After several months of nagging from my two older children, I finally caved in and started making them packed lunches for school. I figured if I was going to have to make them packed lunches every day I was going to have a bit of fun with it and I started making them Bento lunches. Nothing particularly elaborate, mind, as I am quite a lazy person, but it doesn’t make much effort to cut a peanut butter and jam sandwich into novelty shapes, or cut vegetables with miniature flower cutters to form a little veggie flower garden as can cheese and fruit. Sushi rice or a boiled egg can be moulded into shapes using fairly inexpensive plastic moulds.
In June Yumbox sent me one of their fantastic bento-style lunch boxes to try out. More correctly, they sent it to DD who was so delighted when the parcel arrived she wrote out a list of exactly what she wanted to be included in her box for the next day. She even got up early in the morning and packed it herself!
Invented in America by two entrepreneur Mums Maia Neumann and Daniele Devitt to help children develop healthy eating habits, Yumbox is now available in the UK via Bouncy Jam, run by London mumtrepreneur Sarah Kerr.
The Yumbox is a stylish, award winning, sturdy BPA-Free, phthalates-free lunch box with an illustrated food tray divided into half-cup portions for the five key food groups: fruit, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy. It also has a little cup with room for a small sweet or dip. I really like the illustrations on the food tray; what a great way to teach young children the food groups. It does bug me when I see images of filled Yumboxes with the wrong food groups in the labelled compartments! Fruit does not ever belong in the dairy section!
The portion size is ideal for children from baby weaning age up to around the age of 10. Older children may not find the small size sufficient for their hungry growing appetites, but for my 7 year old it’s just perfect. For the first time since she started getting packed lunches her lunch box has consistently been returned empty. Win!
One of her favourite lunches includes these quick toasted sesame noodles. When it comes to feeding children simple is often best. This is an easy peasy recipe and any leftovers keep well for lunch the following day.
Toasted Sesame Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 nest medium egg noodles I used Sharwood
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds toasted lightly
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 spring onions finely sliced
- 25 grams carrot grated
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Instructions
- Bring a small pan of water to the boil and cook noodles according to the packet instructions.
- If using for a lunch box, drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. If serving warm skip the cold water step.
- Toss with the remaining ingredients and serve.
Notes
Key Yumbox features:
• measures 22 x 15 x 5 cm and weighs 490 grams
• leak-proof! Pack your apple sauce next to your sandwich with no worries!
• child-friendly latch on the attached lid
• easy to clean
• encourages portion control and healthy eating
• fits neatly into standard thermal lunch totes
• eco-friendly: eliminates need for cling-film or plastic bags
• fun to pack!
Retailing at £24-99 plus P&P, it is rather on the dear side, but I think it’s worth every penny. It’s a very sturdy good quality lunch box and I will be buying one for our five year old who is due to start school at the end of the summer holidays.
The Yumbox is available in Framboise Pink (pictured above) and Pomme Green. New colours will be rolled out in September. The Yumbox will be available on Amazon very shortly, or you could visit them over at www.yumbox-uk.co.uk
Yumbox have offered one of my UK readers the opportunity to win a Yumbox of their very own, just scroll down to the bottom of this post and fill out the Rafflecopter form.
For more children’s lunch box inspiration see:
Bento Sushi Rice Shapes by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Baby Egg Pies by Tinned Tomatoes
Spicy Tattie Puffs by Tinned Tomatoes
Gruyere and Caramelised Shallot Nests by Fab Food 4 All
Mini Quiches by Franglais Kitchen
Alternatively you could follow YumBoxUK on Twitter or Instagram where they regularly share Yumbox filling ideas.
Yumbox Giveaway
How to Enter
For your chance to win one Yumbox RRP £24-99 in the colour of your choice (subject to availability) enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Come back and tweet about the giveaway every day for more chances to win!
Terms & Conditions
This giveaway is open to UK entries only. Entrants must be age 18 or over. The winner will need to respond within 48 hours of being contacted; failure to do this may result in another winner being selected.
