Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Kindergarten School Lunch #10

This lunch includes a way to give your kiddo a kiss in the middle of their school day. So sweet and cute! Not to mention that it's tasty and healthy! For more details look below, and for my previous school lunch posts click here.  


 Packed in this lunch is:
- A lips shaped sandwich (the kiss!)
- Some mandarin oranges
- Some Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese Curds
- A Honest Kid's Organic Appley Ever After juice pouch
- of course a note from me, a cloth napkin, a fork, and the ice packs to keep the food cold as well

For the Kiss Sandwich:
- Assemble a sandwich however your kiddo likes
- Use a lip shaped cookie cutter (you can usually find these in packs of Valentine's Day cookie cutters), but I'm sure you could find one online as well
- Use a pink food marker to trace around the lips shape, and add a line in the middle to divide them


Kindergarten School Lunch #9

For this school lunch I made Sandwich Squares, and Honey Goat Cheese & Strawberry Skewers. I also packed some Trader Joe's Multigrain Pita Bite Crackers and hummus for dipping. 


For the Sandwich Square Skewers:
1. Grab your sandwich fixings and assemble it! So for me, I get some honey wheat bread, SunButter and Super Fruit Jam. I lightly toast the bread and then assemble the sandwich.
2. Once you've got it all made and ready, use a FunBites sandwich cutter that makes bite sized square pieces, you can get one here.
3. Next grab some food picks and add sandwich squares onto them. I fit three per food pick. And viola you're done and lunch is super fun to eat for your kiddo!

For the Honey Goat Cheese & Strawberry Skewers:
1. Gather up the ingredients, there's just two: honey goat cheese, and strawberries!
2. Cut both the honey goat cheese and the strawberries into small enough pieces. You want them bite-sized, but not too small either.
3. Slide the pieces onto your skewers in an alternating order. I went strawberry, honey goat cheese, strawberry for each one this time.


Kindergarten School Lunch #8

This school lunch is so fun! It's super cute, and packs in lots of tasty nutrients. If you'd like more details on how to recreate this lunch scroll down. To view my other school lunch ideas click here

As you can see I packed a puzzle shaped sandwich, some trail mix, fruit and an apple juice.

For the sandwich all you need to do is assemble a sandwich the way you typically would for your kiddos lunch. I like to use SunButter and Super Fruit Jam for a lot of sandwiches. Once you've got your sandwich made all you need to do is use one of these sandwich cutters to make the puzzle shape.

As for the trail mix and fruit you could replace them with any sides your kiddo likes of course. Or use any type of fruit or any type of trail mix. I used strawberries and blueberries for the fruit, and I used cashews, peanuts, raisins, and chocolates for the trail mix. 

To drink I put in a Honest Kids Organic Appley Ever After juice pouch. 


Saturday, August 26, 2017

Kindergarten School Lunch #7

Here's a fun lunch that includes sandwich squares, crackers, hummus, oranges, and a juice. For more details keep on scrolling, and for my previous school lunch posts click here. 


I've probably given the recipe for Sandwich Squares quite a few times now, haha! But it's such a favorite for my daughter. She always finishes her whole sandwich when I serve it in this way. 

Sandwich Squares:
Step 1: Gather your sandwich ingredients and assemble the sandwich according to how your little one likes it. I lightly toasted some Sara Lee Honey Wheat bread, then I put SunButter on both slices and then some chocolate hazelnut spread on as well. Then of course I put the slices of bread together.
Step 2: Once you've got your sandwich made, use a FunBites sandwich cutter to make it into little squares.
Step 3: Put the Sandwich Squares onto some food picks, 3 fit on each. You could also toss the little squares into a reusable baking cup or something if you don't have any food picks. They are still fun to eat regardless of how they are served, I'm just always looking for simple ways to up the cute factor.

In this lunch I also packed a couple of little oranges, and some Trader Joe's Multigrain Pita Bite Crackers with some hummus in a little dip container. To drink I packed an Honest Kid's Organic Appley Ever After juice pouch. 

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Kindergarten School Lunch #6

This lunch was super easy and quick to throw together but still cute, delicious and nutritious. For details just keep on scrolling, and for my previous school lunch posts click here.


