A Week of Yumbox Lunch Ideas

I am not a great meal planner, I have to admit. I like being spontaneous when it comes to food but with four kids it just doesn't make sense to not plan ahead. As my kids are getting older and more activities are crowding my calendar, I am trying to be better about at least buying fruits and vegetables in bulk and having an idea what everyone will be taking to school. Since my kids differ in ages and appetite, that requires an actual shopping list and a plan.

Today, I am sharing a weeks worth of lunches packed in our original yumbox. Side note: the purple yumbox is an older model that my daughter still uses and the pink one is the new upgraded version of the original.

6 YUMBOX LUNCH IDEAS FOR YOUR WEEK AHEAD:

This Elmo inspired lunch contains:

• Annie's Cheddar Bunnies
• apple wedges
• peanut butter dip
• kiwi fruit
• an Elmo jelly sandwich
• a grape and almond butter snack

This Hello Kitty inspired lunch is filled with:

• cheese crackers
• cucumber and red pepper
• peanut butter crackers
• Hello Kitty cream cheese sandwiches
• apple wedges
• a few fruit snacks

This Mickey Mouse themed lunch contains:

• Annie's Cheddar Bunnies
• peanut butter crackers
• a piece of banana
• peanut butter dip
• apple wedges
• Minnie Mouse jelly sandwiches

This fairy bread lunch is packed with:

• a tube yogurt
• two cookies
• apple wedges
• blueberries
• peanut butter dip
• fairy bread Nutella sandwiches 
• carrot sticks

This snack lunch is filled with:

• a tube yogurt
• a few cookies
• carrot sticks
• cheese crackers
• a star nut butter sandwich 
• a few chocolate treats
• spinach and mini peppers

I also added a Lunchbox Love lunchbox note.

The cute Panda pocket sandwich lunch contains:

• a tube yogurt
• cookies
• apples slices and blueberries
• cheese crackers
• a few chocolate treats
• a Panda pocket sandwich with cream cheese
• mini peppers
• Lunchbox Love lunchbox note

** These lunchboxes contain peanut butter. If your school is peanut free you can instead send WOWbutter or substitute with other ingredients that are safe :)

This week in pictures: Nov 1 - Nov 6 2015

If you missed the lunchbox ideas I shared on social media this week, you cancatch up here on the blog. I shared some new and some old lunches and if you want to read more, simply click the picture to see the whole post.

A trip to Trader Joe's and a fun IKEA cookie cutter transformed this lunch into a fun treat.

My daughter loves Pandas and requested a Panda themed lunch. So cute, right?

Love peanut butter (or really any nut butter?) - then this lunch is for you!

We were stuck in a lunch rut, so I used some refridgerated pretzel dough to make lunch fun again.

My daughter made this snack herself in our nw divided plates. I helped with the tangerine ;)

Even though I seem to have given away almost all my cookie cutters, I found this one hiding in the utensil drawer and used it to make this apple themed snack plate.

Things I used to make the snacks and lunches above (contains affiliate links):

5 Reasons Why We love Our Yumbox

When Yumbox first released it's bento lunch box in 2013, I could not wait to be one of the first to have one. Yumbox offeres a solution to so many lunch packing issues that with it's release lunch packing got so much easier. And we used our Yumbox a lot since then. Now that we have added to our Yumbox stash and with the new Spring colors and the redesigned tray being released this Spring I wanted to share our top 5 reasons why we love our yumbox.

•  6 Compartments

My two youngest kids are snackers. They like to eat smaller portions and a variety of food. The Yumbox obviously is perfect for them. I can pack 5 different foods plus a dip or treat in the tray and they will have a little of everything (fruits, veggies, grains, protein and dairy or any combination of those). 

• Easy to open - 1 lid for 6 compartments

When my daughter started Kindergarten, I tested out several lunch boxes for her ahead of time (we packed lunch at home to see how easy it was for her to open them). I wanted her to be able to open the lunchbox on her own without spilling the contents and I wanted to send her confident that she could manage on her own. Yumbox only has 1 lid to navigate for all the compartment and with the new and improved latch it is easier to open and to close the lunch box for anyone 2 and up. I have other multi compartment lunch boxes for my older kids but Yumbox is simply the easiest to handle. 

