Shiny! PlanetBox Shuttle Review

Our new PlanetBox Shuttle is ready for launch... er... lunch!  

As soon as my preschooler Birdie saw the new mini PlanetBox, she exclaimed "Is that a PlanetBox for ME?!"  I told her it was for everyone, but that she could have the first special lunch in it - her choice. She asked for a bubblegum cheese sandwich - meaning she wanted it cut with the gumball machine Lunch Punch :) I added some cheddar cheese details and built a theme around it :

The size of the PlanetBox Shuttle is perfect for a smaller appetite. It's 3 cup capacity is divided into 2 compartments. The larger side has just the right dimensions for a full size sandwich, something many of our smaller containers can't accommodate. I love to use sandwich cutters so that's a big plus for me! 

The PlanetBox Shuttle also comes with a lidded Tall Dipper for wet or messy foods, that can be used in either compartment. I filled it with yogurt topped with multicoloured nonpareils - in keeping with the gumball theme - and filled the rest of the smaller side with watermelon, cantaloupe, & honeydew melon balls. I even found a Lunchbox Love note with a bubblegum fact!

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The PlanetBox Shuttle is also a great size for portion-control, snacks ...
or breakfast! I sent my Sailor Boy to work with a healthy breakfast to go:  

Hearty granola, fresh blueberries & strawberries, & vanilla yogurt sure beats the fast food drive-thru! This nutritious breakfast packed in the PlanetBox Shuttle is better for his body, & better for the planet, too - no waste!

Just like the PlanetBox Rover & Launch, the Shuttle comes with one set of decorative magnets, with more designs available separately.

The magnets do more than add a splash of colour - they make it easy to identify whose PlanetBox is whose if your family has more than one! We keep our extra PlanetBox magnets on the refrigerator doors :)

The PlanetBox Shuttle Complete Kit adds the insulated carry bag with designs that match the magnets! There's just enough room to add a slim ice pack (such as the PlanetBox ColdKit) and utensils if needed.

The PlanetBox Shuttle is a welcome addition to my family's PlanetBox family. 

I can already tell it's going to get a lot of use. 

• 7th grader Beanstalk likes the stainless steel because it won't hold odors and the metal looks cool. 
• 5th grader Bella likes how grown up it looks, and the pretty bag. 
• 3rd grader Pickle is hard on his lunch gear but I know from our Rover & Launch that the Shuttle can take it :) 
• 1st grader Sprout is a chatterbox and rarely finishes her lunch at school - she  likes that the Shuttle fits on her lap while open so she can snack on the drive home. 
• Preschooler Birdie likes that it's shiny! 
• I like how easy to clean it is, and I love our PlanetBoxes for their quality and how they make it easy to make less waste and waste less money! 

Overall, we love it! And so do some of my lunch blogging friends:

Organized Bites takes the Shuttle to the circus.

Does Becoming a Bentoholic love it, or love it not?

The Roxx Box contrasts & compares PlanetBoxes.

Lunchbox Dad gives an in-depth review.

Bento School Lunches is packed with cuteness :)

Diana Rambles about her new Shuttle.

What's For Lunch At Our House? A PlanetBox Shuttle bento!

Biting The Hand That Feeds You take the Shuttle to the park.

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Items used to make the gumball lunch:

 Lunchbox Love note - Lunch Punch sandwich cutter - OXO melon baller

Disclosure: I received a complimentary PlanetBox Shuttle to review. No other compensation was given for this post. All descriptions, photographs & opinions are my own & my family's. This post does contain affiliate links.

Patriotic Prechool Bento + Shake Test!

I didn't plan on making a patriotic bento today, but it evolved into one when I noticed all the foods I'd packed were red, white & blue... so I stuck a paper American flag in one of the cheese pieces and voilà! A 4th of July-worthy preschool bento lunch or sampler snack tray :)

Birdie & Sprout shared this colourful sampler for an afternoon snack:

• red, white & blue Goldfish crackers
• mozzarella string cheese
• strawberries
• blueberries
• yogurt for dipping
• dried strawberries
• yogurt-covered raisins

Packed in their Zak! Designs Dr. Sears Nibble Tray

Shake it up! 

I packed yogurt in the detachable EZ Freeze dip section of the Nibble Tray specifically so I could do a shake test with it. A reader had recently asked: "Does the attached tray travel well with the body or come unattached easily? [Her child] is a lunchbox swinger and banger, so everything has to be very sturdy!" I didn't know... so I decided to put it to the test :)

 

The "leaf" dip section attaches securely to the "pineapple" main section with tabs on the leaf that clip into slots on the pineapple. The lid of the main section actually overlaps the clips so when it is filled and sealed, the dip section cannot come unattached, even when overturned, as shown in the pic above. The lids seal well too. To see if the Nibble Tray could survive being jostled about in a schoolbag,  I filled it, sealed it, then shook it up, on video :

I just love our Nibble Tray, and so do my little ones! 

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post or solicited review. Descriptions, video & opinions are my own,  given purely in response to a reader question :) This post does contain affiliate links, because, if you're going to buy one based on what you've seen here, why not toss a few coins my way!

Personalized Preschool Lunch!

My preschooler's personalized bento is packed in her Dr. Sears Nibble Tray:

My 6 year old, Sprout, wanted her lunch in her little sister's Yumbox, and 4 year old Birdie was happy to share. Both girls had cheddar & mozzarella cheese, carrots, red grapes, strawberries, apples & goldfish crackers. I used alphabet bento picks & Scrabble Cheez-it crackers to spell their names.

Sprout also had a treat of Sunbursts candy coated sunflower seeds. Yummy :)

They'll both be excited about the new Framboise Pink Yumbox - coming soon!