The prize is offered and provided by YumboxUK. The prize is one Yumbox in your colour choice (subject to availability). There is no cash alternative and the prize is not transferable.
If you need some help using Rafflecopter, here’s a quick clip to show you how. Rafflecopter will pick the winner at random from all the entries received. I will be verifying entries and any automated entries or those who have claimed they have made the mandatory blog post comment and really haven’t will be disqualified. It’s mandatory!
Closing date is midnight on Monday 1 September 2014 and the winner will be announced that day.
If you want to be kept up to date on my recipes, occasional craft tutorials, adventure stories and giveaways then please subscribe to my weekly newsletter; it gets sent out every Monday morning if there is new content. Your email address won’t be passed on to anyone, you will never be spammed and you are free to unsubscribe at any time, no questions asked.
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Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary was sent a Yumbox for review. All opinions expressed are our own. This is not a paid post.
Commonwealth Games 2014 Celebration Cake with Irn Bru Frosting
Chocolate sandwiches!!
chicken goujons or sausage rolls, bread sticks and blueberries
anything savoury but mostly cheese
Fairly boring but my Daughter loves ham sandwiches with a side of grapes.
Cheese, just cheese 🙂
Cheese, he just loves cheese 🙂
Cheesy pasta
Any left over pasta is a hit! Or chicken and lettuce rolls!
Mini cheese and onion pasties
Ham and cream cheese wraps.
Great idea little pockets of surprises
sandwiches 🙂
Cucumber sandwiches 🙂
My son eats pretty much anything but his faves are grapes and broccoli x
Tuna and sweetcorn pasta!
fruit salad!!
pasta salad
A healthy fruit salad.
my boy will eat just about anything…he aint fussy
Spicy chicken sandwiches!
My daughter loves pasta
Ham sandwiches with faces (I know, we aren’t nearly as creative as the rest of you :).
Tuna sweetcorn or pasta salad
tuna sarnies
My little girl loves cheese sandwiches and salad pots
My son loves a fruit salad
he loves his hummus dips and vege sticks, they have to be in his lunchbox or i will get told off!
my daughter likes cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches, with cucumber sticks and strawberries in her lunch box
banana and soft cheese wrap
Chicken & Rice
loves boiled eggs and veg sticks
Mini cheese and onion pasties
Cheese sandwiches
Simple sandwiches
peanut butter honey and banana wraps – I straighten the banana as I roll, and it always intrigues them
My son loves crackers and cheese, with fruit salad as a pudding
peperoni is my girls fav 🙂
She likes little strips of ham, cucumber, cheese and carrot in a mix.
sandwiches with cheese and ham
tuna salad.
My Little angels love to take cold sweetcorn and spring onion Fritters with a sweet chilli sauce and mayonnaise Dip!!other times they love Onion Bhajis and Chutney!!They have a very good Palatte and love spicy food!!(carroll marsh)
Corned beef sandwiches
My son loves cheese and avocado sandwich and fruit salad x
cheese and marmite!!
She’s a big fan of pesto rolls x
Tomato and cheese pasta
Duck, hoisin sauce and spring onions! He also loves sushi!
It’s got to be mini quiches in this house – quick, simple and you can use up things in the fridge! (and they freeze well!)
chorizo sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, cous cous salad and fruit cut up always goes down well. And crisps and chocolate of course!
Tuna and sweetcorn pasta
cheese pinwheels
my sons would be lemon curd sandwiches, but I’m a mean mum and make him take something healthier!
My son is a fan of the basics. He loves ham sandwiches with a side of fruit, specially dried apricot, raisins and oranges.
Cucumber sandwiches! Sounds posh but my daughter has a sensory disorder so it’s quite a triumph!
plain dry cheese sandwiches!