 In this lunch there is:
- A puzzle sandwich. Simple to put together, you just need to put together a regular sandwich and then use this cutter to make the puzzle shapes. I used SunButter and Super Fruit Jam on Sara Lee Honey Wheat Bread.
- Mandarin Oranges with little eye food picks in them. I like to call them Monster Mandarins. You can find some eye food picks here. I put them in a little rectangle reusable baking mold.
- A cheese stick
- A Trader Joe's Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie

Solar Eclipse School Lunch

I wanted to make a really fun lunch for my daughter for the solar eclipse day, but this lunch is adorable for any day. It's sure to add some sunshine to your little ones day. You can find details on this lunch below and my previous school lunch posts here.

In this lunch I packed:
- Trader Joe's Multigrain Pita Bite Crackers
- Sunshine shaped Colby Jack cheese slices. I made several of these with the Pop Chef and the sunshine attachment. I put these in there for my daughter to top the crackers with
- Sunshine shaped sandwiches. For these I started by making a regular sandwich, with SunButter and Super Fruit Jam and then cutting it into sunshine shapes with the Pop Chef and sunshine attachment. Once I had those I used a yellow food marker to outline the shapes and put a smiley face on them all.
- Some cut up kiwi
- A little orange
- For a drink: Honest Kids Organic Appley Ever After juice pouch


I also added in a little note that said "You are my sunshine" and was sunshine shaped!

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Kindergarten School Lunch #5

For this lunch I made some skewers. My daughter loves eating off of food picks, and the honey goat cheese & strawberry skewers have been one of her favorites for years. Sandwich squares skewered onto food picks is such a fun way to serve a sandwich as well, so I went ahead and did both for this lunch. It'll definitely be a big hit with my daughter!  I also added a drink, and another side. You can view details below and my previous school lunch posts here


For the Sandwich Square Skewers:
1. Grab your sandwich fixings and assemble it! So for me, I get some honey wheat bread, SunButter and Super Fruit Jam. I lightly toast the bread and then assemble the sandwich.
2. Once you've got it all made and ready, use a FunBites sandwich cutter that makes bite sized square pieces, you can get one here.
3. Next grab some food picks and add sandwich squares onto them. I fit three per food pick. And viola you're done and lunch is super fun to eat for your kiddo!

For the Honey Goat Cheese & Strawberry Skewers:
1. Gather up the ingredients, there's just two: honey goat cheese, and strawberries!
2. Cut both the honey goat cheese and the strawberries into small enough pieces. You want them bite-sized, but not too small either.
3. Slide the pieces onto your skewers in an alternating order. I went strawberry, honey goat cheese, strawberry for each one this time.

As you can tell these things both don't take too long to make, and make wonderful school lunch. Fun to eat, cute, tasty and healthy! Perfect! To drink I packed an Honest Kids Organic Appley Ever After juice, and a Slim Snack full of Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunnies. And as usual, I packed a note to make my daughter smile and enhance her reading skills.

Here it is all packed up!

Kindergarten School Lunch #4

For this lunch I made some cute little penguin shaped sandwiches, and packed along a yogurt smoothie and some yummy/healthy sides. Details below, previous lunches here.


For the sandwiches I just took a couple of pieces of bread, lightly toasted them, and spread on the fillings (SunButter, and Super Fruit Jam). You can assemble the sandwich however you would like, with whatever kind of bread and fillings your child enjoys. The final step is what makes it cute, and can be done no matter how you make the sandwich. I used a sandwich cutter that makes the sandwich into two penguins, you can find one here.

For the drink I put in a Trader Joe's Organic Yogurt Strawberry Smoothie. For the sides I put in some raspberries and some Trader Joe's Multigrain Pita Bite Crackers along with a little dip container filled with hummus.


Here's everything all packaged up, along with my little note! I highly encourage adding a note to your child's lunch box to make them smile and to enhance their reading skills. 

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Kindergarten School Lunch #3

For this lunch I made a couple of fun shaped sandwiches, paired them with some nutrient packed sides, and an Honest Kid's Organic Appley Ever After juice. For details look below, and for my previous school lunch posts look here.



