You Pinspire Me
Well, I’m finally one of the many making school lunches every morning. My little man is almost 2 weeks into his school career and LOVING it.
Hendrik’s school, like many, has 2 ‘nutrition breaks’ instead of snack time & lunch time. This means that I need to pack him 2 mini-lunches, because if he was left to his own devices he’d eat everything during his first nutrition break and be a hangry monster by the time the school day ended. It’s my goal to get a couple of cool lunch containers like these, but since our budget has been severely cut this summer due to grad school, I settled for some decent Dollarama divided containers that fit quite perfectly inside this Thinsulate Superman lunch bag (which, incidentally, was a Dollarama find as well).
I’ve never been a fan of sandwiches (unless they’re grilled or pressed!), so I try to avoid packing sandwiches for my son – he’ll eat enough sandwiches in his life without me packing them day after day in school. Sometimes, however, non-sandwich lunches means a little bit of mess – crumbled egg yolks, hummus, sticky bananas – which is why we’ve got these fantastic fun cloth napkins to pack inside the lunch box!
Super cute, aren’t they? And guess what – YOU can win some Funkins of your own! Read all the way to the end to find out how!
Hendrik has been so proud & excited to show off his different napkins to his teachers and friends, and has told me that we don’t need to use wet-wipes at home anymore, either, since we have cloth napkins that don’t even have to go in the garbage!
I love the bento-style lunch boxes, but I don’t know where this crazy idea has come from that bento lunch boxes need to be full of googly-eyes and cookie-cutter-shaped fruit & bread. When I was in Japan, the students all brought lunch to school in bento boxes. (After all, Japan is the origin of this style of lunch box!) What I never once saw was bread shaped like panda bears and garnishes food-glued onto other food. Besides taking way too much time to prepare, I have to wonder: what is happening to the leftovers of the food after the cookie cutter has been used? I don’t want my kids to think it’s ok to only eat food that looks pretty and throw away the rest.
Here are some (non-creative but super tasty and nutritious) lunch / nutrition break / bento box ideas! These portions are pretty much perfect for my 4.5 year old.
Day 1:
Nutrition Break 1: 1 Hardboiled Egg with a little salt, 1 peeled mandarin orange, 5 cherry tomatoes, 1 stroopwafel.
Nutrition Break 2: 4 baby carrots, 1 bunch of grapes, 1/2 cup Annie’s Organic Bunny crackers, 2 thick slices of cheese.
Day 2:
Nutrition Break 1: 5 Ritz Crackers, 2 thick slices of cheese, 1 peeled mandarin orange, 1 crispy rice treat.
Nutrition Break 2: 1 Hardboiled Egg, 1 bunch of grapes, 1/3 cup broccoli.
Day 3:
Nutrition Break 1: 1/4 blueberry bagel with cream cheese, 1 banana oat cookie, 1/2 sliced apple, 1 hardboiled egg.
Nutrition Break 2: 1/2 blueberry bagel with cream cheese, 6 grapes, 1 thick slice of cheese, 2 slices of ham rolled up, 1/3 cup broccoli salad.
Day 4:
Nutrition Break 1: 1 bunch of grapes, 1/2 sliced apple, 1 banana oat cookie, 2 thick slices of cheese.
Nutrition Break 2: 1/2 blueberry bagel with cream cheese, 1 thick slice of cheese, 2 slices of rolled ham, 3 slices of cucumber with dip.
Day 5:
Nutrition Break 1: 1/2 sliced apple, 1 banana oat cookie, 3 slices of rolled ham, 3 thick slices of cheese, 1/2 cup Annie’s Organic Bunny Crackers.
Nutrition Break 2: 1/4 cup hummus, 1/2 cup pretzels, 1 bunch of grapes, 1 crispy rice snack.
Now it’s your turn. I know I’m going to get to the kitchen one morning and realize that I haven’t the foggiest idea of what to pack in Hendrik’s lunch. What do you make for your kids? What are your go-tos, your faves? Do you have Bento Box ideas to share?
Win a 6 Pack of Funkins Napkins!
Enter to win 6 hand-sewn Funkins napkins! Take a look at all of the awesome styles & patterns they have over here, and if you’re not lucky enough to be the winner, use this Funkins coupon code for 30% off your order (until September 30!): CANADA30
Jenn vanOosten
Latest posts by Jenn vanOosten (see all)
- How I Epically Failed the #RenewLife 30 Day Challenge… and Why that Failure is Helping Me Kick Off a Great 2018 - January 8, 2018
- What to Watch on Netflix: Jenn’s Top Picks from 2017 #StreamTeam - January 2, 2018
- I’ll take my Netflix To Go, Please! - December 5, 2017
