First Day of School 2013/2014

Yesterday was our first day back to school for everyone. Thankfully everybody had a wonderful day. I had to wipe away a tear or two and cannot believe how fast they grow up.

Here are our First Day of School Lunches:

My second grader was happy to take a school themed lunch in his Good Lunch Box:

• garden cucumbers and baby carrots
• strawberry hearts
• two peanut butter sandwiches and
• a Enjoy Life Cocoa Loco bar

I also added a sweet Lunchbox Love Card to make sure he knows how much I'll miss him!

My third grader wanted his Laptop Lunches bento box filled with all his favorites:

• apples and strawberry hearts
• Annie's Cheddar Bunnies
• a cute Snoopy container filled with dark mini chocolate chips for the vanilla yogurt
• Snoopy peanut butter sandwiches
• vanilla yogurt and a
• cereal bar

I also packed a Lunchbox Love Card in his lunch. It was very quiet here without him.

For my oldest son it was the first day of Middle School and nothing cute was allowed. We packed his Laptop Lunches bento box with:

• apples and strawberries
• Annie's Cheddar Bunnies
• a Woodstock container with dark mini chocolate chips for the yogurt
• two left over chicken pieces from the day before
• Vanilla yogurt and 
• a cereal bar

His Lunchbox Love Card is turned around to just show the trivia. All grown up!

Our after school snack

Things I used to make our lunches (contain affiliate links):

"Joe and Sparky Go to School" - The perfect Back to School book!

Today's lunch is all about Joe and Sparky! My kids love the "Joe and Sparky" book series by Jamie Michalak. Her books are always funny and sweet. Her new book "Joe and Sparky Go to School" is funny, creative and a great read for all ages! And - of course- the perfect book to read before school starts or even during the year. Absolutely hilarious!

If you haven't read this amazing book yet, here is the description from Amazon:

Sparky the turtle may be cautious, but when the strange vehicle full of noisy short people pulls away from Safari World, he finds himself stuck on the bus’s roof just the same. Luckily his giraffe friend, Joe, is adventurous enough to take a running jump, too! When they arrive at school, they discover that there’s a lot to learn, like the fact that the restroom is full of little magic "ponds," that you’re supposed to count the peas, not eat them, and that the goal of the day seems to be to get a star. But just when Joe fears that he may have to go home starless, Sparky reminds him of all the ways that his loyal friend already shines. Readers will roll over laughing — and find lots to relate to — in this hilarious new adventure.

We packed our Easylunchboxes with a fun Joe and Sparky lunch:

• strawberry hearts because we love Joe and Sparky
• a cheese star on cheese crackers to make sure we get that star
• and of course Joe and Sparky looking out through the broccoli trees. Joe is made out of rice, cheese and nori and Sparky is a turtle pick. The broccoli trees also have a few carrot flowers.

Pool Lunches

We are experiencing a heat wave - like most of the country - and projected temperatures are in the triple digits. The kids want to head to the pool as early as possible and I am all in favor of fun and cool activity.

Heading to the pool in the morning also means we need lunch. For all 5 of us and possibly something more then a box of crackers. We brainstormed together and picked our Easylunchboxes for ease of packing in an assembly line. 

Everybody helped put together the lunches and we kept is simple and uniform to be faster (we packed this lunch in 10 min!) and make it easier on little hands.

The result:

Our 5 Easylunchboxes are packed with:

• cucumbers, carrots, grape tomatoes and radishes
• Annie's Organic Snack Mix
• 3/4 of a sandwich of choice (we packed peanut butter and jelly and cheese sandwiches)
• and a small silicone cup with slice strawberries and a mini fork 

 

We were able to fit all the lunches in two of our Easylunchboxes cooler bags which fit in my beach bag. So convenient!

Yum! We loved our pool lunches and this was so much healthier and nutritious then grabbing snacks from the snack cabinet.

Mickey Mouse Snack

I packed my preschooler a morning snack today - that she can have anytime she needs it - in the hopes I can get a few things organized.

We packed our Innobaby Keepin' Fresh stainless bento box and matching drinking cup (review to come soon!) with 

• cucumbers, 
• carrots, 
• cheese flowers, 
• cantaloupe melon bits and pieces and one big Mickey Mouse melon and 
• two small peanut butter and jelly Mickey Mouse sandwiches. 

The smiles were priceless and I am hoping to get some thing organized this morning :)

Disposable Field Trip Lunches {with Tutorial}

We had a couple of field trips lately and I wanted to share our disposable field trip lunches with you.

