 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
| |
|
CURING THE OLD SANDWICH BLUES by Amanda Formaro http://familycorner.com |
Recently
my son had the pleasure of "testing" a great lunch box, known as the
IdealBox. He loved it and so did all of his friends at school. This
"cool" box, as my eight year old coined it, helps to keep hot food
hot and cold food cold...in the same container!Two Miami moms, Laura Renzi and Denise Madan have solved the age-old school lunch dilemma. Renzi and Madan have created two new lunch boxes, The Ideal Box and the MOM Box; both designed to send children to school with more than the same old sandwich. The Ideal Box provides all in one convenience for hot and cold food storage for several hours with separate hot and cold insulated food compartments. "After interviewing over 1000 parents of children ranging in ages from 3-10 years, we realized there was a real need for an all in one, hot and cold storage lunch box," said Denise Madan, mother of seven-year old son Gabriel. "It is perfect for children that don't like sandwiches or in general are picky eaters. Now moms can send their child's favorite meal, such as chicken, rice and peas and feel confident that their child is going to eat his lunch. Editor's Note: During our testing, we found that food stayed moderately warm and fairly cool. Items that we used were not prepped in any way. A second testing proved that if a juice box were partially frozen and the cold compartment was lined in a layer of aluminum foil, the results were much better. Juice and fruit stayed cold. The hot compartment worked better when lined in foil as well. The Ideal Box has two separate insulated compartments, one labeled hot in red type and the other labeled cold in blue type (for the little ones who can't read yet). The hot side comes with it's own plastic microwave food container divided into three sections so that foods don't mix together. Editor's Note: This container is great for mini meals such as leftover meatloaf or hamburger, but not recommended for liquid lunch, such as soup or SpaghettiO's. The seal on the container is not good enough to hold in liquid lunch without spilling. The oversized cold section can accommodate a 4-oz snack, such as yogurt or Jell-O, a half-pint juice or milk box, fresh fruit, cheese stick and cookies. Editor's Note: We will attest that there was plenty of room for good things to eat. We included a yogurt, grapes, juice and cookies.  Made of durable nontoxic plastic, the Ideal Box contains no glass material and is dishwasher safe. The Ideal Box comes with a reusable fork/spoon set, an adjustable carrying strap and the easy to open clasps were designed for young fingers. Editor's Note: My eighteen month old will agree with this. ;-) Very easy to open and the kids at school said it was "cool". Our 1st grade product tester, Tony, said he was worried that the kids would think it was "dorky". He was pleasantly surprised by the reaction of his lunchmates. They were fascinated by the different compartments, almost like opening a treasure box. New on the market for this coming back-to-school season, is the unique My Own Masterpiece or MOM Box. Smaller in size than the Ideal Box, it has one insulated oversized compartment, good for either hot or cold food, that will fit a 12 oz soft drink and an 8 oz yogurt. The uniqueness of this box is the design. It comes with 5 snap on bugs or butterflies and a clear plastic 4 x 6 photo sleeve. A child can choose to snap in the big bright colored bugs, display a photo of his dog, or show off his masterpiece from art class. Kids can change the look of their lunch box daily with this innovative design. Taking lunch has never been this much fun. 
Editor's Note: Though our product testers have not had the opportunity to see the MOM box first hand, we are anxiously awaiting its arrival in the mail. With the new school year starting, it will be a great back to school gift. The Ideal Box Company Inc. was created three years ago when Renzi's son Bobby, started school and didn't like sandwiches. Renzi tried several lunch boxes, however each one failed to deliver a container that could keep food warm. That's when Renzi started sketching her ideas in her notebook. After teaming up with Madan, the pair embarked on their mission to design the perfect children's school lunch experience. Within one year and an initial investment of $40,000 the Ideal Box became a marketable product. Last year both Kmart and Wal-Mart made them vendors. Editor's Rating: We give the IdealBox 4.5 stars out of 5. This product is wonderful, the children loved it, even if it included a plain old sandwich. Just the novelty of the box was inviting enough. The only reason this product did not receive 5 stars was because we had to line the compartments with foil for maximum efficiency. A wonderful product that I, and my product testers, highly recommend.
|
|
About the Author: Amanda Formaro is the entrepreneurial mother of four children. She and her husband live in southern Nevada. She is also the owner of familycorner.com magazine at http://familycorner.com |
|
|||||
|
|||||
Create My Own Soup 
