Monday, September 13, 2010

School Lunch Ideas: #1

Friends have been asking, "when are you going to post a new recipe on your blog?"  Yeah, well, I have been a little bit busy.  I am sure many parents out there will agree that the first couple of weeks of school are CRAZY busy! Could they add another parent meeting or PTA meeting to my calendar?   Add a few volunteer planning meetings in for good measure ....help!


At my house, "back to school" means lots of lunches to plan and pack.  Do you remember a time when you were a kid and your friends were in awe of your amazing lunch.  Oh, that only happened a few times or never?  Regardless, when other kids took notice of your lunch I bet it felt pretty darn good.  I can remember being excited about certain "special treats" or other "different" lunch items.  I can also remember looking into someone elses lunch box with envy.  Kids are really curious to see what everyone else has in their lunch box.  In any case, my main concern is that lunches be healthy and easy to make.  This post is the first in a series of ideas and helpful tips to make your brown-bag planning and assembly a "piece of cake"! 

In the above picture I have added a little garnish to my tuna salad --see my Tuna Salad Recipes.  It couldn't be easier to slice up a lemon and store it in a zip-loc baggie or other container.  My kids love tuna salad so it doesn't need to be "dressed-up" but, oh boy, do they love it when it is!!  Their friends are looking and asking, "wow, what is that?"  I love the container on the left because it has the little fork attached.  I tell my kids that when they are finished eating they are to store the fork inside the container --to make sure no food gets smeared all over the inside of the bag/box.  No need to purchase packages of disposable utensils --love that. The container on the right is nice, too.  It has a very tight seal and also has a little cold pack that fits inside the lid --but I need to add untensils when using --don't love that.  I found these and all the others (in the picture below) at The Container Store.