerous other online retailers, or you can use the Earth’s Best Store Locator to find a retailer near you! You can also head over to my giveaway post and try to win some!

Disclosure: The product mentioned above was sent to me by the company in exchange for a review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Earth's Best Sunny Days Snack Bars (review)

With summer nearing an end and schools starting back up, many parents are looking for snacks for their little ones. Unfortunately, many snacks available that are geared towards kids are full of artificial flavours, colourings, preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup, and all sorts of other stuff that I just wouldn’t want my child having. Luckily, Earth’s Best has you covered with their Sunny Days Snack Bars that don’t have any of that bad stuff, but have plenty of good stuff like vitamins, organic ingredients, and a wholesome cereal crust.

I’m sure many of us have tried something similar to these snack bars… a cereal crust and a fruit-filled center. These snacks, part of the Sesame Street Healthy Habits for Life snacks, are the perfect snack for a lunch box, for on the road, or just for a little treat at home! With delicious flavours like Apple and Strawberry to pick from, you can be assured that your child will get the deliciousness of real fruits in this snack without having to worry about washing the fruit off, having it spoil, or being out of season! Each box has 8 yummy, individually wrapped bars, so you have plenty for snacks throughout the week, and even one to sneak for yourself!

 Bobble is still in the stage where he likes to eat a few bites of things and wander off, or take a huge bite and throw everything else to the floor because his mouth is full (which must mean he’s done, right?). Due to this, I end up eating a lot of foods that he should be eating. While Bobble does enjoy the flavour of these snacks, he’s not a huge fan of sticky items (in terms of eating…. he’ll PLAY with sticky items like there’s no tomorrow!) right now. If we feed it to him bite by bite and he doesn’t touch it (read: squish it because he’s curious), then he loves them. Any little one that likes either of those flavours (and isn’t opposed to ‘sticky’ fillings!) will love these yummy little bars! Best of all, they are the perfect size for little ones to enjoy!

You can find Sunny Days Snack Bars, along with many other Earth’s Best products, online at the Earth’s Best Store, from Amazon.com, many other online retailers, or you can use the Earth’s Best Store Locator to find a retailer near you!

You can also enter to win some HERE!

 

Disclosure: The product mentioned above was sent to me by the company in exchange for a review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Reuseit Lunch boxes products review/giveaway

In my search for more eco-friendly lunch boxes, I happened across a variety of products available at Reusit.com and was impressed. They had so many different types of items, definitely something for everyone, and every food! I loved the many styles of products offered, and when they were kind enough to offer me a product to review, I had a lot of trouble picking one! After a lot of contemplation, I decided to test the Lunch Pot byBlack + Blum since it was different from any other container I’d ever seen. I then had to debate between the colours, but finally settled on white and green. One of the big things on the market right now that bothers me is the use of BPA in so many products… but not in these! These are BPA free! 

Out of all the products that Reuseit has to offer, one thing that really drew me to the Lunch Pot was the versatility. It looks like a giant cup when stacked up, has a strap to hold the two separate pots together, and has a spot to hold the spork that comes with it too. Everything you need is right there!

I filled the smaller container with some ranch garden veggie pasta salad, and filled the larger container with large chunks of delicious, juicy watermelon. Both items could easily create a mess if they leaked, but I had faith it the twist-on lids that these containers had. They looked like they sealed the containers very well. This was a good thing, because I accidentally knocked this over in my car on the way to work. No leaks!

I work long days, so I tend to snack throughout the day. Unfortunately, sometimes the smell of something I’m eating isn’t very appealing to those sitting around me. When I take the pasta salad in the container it was purchased in, you can smell it throughout the day since the seal is really flimsy on the disposable package. My coworkers couldn’t smell the pasta salad until the container was opened, so that says a lot for the seal on these containers! I ate the salad about 4 hours into my 10 hour shift, and it was the perfect temperature for me to eat (I have sensitive teeth). That being said, these are not insulated containers (nor do they ever claim to be), so please remember to keep them in the refrigerator if you need something to stay very cold. I wanted my food to be room temperature.

The large container held all my super juicy watermelon without any issues. Honestly, this container holds a lot of food! I was surprised at how much food I actually had with me for snacks that day! I did have a tiny bit of trouble stabbing the watermelon chunks with the spork since they were gigantic chunks and the spork prongs are short, but I still managed to get all the pieces with minimal effort.

(The small container fits my entire fist [plus there was room around my fist too!] )

The spork did a great job for holding the food and stabbing the food. I was surprised by how sturdy it was, as most sporks I’ve used tend to be flimsy. The spork would work well for pretty much any type of food, including soup. Yes, soup! These containers can also be microwaved, provided that you follow their instructions and limit the time they are in there (and don’t heat up the lids). These can also be washed in the dishwasher (not the lids), though I washed them by hand for the purpose of this review.

I washed the containers when I got home (by hand, as mentioned above). Neither container was hard to clean, and neither container held on to any smell from the foods that had been in them. The only thing that was a giveaway that it had been used was a faint pink discolouration in the larger container from the delicious watermelon I had eaten earlier that day.

