Omie boxes

Here are my initial thoughts on the Omie box.  We are loving our Omie boxes (thanks Sis H for this lovely Christmas gift)!  We ordered 2 boxes from readisetgo.ca.  It's the only Canadian site currently selling this lunch box at the moment.  It retails for $50 USD... and with the current exchange rate and weak dollar, the Canadian price $69.95 is expensive but fair.  We just finished off our first week back to school and the Omie box got used 4 out of 5 days.  The kids like having "hot lunch" and I like not packing extra containers with separate thermo containers.  The compartments are deeper than a Yumbox.  The food isn't hot at lunch time, but does stay warm.  The things I don't like about the Omie boxes are that they are heavy and the divider slides around and doesn't always keep food separated (in the section that uses the divider).  My grade 1 boy doesn't have any issues opening or closing the box and thermos.  My 2 yr old needs help with opening and closing the Omie box.  She can open the thermos if it's not closed tightly.  So in comparison to a Yumbox, this is trickier for a preschooler to use.

The only other big name lunchbox we don't have in our collection but may get one day are stainless steel lunchbox kits: Planetbox (they come in three sizes: launch, rover and shuttle).  I'm not in a rush to pick one up because I don't mind the plastic ones we have.  I've heard that the Planetboxes do leak... so it might not be good for directly packing things like yogurt.  Looks like they are moving in the direction of bento style accessories with silicone food cups... They have recently introduced some silicone "pods" but I don't know if it seals closed in the container when the lid is closed.

I've been sick and haven't had energy to make themed lunches.  I picked up some new supplies over the holidays that I'd love to try out soon.  I hope to recover and get back into making fun snacks and lunches.