Bento Lunches for Bitsy People ~ Rubbermaid LunchBlox Kids

This post on bento-style lunchboxes is brought to you by Rubbermaid and I received product to facilitate this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

Sometimes I find I am a trendsetter, or should I say, an “early adopter.” Without knowing it.

Pinterest, for example. I remember the mocking (jokingly!) comments I got from friends and family when I joined Pinterest early on. “Julie! Not another thing you’re doing?” Yes. I did. And now you do too, I am sure!

These “new” Bento-style lunchboxes that are all the rage now? Well I wasn’t getting all fancy and 3:1:2 ratio-ing it like actual Japanese bento boxes do… but I often would dice and slice foods into bitty pieces and then place in a segmented plate or a muffin tin. Sometimes an ice cube tray (back when we had those!).

The bento lunch (defined by Biggie at LunchInABox.net as “a compact, balanced, visually appealing meal packed in a box“) has definitely caught on here in the United States. And I love it! I’ve always been a “grazer.” A “finger food” type of person, and so is our oldest son.

Last week, we took our last “big trip” of the summer (not to be confused an upcoming “last big camping trip”!) to a local zoo. I knew due to the distractable attention spans of our two boys at a fascinating place like the zoo, I’d want to have bite-sized snacks for lunch. Snacks that we could either sit down and eat all at once, or eat in bits and pieces as we walked around the zoo.

Since Rubbermaid recently sent me a complimentary LunchBlox Kids set for review, I couldn’t wait to try it out on our day trip.

LunchBlox are modular food containers that snap together to save space. Each set has slightly different configurations – I had the “for flat lunch bags” set, which is just as it says: flat. Not tall. There is also a tall set.

I found the LunchBlox easy to work with for creating a bento-style lunch for our sons. If you’re looking to make a quick bento lunch without all the fuss of special accessories and dividers, then this lunch kit is for you!

Each container is sturdy and comes with a lid (easy enough for my three-year-old to snap off). All three of the containers then snap onto a thin Blue Ice tray for cooling and organization. Rubbermaid does sell lunchbags to accommodate both styles of LunchBlox. But we just put ours into the cooler with the rest of our food.

I did wish the individual containers had also snapped into each other as I think it’d be great to be able to stack multiple kits. Otherwise, these containers travel well, and are microwave, dishwasher, and freezer safe. No BPA!

Our son was excited to see his colorful and tasty assortment of lunch foods when we stopped to eat. In fact, he almost sat and ate the whole box, because he found the new LunchBlox so much fun to explore! So did the baby! Good thing there’s a teeny box just for a small dessert, or tiny tummy!

The large compartment of the LunchBlox is big enough for a sandwich (or an assortment of other bento-y foods!). The longer side containers easily fit cheese, grapes, and tomatoes. I portion-controlled dessert with the smallest container!

Lunch has been served! And will be in this fashion for a long time to come!

Do you create bento-style lunches for your kids? Well, now you can by entering my giveaway!

WIN IT: A Rubbermaid LunchBlox Kids set. ARV $15. Enter in the Rafflecopter form below

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Thanks to Rubbermaid for sending product for review. All opinions are 100% my own.