Perfectly Packed Lunches, Back to School with Rubbermaid LunchBlox

As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m certainly no dietitian. What and how to pack my daughter’s school lunch is something I’ve struggled with for two years now. My daughter’s school follows a “balanced school day“, which means her “meal” for the school day is broken down into two snack periods and a lunch period. For two years now I have struggled with this. Struggled with just what exactly I should send for her to eat, and with what containers I should put it in. And also I’ve struggled with 90% of her food heading back home with her.

For the most part the lunch boxes out there are simply not designed to hold two snacks and a lunch. So for two years now she has went with a jumble of reuseable containers of various shapes and sizes stuffed haphazardly into her bag. Throughout Junior and then Senior Kindergarten, her backpack has in reality been serving as an oversized lunch bag. An uninsulated one, as I can attest to by the melted half eaten sandwiches that she would bring home at the end of the day.

This year, since she’s going into Grade 1, I figured she might actually need some space in her backpack for things beside food. I knew I was going to have to come up with a better solution for her lunch and snacks, so I was happy when Rubbermaid sent us several sets of LunchBlox to test out. Each set containers two small snack containers, a larger sandwich sized container, and an ice pack to help keep things cool.  Dishwasher safe and BPA free these wee plastic containers rock. First, they are the quality you expect from Rubbermaid. The containers are designed for little hands to open and shut (and they truly are easy enough for even my three year old to do on her own), yet they are also leak proof, with a nice tight seal. Second, they stack together, like little building blocks! They actually snap together, to keep everything compact and tidy. And did I mention they can go right in the dishwasher? Yeah, I love that part.

When it comes to figuring out what to send with her it’s portion more then content that baffles me. Some days she seems to eat an unending amount at home, how can I send her with so little? What is enough? What is too much? At one point last year I remember asking my daughter, “What do I need to do to get you to finish your food at school?!”  Her answer, “Send less!” She wasn’t being snarky either, just a calm logical answer. So I sent a just little bit less, and found much less being sent home. I cut the portions down by maybe a tenth, and suddenly she was eating most, if not all, of her lunch. Yet I had a hard time finding the right size containers for smaller portions, most were far too large. And I would slip and send more then she needed, just because the container looked so empty. This year I am finding that the Rubbermaid LunchBlox containers are just the right size. She has been coming home with empty containers, or near empty containers, and says that her belly was “full just right”.

Overall we are loving the Rubbermaid LunchBlox. I got G-Girl a little insulated lunch bag to hold her LunchBlox, between that and the LunchBlox icepack — no more unsafe melty lunches. My daughter loves the bright fun colours, I love the perfect portion sizes and the way they snap together neatly. Rubbermaid Kid’s LunchBlox are available at Walmart and Loblaws across Canada. The retail price is $9.99 per set and as a bonus the kits currently in stores each include $7 worth of Rubbermaid and Kraft coupons, which makes it a crazy good deal (if you’re curious the coupons expire Dec.31st, 2013 and include aMOOza! Twists, Kraft Shredded Cheese, Miracle Whip, Philly Chocolate Cream Cheese, Cracker Barrel Cheese Slices and a Rubbermaid LunchBlox Entree Kit).

For further info on LunchBlox and other Rubbermaid products:
* check out their website.
* connect with them on Facebook.
* connect with them on Twitter.

Giveaway Alert: Enter to win 4 sets of Rubbermaid Kid’s LunchBlox, ends Oct. 4th.