For the sandwiches:
1. Grab the bread and fillings you would like to use for your kiddos sandwich
2. Lightly toast the slices of bread, that way they'll be a bit easier to work with spreads and cutters (I only do this when I'm using spreads, not when I'm making a sandwich with cheese/meats)
3. Spread on your sandwich fillings/assemble the sandwich
4. Use a sandwich cutter to make the shape you desire, I made a couple of elephants using this one

For the fruit salad:
1. Grab some fruits your kiddo likes. I used strawberries and kiwis, but the options for this are endless, and you can use much more than just two fruits. You could add: grapes, bananas, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, etc. Sprinkling some wheat germ on fruit also gives it an added nutritional boost, so feel free to do that if your little one likes it. We ran out and I need to get some more, my daughter has always especially liked it on peaches!
2. Slice/dice them up into appropriate sized pieces
3. Put them all in a container together and mix them up a bit

For the avocado I just cut some of one up that I was eating in the morning and added it in the lunch box. See, I told you I like to keep it simple! Then for the drink as I said I added in a pouch of apple juice, Honest Kids Organic Appley Ever After.

A big part of how I make my lunches so cute for my daughter are the products that I use to package them. Containers with smiling animal faces on them, cute food picks, cloth napkins with favorite characters, fun utensils, etc. So I always give a picture of the lunch with the lids off, and the lids on. I also always pack a note in my daughter's lunch box, helping her practice her reading skills in a fun way and giving her a little message to make her day at the same time. Sometimes those aren't pictured because I put them in the top pocket with the ice packs, but don't forget it's a great idea to do!


Saturday, August 12, 2017

Before School Breakfast #1 w/ Jelly Toast Squares

As you may already know I post lots of healthy school lunch ideas, which you can view here, but I'm also a big proponent of providing kids with nutritious and delicious breakfasts before they head off to their busy school days. So, I'm going to also be posting some ideas for that as well, in addition to posting school lunches! 

Here's #1: Cheesy scrambled eggs, jelly toast squares, and slices of avocado and banana. 


So, making this was pretty quick and easy, which of course is important for busy parents in the mornings. I just scrambled some eggs with some cheese (made enough for me to have some as well!), and sliced up a banana and an avocado and gave her some of each. For the funnest and yummiest part I decided to make some cute little Jelly Toast Squares. You can make these by toasting a piece of bread, then putting some butter and jelly or jam on it, and using a FunBites sandwich cutter. Pretty simple to put together, yet it packs in so many good nutrients!

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Kindergarten School Lunch #2



For this lunch I packed:
- sandwich squares on heart food picks. I made a sandwich with SunButter and Marionberry jam, then I used this cutter to produce the little squares and then put three each on cute little heart food picks.
- grapes in a reusable baking liner, I love using these in bento boxes to put fruit or veggies in for added cuteness. You can find some here.
- an organic apple juice
- a container of pretzels & hummus

I also packed a little heart shaped love note and some ice packs to keep the food cold.

Kindergarten School Lunch #1

School is back in session, so I'm back with lots of lunch inspo for ya! I try to make lunches that are fun and will make my little one smile during the day when she opens her lunch box. I also try to keep them healthy, with food to fuel her up for her day. And most importantly for a lot of busy moms out there, I try to keep them relatively simple to put together. Sometimes I'll do something that I prep the night before, but mostly I use a lot of sandwich cutters, and food picks to quickly add cuteness.


For this lunch I packed:
- a sandwich container with a sandwich cut into puzzle pieces. You can make a sandwich like this using this cutter. Of course make the sandwich with whatever your child likes/is allowed at their school. I used Sunbutter, and some Marionberry jam.
- watermelon, cut up into pieces
- an Uncle Matt's organic orange juice
- a simple salad (just lettuce and cheese) in one container, and some dressing (raspberry vinaigrette) for it in separate dip/dressing container. I like using the dip/dressing container with dressings for a couple reasons. For one that way the lettuce isn't just sitting with the dressing on it for hours getting soggy, and for two it gives my little girl some responsibility and fun putting her dressing on.

I also packed a cloth napkin, it's a good touch for in case they need to wipe their little fingers or mouths. It's a bonus if it's in a cute pattern or has a favorite character on it. Also packed a fork, ice packs to keep the food cold, and a little note from me to make her smile. With young kids it's great to give them something they can read or recognize most of the words in, the more practice the better and the message will make them happy!


As you can see I also like to use cute containers!