***** The discolouration actually came out after another wash -- yay! *****

All in all, I would say this product is fantastic! I love the versatility of it, and the ease with which it stacks into itself to make it more portable. All you have to do is tighten the strap and you are good to go! If I could change anything about this, it would be the size of the spork. While it works great, and may be fantastic for soups (I’m not a huge soup person, though), it’s a bit too big for my mouth. I can get the entire thing in my mouth, but I cannot get my lip down onto the spork when I close my mouth around it. Minor inconvenience at best, but it meant I couldn’t scoop pieces of the pasta salad out using my lips. I am, however, a tiny person, so this may be an issue that doesn’t affect most people. Either way it goes, that really wasn’t that big of a deal, and I could always slide my own spoon in the side if I really wanted to.

You can purchase the Lunch Pot by Black + Blum on Reuseit’s website for $21.95, or check out any of their other awesome lunch box items! They were also generous enough to offer a Lunch Pot for one of my readers! You can enter to win one below!




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Disclosure: I receive sample(s) for the purpose of testing and review. These opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipment of the prize(s).

EcoLunchboxes Review & Giveaway

Like many parents, I want my child to have what’s best for them. This has started me on a quest to make sure I find the most ecofriendly options available for most things, since stuff that is ecofriendly is often times the best for you and your family (less toxins, natural ingredients, etc). I’ve been slowly transforming the way my entire family lives, and lunches was bound to come up eventually.

I used to use a frozen meal as a lunch each day while at work. I occasionally had leftovers, but those were even usually some leftover Chinese dish in the plastic container they arrived in. I decided to start taking better lunches a long time ago, but I wasn’t exactly using the best containers. I know it should have been obvious to me a long time ago, but it wasn’t. In fact, it didn’t dawn on me that the super flimsy plastic containers I was using might be unwise until I grabbed one out of our cabinet to put food in, and it SMELLED. My goodness, did it smell BAD! It was a rancid onion sort of smell.

Shortly after that incident, I found EcoLunchboxes. The stainless steel alternatives to plastic containers intrigued me, and these products offered me a back-to-the-basics solution. They were generous enough to send me out a sample of some of their products to review: The Solo Cube (square), The Eco Dipper, and the ECOsnacksack.

I decided to test these items out with apples and hummus. I knew a sandwich would fit fantastically in the Solo Cube, so I decided to cut up a very large PinkLady apple instead. It held the entire apple (which, honestly, was impressive! That thing was about ¾ of a lb.!). The apple only got slightly discoloured as it was stored in the container. This made me rather happy since they usually completely brown in my plastic containers.

For the Eco Dipper, I put in some garlic hummus for a snack (along with separately packed un-salted tortilla chips). While I knew the hummus would store just fine, I intentionally left it sitting out (after the hummus was consumed) from 9 in the morning (yes, I ate hummus early!) until I left work for the day. By the time I washed the containers that evening, it had been sitting at room temperature with the lid sealed for approximately 10 hours.

I used the ECOsnacksack to hold he Solo Cube, but it wasn’t big enough to hold anything else. It would easily hold the EcoDipper and another smaller item, or a water bottle and a snack, but it is a “snack” sack and not a “lunch” sack. That’s something to keep in mind! (Ecolunchboxes also offers a larger bag called the ECOLunchwrap if you want the bag to hold your full lunch!)

By now, I’m sure someone is wondering why on earth I purposefully left something like garlic hummus in a sealed container at room temperature for hours on end. Well, it’s simple. I wanted to test how easily the containers cleaned out, and if they would smell like that plastic container did.

I was very impressed at how easy it was to wash the containers. I opted to wash them by hand, and they might as well have been unused with me washing them as it was a cinch! The hummus didn’t stick in any of the contours of the Eco Dipper like I thought could happen, and neither container had any smell in them after they were washed. Other than my fingerprints on them, they looked (and smelled) brand new!

All in all, I love these! Obviously you cannot microwave the containers, but that is the only downside. They hold food great, nothing leaked, the held the scent of the garlic within while sealed (so no coworkers complained!), but didn’t smell after being washed. The containers were easy to open, and easy to clean. They were wonderful! They are also  non-toxic and waste-free! The ECOsnacksSack was a bit small for me to use, but was not only adorable but sturdy. It functions great for a snack carrier, just look for the next size up if you want it to hold a meal. If you want more information on EcoLunchboxes, you can read about the why and story behind ECOlunchbox .

Not only was EcoLunchboxes generous enough to send me these products for review, but they have offered the same sampler pack to one of my readers! You can purchase the Solo Cube for $20 (the more you purchase, the less they cost), the Eco Dipper for $7, and the ECOsnacksack for $15. You can also enter below to win a Solo Cube, and Eco Dipper, and an ECOsnacksack of your very own! (Colours of prize won may be different than the products shown in this review.)

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Disclosure: I receive sample(s) for the purpose of testing and review. These opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts Of Fluff is not responsible for shipment of the prize(s).