Easy LunchBoxes

I have been searching for a year for the perfect lunchbox. With all the gluten free food I pack around I needed something! Everyone here has super fast metabolisms and they eat a lot more then the normal person, so when we all go out for the day I pack food enough for 6+ people even though there are only 4 of us! I was sick of zipper bags, wrong sized containers, and losing things in the diaper bag. 

Picture from www.easylunchboxes.com

I came across the Easy Lunchbox and knew I had finally found the right ones! I ordered 2 sets of containers and 2 cooler bags from their Amazon store. I can fit hubby's lunch for work into the cooler along with extras like yogurt cups and fruit. He loves the smaller side containers because the pickles for his sandwiches can be separate (without using a zipper bag every day!). Sounds like a small deal, but pickles make a sandwich soggy if you put them on the night before, especially on gluten free bread! For my kids I love all the separate compartments in each container because I can pack multiple snacks. I can also be assured that all the gluten free snacks for my son are separate from things only his sister can eat by assigning one container to each of them (we have all gone mostly gluten free but I still have some cereal bars etc. for when we are out for her). They are light to pack around. Who needs heavy weight just from containers in their bag? And the cooler allows me to pack foods that would normally not last very long in my bag. 

Picture from www.easylunchboxes.com

Customer service is AMAZING. I pulled a lid off one container and a small piece from the bottom broke off. Possibly a stress fracture from shipping who knows, the other ones didn't do it. I emailed customer service and within the hour Kelly Lester, mom & CEO, emailed me back offering a free replacement piece shipped to my door as well as tips for how to make them last as long as possible. No questions asked. I had ordered mine to be shipped to my parents who were in US for the winter. They are home now so she is shipping my replacement to me in Canada.

They are definitely NOT flimsy take and toss pieces, and they do NOT discolour or warp in the dishwasher (2 things I hate about plastic containers). They are heat resistant enough that they can even go on the bottom of the dishwasher! I love the cooler size, 3 containers fit easily, or 2 plus extras. The lids, although not leakproof, offer quite a good seal. Enough that you don't worry about one compartment's food tasting like the others! They ARE plastic, so keep in mind that eventually they will wear out. But it depends on your use. Anywhere from 4-12 months is the lifespan. I suppose it depends if you hand wash or use a dishwasher, if you use them daily, if you abuse them, and if you just wipe them out (sandwich crumbs) at the end of the day and reuse vs washing them. From how sturdy they feel I expect them to last me a year or more!

If you're on the hunt for lunchboxes I would recommend giving these a try. They are not so costly that you would strangle your kids (or husband lol) for losing them, but at the same time they are not cheapo ones that you would toss out on purpose for a long time!

All in all I'm very happy with my purchase and with the follow up customer service!

**I was not compensated in any way to write this review. I paid the same price everyone pays on Amazon! I'm just the type of person who shares when I find something I love! (Just ask all the people who own a BOB stroller because of my raving!)**

VITAMIX!!

"Vitamix!" is what I found myself shrieking as the doorbell rang yesterday. This coming from someone who doesn't usually become overly emotional about anything caused my husband and children to laugh at me all day. I don't care. My Vitamix is here!

If you remember (or care) I bought a juicer last summer. I loved it, but it took a lot of effort to clean, a lot of fruit and veggies to get a good glass of juice and some veggies just don't taste nice when juiced lol. I decided I wanted a Vitamix. They are not cheap so I started selling kitchen items I don't use anymore. First to go was my wheat grinder attachment for the kitchen aid. I had ground wheat in it once and because gluten is glue you can never get rid of the dust in a machine like that especially one that doesn't go in the dishwasher. So I sold it! Next to go was my bread maker. Although it did have a gluten free setting, again it's one of those no dishwasher hard to clean items that I wasn't willing to risk. And I make bread at least 2 loaves at a time to keep up with my family, so out it went. Next was the juicer. Once I sold the juicer I gleefully clicked 'buy' on the Vitamix website and waited somewhat patiently. I opted for a reconditioned one for a couple of reasons. They are cheaper (Number 1 reason!), they still have a 7 year warranty, and although it didn't come with the optional cups (dry grinding cup etc.), they can be added later. (The packages that included those cups were alot more!) I wanted to make sure I would use it before I went overboard. The biggest downside is they only come in white, not really a problem for me!