This field trip lunch was for a regular field trip for First Grade:

I packed a strawberry container with:

• an apple
• a peanut butter and jelly pocket sandwich
• an all natural blueberry fig bar from Nature's Bakery 
• and an Honest Kids juice pouch

I have gotten some questions lately about packing disposable field trip lunches and wanted to show you how I generally pack mine:

1) I layer napkins into the strawberry container.

2) I add the apple or other heavier large items like an applesauce or pudding.

3) Try to fill up the bottom with the heavier items like a cereal or fig bar.

4) Next, I added the pocket sandwich.

5) Last but not not least: the juice pouch. I froze mine to use as a cooler and added a piece of wax paper between the sandwich and juice pouch so the sandwich would not get soggy. Depending on your juice pouch or container you can also add the juice box first and layer the heavy items on top finishing with the sandwich. My son likes his sandwich very cold and that is why I chose to layer the juice pouch on top of the sandwich :)

6) Fold over the napkins to cover the lunch...

7) ...add a cute Lunchbox Love Card and you have a fun and thoughtful field trip lunch without squished sandwiches and broken crackers :)

Disposable Field Trip Lunch for Sports Day

The school requested a disposable brown bag lunch for last week's field trip and this is was we packed for lunch:

• Mott's all natural Applesauce
• Cheez-It Scrabble crackers
• a peanut butter sandwich
• carrots and cucumbers
• grapes in a paper muffin cup
• and three blueberry morning cookies as well as
• a big bottle of water

To prevent the peanut butter sandwich and grapes to be squished, I packed everything into a recyclable sandwich deli box. With the added fun napkin and Lunchbox Love Note - wishing them a great day - it was a fun and special day lunch. The bottle of water and deli sandwich box fit in a XL brown paper bag!

And if you want to stock up on Lunchbox Love Cards for lunches and upcoming field trips, use my code Mamabel to get 15% off right now :)

Every-Bunny Loves Lunch

Last weekend we found a special visitor on our porch:

Can you guess how excited my kids were? We let him rest in the shade and gave him some water and carrots. He stayed for a couple of days and the kids loved having him around.

He eventually went home to a new home and I know the kids miss him. I decided that it would be nice to make them bunny themed lunches to remind them of our special guest :)

Our yubo is packed with:

• four mini bunny sandwiches
• carrots and Annie's bunny cheese crackers
• vanilla yogurt with a sprinkle bunny shape and 
• Naturebox Vanilla granola with a small bunny cup filled with mini chocolate chips for the yogurt

I also added a sweet Lunchbox Love Card to remind them how sweet it was of them to care for the bunny.

Our yumbox is packed with more bunny food:

• Annie's cheddar bunnies
• a cereal bar
• 4 mini bunny sandwiches
• tomatoes with a bunny pick
• cucumber flowers
• and a few gummy treats

And when my preschooler saw all the bunny lunches, she of course wanted one, too. She helped pack her own lunch for today:

Since she ate at home she just packed a yumbox tray:

• with baby carrots
• Annie's cheddar bunnies
• four mini bunny sandwiches
• apples with a bunny pick
• and cucumber flowers as well as
• a few fruit gummies

Mama's Lunch

Mamas gotta eat, too. I pack lunch for myself most days as well but often forget to post them.
Today, I am posting just my lunch for a change :)

I packed lunch in my monbento MB original bento box. I love the size which is perfect for a generous lunch.

I packed my monbento with

• grapes
• carrot sticks
• a cheese stick 
• a vegan peanut butter bar

and

• brown left over rice 
• with a zuccini, squash and muchroom stir fry
• I also packed some soy sauce which is not pictured. YUM!

Rainy Day Lunches

We are starting the week on a rainy, dreary and windy Tuesday. I decided to brighten their day with colorful lunches and pack all their favorites.

I packed our yumbox with a blueberry Chobani Champions tube yogurt, apple slices and kiwi, left over chicken, mini ice cream shaped peanut butter sandwiches and some baby carrots with dip. We packed milk today instead of water. 

For my second grader I added some sun with a funny Lunchbox Love Card, and packed his yubo with Pirate Booty and cinnamon almonds, puzzle shaped peanut butter and blueberry jelly sandwiches and vanilla yogurt with Naturebox Vanilla Macroon Granola and a few mini chocolate chips. He brought home made strawberry milk in our thermos Funtainer. Hope the sun peaks out for lunch!

My 5th grader brought lunch in his Laptop Lunches bento box filled with Pirate Booty and Cinnamon Almonds, apples (and mini chocolate chips for his yogurt in the mini container), vanilla yogurt and a nitrate-free salami sandwich on whole wheat bread. He packed some lemonade to bring summer to school.

Let's hope the rain goes away!!

Here are some of the things I used to make these lunches (the links contain affiliate links):