• Perfect for Picky Eaters

Starting full day school with a packed lunch was exciting enough for my daughter and she kept requesting the same lunch over and over to have predictability in her day. She was set on certain foods and left her Yumbox untouched when I added new foods to try. Thankfully, Yumbox has 5 compartments and I was able to pack her similar lunches for the first weeks with a few tweaks here and there. By the end of the first month her lunches had a lot more variety.

• Leakproof 

My kids love yogurt. Unless I want to buy overpriced tube yogurt, Yumbox is one of the only lunchboxes we have that makes sending yogurt a non-issue! Other foods we love to pack are: applesauce, strawberry salad, pudding and jello.

• Dip or Treat compartment

I used to simply use the small round compartment for treats (fruit snacks, chocolate chips) but once I filled it with nut butter for dipping it has almost exclusively become just that: a dip container. No matter if you want to send apples with nut butter, vegetables with Ranch or biscuits with honey, the dip compartment is your friend to get your kids to eat more fruits and veggies.

To get your own Yumbox head over to their WEBSITE or check them out on Amazon (contains affiliate links):

Back to the Basics

It has been busy here with sports and school and I haven't had as much time for blogging and lunches as I'd like. But, lunch does not have to be complicated. Sometimes the simple lunches are those my kids love the best. Here are a few recent "Back to the Basics" lunches.

My Kindergartener has a simple Yumbox:

• a Clif Kid Zbar
• baby carrots
• a piece of banana
• two Mickey Mouse shaped sandwiches 
• wheat crackers 
• Annie's Bunny Fruit Snacks and 
• a banana apple sauce pouch from GoGoSqueez

A third garde lunch in Easylunchboxes with:

• wheat Crackers
• apple Sauce
• 1/2 a chicken sandwich with star stamps
• baby carrots
• a small German chocolate

A fourth grade lunch in Easylunchboxes with:

• wheat crackers
• apple sauce
• a chicken sandwich with star cut outs and
• a Clif Kid Z bar

Here are some of the things I used to make this lunch (contains affiliate links):

Yumbox Lunches for the week of 10/13 - 10/17

We have a new YUMBOX and my little girl is so in love with her new purple lunchbox ( a former review with tips and tricks is coming soon!). I collected all the lunches we packed this week - plus a bonus lunch from last week!!

Our first Yumbox lunch contains:

• an organic yogurt tube
• orange slices
• an egg
• 5 mini sandwiches 
• carrots with purple carrot hearts and
• a few gummy bears

This Yumbox is packed with:

• A Chobani Greek yogurt tube
• orange slices
• mini sandwiches
• cheddar crackers
• broccoli and carrots
• and a few gummy bears

The chocolate Greek yogurt was so good we packed it again in this Yumbox with:

• apple "salad"
• cheese crackers
• stamped flower sandwiches
• carrots and grape tomatos and
• a few chocolate chips

It was "PINK" day at school this week and we packed our Yumbox with lots of pink:

• a Z bar with the letters P I N K
• kiwi with a pink Hellp Kitty pick
• mini sandwiches with a pink bunny pick
• pink Goldfish crackers
• and apple "salad" with a pink dolphin pink

My daughter picked Winnie the Pooh and Piglet bento picks for this lunch:

• another Greek yogurt tube
• kiwi "salad" with Winnie the Pooh
• cheddar crackers
• left over rice with Piglet
• baby carrots and 
• chocolate chips

Can you tell I adore my mini sandwich maker? This Yumbox is packed with:

• a mint Z bar
• vanilla yogurt with sprinkles
• mini sandwiches
• Baby Goldfish crackers
• cucumber spears
• and a few peanut M&Ms

If you are ready to pack your own Yumbox lunches, you can see what I used here (contains affiliate links):

Please also check BENTO USA for bento picks. They often have sales and sell the picks at a better price :)

I Wish, I Wish for Fish - Wished Lunches on Wednesday

My kids generally take lunch without requesting something special. Today everyone was tired and hard to motivate but when I offered them to help packing lunches they all wanted a say and to help. It was a lot of fun and hopefully this means the lunches all come home eaten!

