Kids lunch boxes

Last fall I started making lunch boxes for my daughter who was attending preschool.  Being around fresh food all day, I knew I would have to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into her lunches.  It all started when she saw these PackIt lunch box commercials.   The makers of PackIt claim that the food stays cold for up to 10 hours.  She had memorized the entire commercial.  Marketing genius.

http://www.lunchboxes.com/packit-personal-cooler.html

Just like prepping for dinner, putting her lunch box together is still sort of a scramble every morning.  The key is to have a few essentials around and your imagination.  I’ve found that at her age, its just more fun to eat a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  Sorta, like a picnic.  Also, allowing her to choose one or two items has always worked.

Hard boiled egg, cheese wheel, oranges, grapes and olives.  She really likes deviled eggs, which I’ve only attempted to make a couple of times in my life.  I find she still enjoys my version just as much. 😉

Peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese sandwiches are always winners.  To make it fun, I used a cookie cutter for a nice surprise.  Sliced apples, with a squirt of lemon or lime juice to keep them from browning, always make regular appearances in our lunch boxes.

Here’s a homemade version of the popular lunchables.  I just added some carrot sticks with peanut butter, raisins and olives.  To make her lunch even more fun, I bought a few different cupcake liners to keep her food separate.

And of course, we can’t forget our very own Parkesdale strawberries.  Peanut butter and jelly, cheese stick, grape tomatoes and sliced apples.  So, maybe she didn’t get her vegetable servings for the day, but she definitively got her fruit servings!  It probably took me about 5 minutes to put her lunches together, but I hope she remembers to always “eat the rainbow“.