Once a week I let my daughter have cold homemade pizza in her lunchbox. She also particularly loves Raw pepper sticks, cucumber and carrot sticks to munch on xx
anything with tuna and sweetcorn! lol
My daughter loves building her own crackers, so I cut ham, cheese and cucumber into flower shapes so she can choose whichever combo she fancies 🙂
Mine are obsessed with fruit at the moment (as long as its in little pieces so they can pick it up and eat it) , sorry I know that’s not very exciting but its super healthy so I’m happy! 🙂
I don’t have a child, but my niece starts school soon and this would be useful
Humous and carrot sticks
Chicken Wrap
My little girl is just over 10 months and already eats pretty much anything! Looking at ideas now so we can hopefully keep her interest through the ‘fussy’ stage.
the coolest lunch box ever – for all those tasty small healthy foods. grapes, coconut, dried mango and carob coated raisons.
Peanut butter
Grapes & cheese wheat sandwich
Strawberries and blueberries 🙂
My boys love pasta salad and cous cous
My son loves hummus, so that with some pitta bread always goes down a treat. i like to pop in a couple of cubes of cheese and some berries too
Bento eggs in animal shapes
Chicken and tomato sandwiches
Noodles 🙂
My little boy loves turkey and tomato spin wheels! (A wrap with slices of turkey and tomato in then wrapped into a spiral then sliced so you get swirls!) x
‘dippy things’ – translates as hummus, with cut up veg and slices of cold toast… 🙂
Mini scotch eggs
sandwiches, raisons and babybel
My kids love cheesy falafels with pitta pockets, cucumber, tomato, and cheese in their bento boxes.
salami and cheese sandwiches.. maybe not the healthiest, but definitely her favourite!
Tuna mayonnaise sandwiches
Raw organic Coconut oil is a taste to embrace.
BREADSTICKS AND CHEESE DIP
cheese and marmite pinwheels
cheese sandwiches
a fruit salad
My son will start school next September so doesn’t yet have a favourite but I suspect he’ll love anything made of cheese!
sandwich, yoghurt, crepe, dip, fruit juice.
Quorn meat with tomato sandwiches healthy and very tasty!
Hummus spelt breadsticks,ewes feta cheese, olives, mixed salad with carrots, beetroot, spinach etc dressed in balsamic vinegar
Salad with the usual lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and add grapes and sultanas and a fruit salad and homemade scone or flapjack.
cheese sandwiches
My wee one loves jam sandwiches best.
Marmite pinwheels and green olives
My Son is fussy so just likes plan food like crackers
Wraps!
Mine love a fruit salad, as long as it contains strawberries and red grapes.
My twin boys love a fruit salad, but this page has given me quite a few more idea’s thank you x
I love the look of these lunchboxes! My little ones given the choice always go for cheese sandwiches. I’d love to get them into more adventurous stuff for their packed lunches
My daughter and I love celery filled with cream cheese and raisins!
chicken pasta easy to make
Ham, tomato and mayo sandwiches
Spanish omelette with lots of veg in.
chicken and sweetcorn pasta
My son’s favourite is tuna, pasta with cherry tomatoes and sweetcorn! it’s amazing they will eat some combinations.
Banana loaf is a favourite in our house. Uses up the brown bananas!
That’s always a favourite here too – I make it about a million different ways too depending on what ingredients are on hand.
boiled eggs
my son loves boiled eggs, my daughters favourite is a chicken wrap and blueberrys
Tuna pasta salad
cheese straws
chicken pasta
cheesy pasta with chicken and peas
Amazing, really useful!!
The usual sandwiches but i also usually pack a small fruit muffin or a slice of wholemeal home made banana bread.
They also like dried fruit but because of the high sugar content I restrict it to a small handful of raisins or dried apricots.
My grandsons haven’t started school yet but the oldest is very fussy and the youngest will eat anything
mini chicken salad
tuna pasta salad
Tuna mayo sandwiches, nothing fancy
cheese and cucumber on crackers
Ham sandwiches and sausage rolls!
Ham and salad cream sandwich!