My Kindergartner's Yumbox is packed with:

• a Z bar
• vanilla yogurt with sprinkles
• 5 mini chocolate spread sandwiches
• cucumber spears and
• 3 peanut M&Ms

My 3rd Grader is not a big sandwich fan and requested a no-sandwich sandwich. I packed his Easylunchboxes with:

• cucumber spears
• Baby Goldfish
• 4 chocolate spread mini pancake sandwiches and
• a bag of Somersault snacks

My middle schooler grabbed his Easylunchboxes with:

• Baby Goldfish
• Applesauce
• a Z bar
• and a Turkey, Swiss cheese and lettuce wrap

How did your morning go?

To see what lunchboxes I used, you can go here (contains affiliate links):

Yumbox Lunches for the week of 9/15 - 9/19

Here is our round up of Yumbox lunches for this week. My daughter chose one of our German lunchboxes twice this week so I only have three lunch ideas for you but there will be more again next week since the Yumbox seems to just consistently work best for her.

1.) Yumbox Flower Lunch

We packed a flowery lunch containing:

• carrots
• strawberry yogurt
• Annie's cheddar bunnies
• kiwi
• 1/2 bag of fruit snack and
• a stamped flower sandwich

2.) I Have My Eyes On You Lunch

A silly mismatched lunch containing:

• three Energy Bites
• peach yogurt
• Snikiddy Mac'n'Cheese Puffs
• carrots
• 1/2 bag of fruit snack
• and a stamped Minnie Mouse sandwich 

3.) The Pudding Yumbox

This funny pudding Yumbox is packed with:

• pudding set right in the tray
• celery and grape tomatoes
• Annie's snack mix
• kiwi
• 1/2 bag of fruit snacks
• and a stamped Hello Kitty sandwich

How was your week? 

If you want to pack your own Yumbox lunches you can find what I used here (contains affiliate links):

Our week in Yumboxes (almost)

My daughter started Kindergarten this week. I spent some time with her over the weekend talking about the foods she wanted to have in her lunchbox. She picked kiwi, cheddar bunnies, cucumbers and mini sandwiches. I tried to keep her lunch looking familiar and filled with the foods she picked while switching it up a little for variety. The first week of school is exciting enough so I wanted to make sure lunch was predictable but yet fun. So, these yumboxes all look somewhat alike but not quite. How do you make your kids feel comfortable the first week of school?

MONDAY:

The theme of our Monday yumbox is "Hello Kitty on a Farm" - packing lunch with a 5 YO is so fun!

We packed our Hello Kitty lunch together with:

• Annie's Homegrown Bernie's Farm Animal Crackers
• sliced Kiwi
• Annie's Cheddar bunnies
• two mini Hello Kitty chocolate spread sandwiches
• cucumber slices
• and 1/2 a packet of fruit snacks

TUESDAY:

Tuesday we were running later than usual and just as I was trying to take a picture my daughter reminded me that we had not done her hair yet. So you will just have to take my word for it. It was cute and filled with more:

• Hello Kitty themed sandwiches
• kiwi
• cucumber slices
• Annie's cheddar bunnies
• apple slices
• 1/2 packet of fruit snacks

WEDNESDAY:

I tried to switch it up a little and my daughter had requested banana slices since another child had brought them in their lunch that day. We packed a Melody themed yumbox with:

• Annie's Homegrown snack mix
• banana slices sprinkled with Fruit Fresh (to prevent the banana from browning)
• baby carrots
• Melody stamped chocolate spread sandwiches
• kiwi slices and
• 1/2 packet of fruit snacks

THURSDAY:

My daughter laid out the food picks for me the night before and this is what I packed in her yumbox:

• a Stonyfield Organic Cherry Yogurt tube (fits folded into the compartment)
• kiwi slices
• Annie's cheddar bunnies
• two heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• cucumber slices and carrot flowers
• and 1/2 packet of fruit snacks

FRIDAY:

Today my daughter requested a "cute" lunch and I packed her a panda themed meal:

• Annie's snack mix
• vanilla yogurt with sprinkles
• a vanilla chip cereal bar
• two Mama and Baby Panda CuteZCute Pocket Sandwiches
• cucumber slices
• and 1/2 packet of fruit snacks

Things I used to make this lunch (contains affiliate links):