I am replacing a blender I bought at a liquidation store for $10 almost 10 years ago, and I am in love! 

I had to go write a test yesterday and was gone most of the afternoon and I had to finish a paper in the morning so I didn't really get to experiment until last night except for making a smoothie for breakfast. It is an AMAZING machine! I started at just before 8pm and I made a smoothie for hubby's lunch for today, guacamole, soup, and sorbet! All by just after 930pm!

My 1 Day Review

What I like so far

1. Easy to clean 

  - Just fill part way with water and add a few drops of soap. Blend for a few seconds until clean!

2. Actually blends

  - No more chewing parts of the smoothie!

3. Makes hot soup

  - Not lukewarm, an actual nice hot eating temperature! In only 4 minutes!

4. Blends ice

  - Properly! No chewy pieces in the sorbet I made.

5. Makes healthy taste good

  - The sorbet I made had only 1 Tbsp. of sugar in it and I made enough for 3 adults to have a nice amount.

6. Provides quick meal options

  - Soup in literally less then 15 minutes including prep (baking potatoes in the microwave). This is especially important since we lost all quick meal options when we went gluten free!

What I don't like so far (And I'm reaching here to find anything lol!)

1. High speed is really loud

  - But that's kind of to be expected considering how powerful it is at that speed!

2. It's tall

  - It doesn't fit under my cupboards with the jar and the lid on, but I don't really care. It will fit if I leave the lid off. 

All in all I'm thoroughly impressed! Hubby was slightly skeptical about it when I first started talking about it, but as always humored me in my new found kitchen fascination. Last night he was impressed. He said it definitely exceeded his expectations. He was most impressed by the soup. The fact that steam was coming off the soup when it was done blending was the deal sealer!

If you are on the fence about whether this blender is worth it, in my opinion it is definitely worth it!. I have to do more experimenting, but I forsee it replacing my food processor, and possibly even my stand mixer! I have peanuts and pumpkin seeds sitting on the counter ready to make peanut butter and pumpkin seed butter later today...eee...sooooo excited! And after that, rice milk (made waaaay easier then what I was doing before), seeing how it mixes my gluten free bread, different smoothies and soups, and lots more!

On that note, no more typing. My Vitamix is calling my name. I`m off to blend! I think we are going to eat soup a lot this week :)

Product Review

I LOVE Envirosax Bags! They roll up super small so they fit in your purse/diaper bag, but they expand really big! They can hold up to 44lbs...technically I could fit my 2.5 year old in one!!
I have the Sesame Street ones, and I always love the look the cashier give me when I whip out Elmo to put my groceries in :) I'm not ashamed to still be a kid at heart!

My favourite bag!

They come in so many different styles that you're sure to find a set that suits your tastes. The Sesame Street set is Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and Grover. But they have an Animal Planet series, a Heritage Pepsi series and so many other designs.
They also come in a SlingSax version (more like a purse), MiniSax for lunches etc. and an Organic Cotton Line. No matter which style you choose, it's definitely an environmentally friendly option :)

This is how small they roll up!

What have I used them for? Everything! Swimming (2 kids and one adult worth of stuff!), laundry (5 days of vacation laundry for 2 adults and 2 kids), extra things that don't fit into the diaper bag, overnight bag, groceries, library books, sand toys etc. etc. They come in handy in so many ways. Because they roll up so small I always have one and I don't have to pay for bags at the store, and they fit so much more then a plastic grocery bag anyways! They can also be tossed into the washing machine and they come out good as new (hang to dry!).

Another idea is to use them in place of wrapping paper! Here is a little YouTube video about how to do it. A really neat alternative to paper gift bags or paper.


