back to school favorites for lunches.

hi friends!
i'm going to attempt to revive my blog a bit... we'll see how it goes. :]

i thought it would be fun to link up some of my favorite products for back to school time. specifically for lunches.

as you may know, aiden (4) started school last year, and lilly (2) started school this summer. they both go for half days on tuesday and thursday until we transition to a new school and schedule in august. so i've been packing lunches for my semi-picky eaters for a little while now and have found a few favorite products that make the process easier. most of these products would also be perfect for taking a lunch to work. in fact, i'm planning to arm myself with a set when the time comes.

just to be clear: i'm not affiliated with any of these companies in any way. all opinions are my own, and i found and purchased these products on my own. aka no one is paying me to say any of this!

so first up is the lunch box. i was pretty settled on having some type of bento box style with different compartments for different foods. i found the yumbox lunch boxes either via amazon searching or on instagram, and after researching them, i decided to go ahead and try them. i ordered both the original style and the panino. both have worked out so well for us. my kids love them. they somehow make packing lunches seem easier because i just pick something to fill each compartment... it basically serves as a checklist or a little reminder to pack some type of fruit, veggie, protein, grain, dairy, and a little treat.  here are a couple photos of aiden's lunches:

and here's a link to the yumbox website (there's often a coupon code for 20% if you search around a little bit) and to the amazon page in case you want to use prime shipping.

next up is the lunch bag. i didn't really love the yumbox bags, so i searched pretty extensively and read lots of reviews before deciding to try the packit freezable lunch bag. since i already knew what type of lunch box i was going to use, i made certain that the yumbox would fit inside the packit bag that i chose, which meant sizing up to the "deluxe large" bag. it is indeed a large lunch bag, but i still love it and have no plans to switch. you literally put the entire lunch bag into the freezer (don't worry. it folds up into a pretty compact size) overnight and then pack the food into it. no dealing with ice packs or the resulting condensation mess from the ice packs. seriously. these bags are pretty amazing. and they do stay cold until lunch. here is a photo of the kids with their packit bags:

you can tell they are definitely pretty big, but the kids don't mind and i love how everything can fit inside.

here's a link to the packit website and the amazon page for the specific size we have.

another lunchtime accessory that i would recommend are the thermos funtainer. my kids love eating pastas, so i like to send them once a week or so. since the pasta needs to stay warm, it's not a good candidate for the yumbox (there's no way to warm up food directly in the yumbox). plus, their current school has a "we don't re-heat food" policy, so i needed a solution to send warm food that will stay warm. these little funtainers are perfect. they do indeed keep the food warm until lunch. i always fill them up with hot water while i'm warming up the pasta in the morning, then dump out the hot water and add the pasta to an already warm container. (similar to the idea of "sacrificial ice" for getting coolers cold before you actually fill them.)

here's an amazon link for the funtainer, but i picked mine up at target.

finally, we've been using the camelbak eddy kids water bottles for a while now, and they have worked out well for us. granted, it does have several pieces to wash and keep track of, but i don't really mind. here's an amazon link.

i hope that this is helpful. if you have any questions, let me know! and if you have any favorite products, please share in the comments!