My older son loves pain tuna sandwiches in his lunchbox. The little man is only starting school this September, so I don’t know yet what his favourite lunchbox food will be, we’ll find out soon
My daughter loves falafel
Pesto and pasta!! Kids love it 🙂
Tuna mayo pasta
My son, aged 5, loves a three bean salad with some tiger loaf
tuna pasta salad
pasta suasage rolls crisps well anything!
Cheese and onion sandwiches
ham and cheese
They like salad wraps
Message saying I have already commented! I’m sure I haven’t
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Likes everything! Usually tuna sandwiches, fruit, yoplait and juice.
crisp roll,which i am not too happy about,lol x
My daughter loves spicy sausages with rice!
Sweetcorn muffins.
Cheese and mayo sandwiches usually.
ham and cheese sarnie
fruit salad and pasta salad
My little girl’s favourite at the minute is pilau rice with passata on 🙂
ham and cheese sandwiches 🙂
My son is coeliac so lunches can be very boring for him. His favourite is tuna & sweet corn pasta. This lunch box would be a step in the right direction to making lunch more interesting for him
Cocktail sausages are always a big hit!
Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested this week
Pasta salad and cheese
Yum!
sausage rolls
These are so kid-friendly, aren’t they!
Samosas
I samosas – they’d so fiddly to make but it’s so worth it. Must make some again soon!
mmmm i love samosas so do my kids. chicken tikka 1s are the best
Fruit salad
Very healthy and sensible!
tuna lettuce and cucumber wraps
Mmm that sounds like a nice lunch too 🙂
Has to be chilli dogs
Loving the sound of that!
would have to be a cheese and tomato pasta mix here #TriedTested
My youngest would be happy with that every day too!
pasta in a Mediterranean sauce – tomatoes/corguette/pepper/mushrooms
Delish!
Yum! My kinds of lunch 🙂 Throw a few olives in there too? 🙂
Cheese sandwiches!
Classics are classics for a reason 🙂
My sons favourite is a mini wrap with Tuna and sweetcorn 🙂
Mmm! Love tuna 🙂
funnily enough I have been looking out for a bento box for sylvia but meanwhile I have been just putting little tubs in her lunchbox – I was once told that to give children the right portion half what you think they need and then halve again. your noodles look great – wish sylvia would eat this sort of thing but it is sandwiches or sushi or crackers and dip. Do you put a fork in for DD? And are there lids for the boxes – my concern about them is that kids might not get them back in properly – every now and again I find sylvia’s tubs escape her lunchbox and float around in her bag.
I’ve been making these noodles for the last year and putting them in DD’s old bento lunch box which came with a fork and spoon. The Yumbox doesn’t, which I didn’t care for at first, but they recommend putting the box in a thermal lunch bag so a fork could get popped into there. There is one big lid with a very easy child-friendly clasp, so there’s nothing to misplace. 🙂 That reminds me – need to order some thermal lunch bags for the new school year!
Cheesy pasta salad with green pesto!
DD loves pesto but I’ve never thought to put it in her lunch! Thanks for the great idea 🙂
If my daughter had her way it would be ‘butter samwitches with nothing else’ but marmite is always a winner and it has vitamins in it!
Sometimes simple is just what’s needed 🙂
Little snacks like grapes and raisins.
I think kids the world over are all raisin fans – mine can’t get enough of them and I have to ration them out!
Humous and carrot sticks
A lovely lunch idea 🙂
No so much a recipe but my son loves roquefort or chorizo in his lunchbox 🙂
Fantastic! Lovely flavours there!
My daughter loves homemade pizza slices.
I love cold home made pizza and I do occasionally pop it in their lunch boxes. 🙂
Mini Pizzas
Those would work really well in this lunch box – teeny tiny pizzas, awesome!
Houmous
I love hummus, me, but unfortunately my children aren’t that enamoured with it.