The BEST part about the bags I have? I got them on BabyHalfOff, so I paid half price :) They come up often on other Deal a Day sites as well, but BabyHalfOff is the only one I've ever seen that's had the Sesame Street Series. If you keep your eye out, you can always get any them for a great deal!

Product Review

Hot Dogs Ingredients: Pork, Water, Sea Salt, Vinegar, Cane Sugar, Cultured Celery Extract, Spice, Dehydrated Garlic, Smoke

Ham Ingredients: Ham, Water, Sea Salt, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Smoke Flavour, Cane Sugar, Cultured Celery extract, Spice, Smoke

Salami Ingredients: Pork, Sea Salt, Cane Sugar, Spice, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Dehydrated garlic, Lactic Acid Starter Culture, Cultured Celery extract, Smoke

The Schneiders Naturals line has really impressed me! I had stopped buying lunch meat all together when I realized how much junk was in it, and it made making lunches just a little bit harder (hubby takes 3 sandwiches a day, 5 days a week!). Then I found this stuff!! 

 

As you can see from the ingredient list there's not much in it. It actually tastes like real meat...yes even the hot dogs are pretty good! The first time we cooked the hot dogs we both looked at each other and said 'they smell like bacon!'. They have chicken hot dogs, smoked turkey breast and a couple type of uncured ham as well as bacon that we haven't tried yet, but I would imagine they would all be pretty good. The pictures above are all ones that we have tried ourselves. We haven't tried anything we didn't like :)

 

They are all sold in packages with the rest of the pre-packaged meat and definitely aren't as cheap as buying the sale of the week from the deli, but not horribly expensive either, and I feel good knowing what my family is eating. And I feel good having the option of eating hot dogs once in awhile without avoiding reading the label! In fact, we had hot dogs for supper tonight. My kids each ate a whole one and I feel like they actually had a decent supper :) 

I still make a lot of roasts and use those as lunch meat, but when I'm tired or sick or it's too hot to cook anything this is my go-to lunch making source now. I have never liked lunch meat myself but when this is in the fridge I find myself making a sandwich for lunch just a little more often! Try some, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Product Review

Trying to stay away from rubbing chemicals on my kids skin, I decided to go with a natural bug spray (no deet!) and sunscreen this year. I decided on Dr. Mercola's (click the link then scroll to the bottom of the page) line of products. I was a little skeptical, but it has a money back guarantee so I figured what could I lose? Plus there was a free shipping offer when I ordered.
I received it in the mail a week or so ago, but just recently really got to put it to the test. We have AWFUL mosquitos here this spring! Although we have all gotten a couple of bites, I've been impressed by how well the bug spray actually works! The kids are relatively bite free, and except when I was walking through a grassy field, I feel like it's been working pretty good for me as well. My 2 year old loves it. Every morning at breakfast I hear 'bug spay? bug spay outside?' I don't know if he likes the smell of it, or if he understands that it works! It has a very strong smell to it, but not that 'asthma-attack inducing' smell that deet sprays have.
The sunscreen really got put to the test yesterday. I got the spf 30 version. I put some one at about 10am was outside for about 30 mintues, then I went for a 1.5 hour walk at noon, and didn't put any new sunscreen on. I burn very easily, especially the beginning of summer, and I didn't even turn pink! It rubs in easily, and I don't have the overwhelming urge to bathe my children the moment we come in the door to get it off of them. It smells nice, and it works...bonus!

This is the package that I got.

And it wasn't that expensive either. I got 2 bottles of sunscreen and 2 bottles of bugspray for under $50. When I was buying sunscreen last year I seem to remember paying over $15 for one bottle of 'baby-safe' sunscreen! And it was still filled with all sorts of garbage!

So if you're on the fence about natural sunscreen and/or bugspray, I highly recommend checking out Dr. Mercola's products. I haven't tried anything besides these two items, but if everything else is as good as these ones, I wouldn't hesitate to try them!