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Some stuff used to make these lunches:

A Bee-autiful Lunch

Yesterday's lunch for my busy bee Birdie :

Her Yumbox is packed with: 

• an oatmeal apple muffin, baked in a bee silicone cup 
• yogurt with yellow sugar sprinkles & chocoladehagel
• mozzarella string cheese pieces topped with Scrabble Cheez-its
• raspberries & green grapes
• baby carrots & blanched broccoli (she prefers it to completely raw)
• yogurt-covered raisins

Stuff used to make this lunch:

[update 7.25.13]  This bee lunch is 1 of 3 of my Yumbox bentos included in a month's worth of Yumbox lunches featured on Hellobee today!  

Stars & Stars Revisited

School's out for summer, no need to pack lunches this week! I still have lunches I photographed but never blogged though :) Here's an end of the school year lunch for my kindergarten star Sprout's 2nd to last day:

Raspberries with a congratulatory cupcake pick, carrots, cheddar "gold stars", & graham crackers, packed in her yubo lunchbox, with a Goodbyn bottle.

Here are a couple more star lunches, from back in March:

Birdie's Yumbox contains cherry yogurt with star sprinkles, watermelon, carrots, cucumber slices embedded with carrots stars, whole grain cheese crackers, an egg a couple of yogurt-covered cookie stars, and I can't remember what was in the little shooting star box :)

Birdie didn't eat the cucumbers & carrots, so I reused them in Bella's EasyLunchbox the next day:

She had a turkey, cheddar & white cheddar flatbread sandwich, dried strawberries& fig newtons, and Bidie's leftover veggies.

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Some of the stuff used to make these lunches:

And the containers they're packed in:

Last Day of Kindergarten - Farewell Clifford!

Wow, this school year went by fast! My kindergartner Bean Sprout had such a great year :) As excited as she is about going into first grade next Fall, she's going to be sad to say goodbye to her her beloved kindergarten teacher & her fun classroom, and their mascot, Clifford the Big Red Dog.  Today is her last day, and this is her last Clifford themed kindergarten school lunch:

Sprout's last day of school Go Green Lunch Box contains:

• Oatmeal carrot muffins - one for her teacher & one for her
• Strawberries (frozen) 
• Mozzarella string cheese (with a Clifford ring cupcake topper)
• Organic Berry Medley Junior Juice
• Yogurt with purple, red & green sugar sprinkles
• Granny Smith apple wedges
• Raisins, in a Monbento square egg mold used as a treat box
• tucked behind the muffins, a Light My Fire spork
• & a Lunchbox Love note ♥

I've made my Sprout more than a few Clifford lunches this year! We do love Clifford ♥ Here's a round up in case you missed any :)

April ~ Clifford in his doghouse

February ~ Valentine's Day & Clifford's 50th Birthday!
December ~ Clifford's First Snow

November ~ Learning is fun with Clifford

My bento blogger friend at Organized Bites has also made a Clifford the Big Red Dog lunch for her kidlet, check it out: My Big Red Valentine

And my bestie Karen at What's In our Lunch Bags? made one for Hallowe'en, Clifford's Halloween Howl, and one featuring Clifford and his canine friends:  Scholastic Big Red Readers.

Congratulations to my kindergarten graduate Sprout!  ♥

Look! Gnome Lunch!

Bella requested a Clif bar & fruit for lunch today. I made it cute:

Her EasyLunchbox contains a Clif bar decorated with a garden gnome cupcake pick, sunburst & cherry tomatoes, cantaloupe, dried strawberries, and in the little mushroom box, a surprise chocolate treat.

Some of the stuff I used to make this lunch cute:

Thank you to my buddy erin of feeling a little lunchy for the gnome picks!

Whale of a Lunch

Whales are my favourite animal,  and Orcas my favourite whales. So I love this simple lunch embellished with Killer Whale cupcake picks :)

Red seedles grapes, baby carrots, cantaloupe, ham & cheese flatbread sandwich, mozzarella string cheese, & Goldfish crackers. And a Lunchbox Love note left over from our Valentine's Day card set.

Peanut butter sandwich whales for Pickle:

Made with Lunch Punch animal shapes set :)

Linked to:

Balls. With grassy residue.

If you don't watch Doctor Who,  this post's title may have given you pause...

... but trust me, you can easily make these peanut butter balls non-Whovian by skipping the green coconut coating.  I've made them both ways, read on :)

If you do watch Doctor Who, consider making these fantastic treats for your 50th Anniversary or Farewell Eleven party!

I wanted to participate in my friend Karen's new sticky note recipe linky party, Stick To It Sundays, and had the ingredients for peanut butter balls, but I wanted to make them special for her inaugural Linky...  

She's the most Whovian gal I know,  and what comes to mind when you think of Doctor Who & balls? Rory's dad Brian's golf balls from Dinosaurs On A Spaceship, of course! She's even made a grassy residue balls bento  :)

The Doctor: You don't have any vegetable matter in your trousers, do you, Brian?

Brian: Only my balls.

The Doctor: I'm sorry?

Brian: Golf balls. Grassy residue.

I dyed some shredded coconut green for grass, rolled a few balls in that instead of the usual graham crumbs,  and Bob's your uncle :)

They are even better with coconut! I did stick to the original recipe for most of them, since that's how the sproutlets like them - but I love coconut so the grassy ones were mine :) 

So the premise of this linky is that you can link up any recipe, but it must fit on a standard sticky note. Sounds simple, right? It's harder than it looks! I've got terrible penmanship when I'm not trying to write smaller than usual! I suppose I could have typed it in a tiny font, but that seemed like cheating... judges? Karen? In any case, I stuck to the rules and gave it my best  a shot :)

Click the cute little adipose button below to see more Sticky Note recipes!

And in case you can't read my printing, I typed out the recipe too.