Little ‘pizzas’ made with mini pittas and topped with vegetables, cheese and tomato puree
fantastic!
falafel and hummous
That’s my kind of lunch 🙂
My son will only eat ham and marmite rolls! Easy recipie!
Hhrrm… not sure about the marmite, but glad he likes it! 🙂 Easy work for you too!
My bubba’s too young to have a favourite lunch time snack but would love to win a Yumbox as it’ll be great for carrying weaning snacks when we’re out and about! x
This would be ideal for weaning while out and about, for sure!
oatcakes & cheese 🙂
Yum! Throw an apple in there and I’d be a happy bunny!
Kale crisps 🙂
Love kale crisps! What a great idea!
Tuna bagel
Mmm! With cheese?
tuna wrap!
jam sandwiches!
my kids love fruit in their lunch boxes, mainly satsumas
Fruit salad
Roast chicken, crackers, cheese, carrots, cucumber, hummous, cherries!
Ooh I’m liking the sound of that lunch!
Cheese and ham sandwiches 🙂
Pasta, pesto & chicken
Pasta! My son will eat pretty Much anything as long as it’s with pasta!
What doesn’t she like!?! She’s never turned her nose up at anything, but she does seem to love tuna and sweetcorn pasta
Cheese sandwiches!
She likes to push the boat out!!!
Haha! 😀 That’s my youngest’s favourite too 🙂
Tomato soup!
Cold? How does that work! This yumbox would keep it in its separate compartment at least 🙂
It’s like opening a box of presents every day – great idea
Totally!
That’s fab! I need something similar in a grown up size for my oh – I never have energy to mak sandwiches in the morning, I must start to make things like this!
While writing up this review I found out they do have adult ones! I want one too!
Pasta salad
I love pasta salad, especially with some feta and olives 🙂
My daughter likes her lunchbox to be consistent so its always a sandwich and will rarely try anything else
The yumbox might help change her mind about that. The bite sized pieces are quite fun and if they’re in shapes it makes it more tempting, I think.
Homemade sweet potato crisps.
Oh that sounds lovely!
Home made Egg fried rice
Mmm yum!
Scrambled Egg
What a great idea!
Classic ham and cheese sandwiches!
Can’t beat the classics 🙂
Cheese roll or cheese and crackers
That’s my son’s favourite too.
Ham sandwiches and sausage rolls
Love a ham sandwich, me, especially with some wholegrain mustard.
Whoa – gone are the days when a packed lunch meant peanut butter sarnies and an apple ;o) Or am I showing my age?! Adorable lunchboxes and great sounding sesame noodles!
I grew up with peanut butter sandwiches in my lunchbox. I hated them! It took me well into my adulthood before I would eat peanut butter again, but every now and again I get a craving for PB & jam 🙂
Corned beef sandwiches
I remember those from my childhood!
Fruit Salad.
Love fruit salad 🙂 So do my children.
plain old sandwiches such as cheese, ham, tuna
Nothing wrong with that! 🙂
I’m sure my kids would love your noodles in their lunch boxes I do have to admit to hating making packed lunches though!
It is a bit of extra work, true, but these noodlesw are so easy to make.
i hate making packed lunches too, seems i always give my kids the same thing, this is great for new ideas
tofu hamburger
Well that sounds intriguing! How do you make them?
Sushi as it’s easy to store, pick up and eat without being messy and it’s also tasty and filling.
I plan on experimenting with veggie sushi for their lunch boxes when they go back to school after the holidays.
Pasta and pesto with sprinkled extra pine nuts for me 🙂
Pasta with pesto and chicken and peas
Peanut butter sandwiches!
My Children just love pesto & pasta. Sometimes i grill some pine nuts to add to it! yum
My son will eat everything, he doesn’t have a particular favourite
Lucky you! Sometimes I wish my children were like that (ok, a lot of the time I wish they were like that! They seem to be getting pickier the older they get!)
spinach pops (tiny balls of puff pastry filled with spinach and sweetcorn)
Ooh I like the sound of those!