Fabulous Food Friday

What's for Lunch?

Part I

Ah, yes...the all important school lunch. I remember the days of bringing my lunch box to school, or working in the cafeteria so we could earn our hot lunches for free! It was a break from the academic day, a chance to hang out with friends...and to trade food whenever possible.

From what I remember, my mom seemed to pack one of the more healthier lunches. I was the one with the wheat bread sandwich in a sea of white bread. I don't remember what kind of snacks we had, but I do remember trading some of them to another girl for her Doritos (the prized chip of the day). I also remember I was still bringing a lunch box even long after it was "cool." When my other classmates brought their lunch in a nice brown paper lunch bag, I was still toting around my Garfield lunch box. Oh, well...what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Supplies:

In preschool, Natalie had a vinyl princess lunch tote that I quickly discarded after finding out it was made with toxic materials. There was a big scare a few years ago, so paranoid mom that I am, I packed the rest of her lunches that year in paper bags (that I decorated with my rubber stamps!).

Last year in Kindergarten, she only had lunch at school every other Wednesday, so I just let her buy lunch at school. This year she is a full-time student in need of a lunch every day, so I tried to find the lunch box that would be the best fit for Natalie. I came across this princess lunchbox and it reminded me of mine growing up, so I just had to get it. Earlier in the summer, Target had these cute princess printed sandwich/snack bags (pkg of 30) in their dollar spot. Couldn't pass those up, then I found the other sandwich box at the Disney Store to use when the sandwich bags run out.

If paper bags are more your speed, here are a few cute ideas...(yea, yea, I know they are over the top, but sometimes going the extra mile is fun!)


Basic Lunch Ideas
Here are a few things I came up with for this weeks lunches.

(obviously she doesn't get all of this at once)
PB&J cut with heart-shaped sandwich cutter, apple, juice, carrots with dip, PB and honey tortilla roll up with granola to dip it in and a muffin.

Here are some more ideas:
Sandwiches:
lunch meat & cheese, ham and cheese wrap, chicken salad sandwich, pita pockets, bagel sandwich, egg salad sandwich

Sides:
fresh cut veggies & dip, fresh whole fruit, applesauce, pretzels, frozen yogurt, string cheese, box raisins, fruit salad, ants on a log (celery w/PB and raisins), crackers with cheese, pumpkin seeds, almonds, dried fruit, fruit leather, trail mix, cucumber slices, juice, fruit bowl, rice chips, baby carrots, grapes, rice krispies square, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, granola bars, homemade cookies!!!

Thanks to Google, I found a great link with many more ideas:

More lunch ideas

And let's not forget to pack a note for your kids. It's a great way to encourage early reading. Check out some lunchbox notes I made for Natalie. That's all for now...more to come!