Homemade Lunchables

Happy Day-after-Thanksgiving! I have not created or posted any school lunches since the start of the pandemic. But, I miss it. Our school district went to all virtual in March and we will be virtual until the end of this running school year. For obvious reasons. And we miss it all. Family, friends, neighbors, school functions, Christmas concerts, our yearly traditions of lighting the community Christmas tree, get togethers just before the holidays. All of it. Even the dreaded yearly turkey disguise project. Moms, you know what I mean!

Despite it all, I have decided that it does no longer have to mean the end of school lunches. Even if the kids are all home. Because I could use some streamlining in feeding the kids. Some healthier options and some free time to do other things besides feeding three kids lunch during sometimes three (yes, THREE) different lunch times. 

How has your year been? Are your virtual? Hybrid? In school? How are school lunches going in your house? Either way, I hope you and your family are healthy and happy and I hope you will tune in for some lunch ideas in the future again.

Lunch is served in Easylunchboxes (after all these years still my favorite go to) and a simple homemade version of a Lunchable. The beauty of these boxes is that you can fill them infinite ways and tailor them to your kids' tastes. I stuck to the classic version and we filled them with:

• halved baby carrots
• apple slices
• blackberries
• crackers
• cheese
• ham roll ups/pepperoni roll ups
• and a cereal bar.

Happy Lunch!

Lunch for Mama

I haven't made myself lunch in a long time but we have a team meeting today for a non-profit that I volunteer with and it is BYOL (Bring Your Own Lunch). I wanted to think a little outside the box and pack something light but filling.

I used my Easylunchboxes and packed:

• almonds
• Larabar Bites
• carrot sticks
• an egg with salt and pepper
• cheese cubes
• and two mini cream cheese bagels

I am so glad I packed a large lunch because I had no time for breakfast and was able to eat breakfast and lunch thanks to packing food!

What's your favorite to-go food?

Same Lunch - 3 Ways

Packing lunches does not have to take long or be stressful - even if you pack multiple lunches in the morning! The end of the school year is in sight and I know a lot of us are loosing our lunch packing mojo. Me included! After several weeks of pizza wheels and homemade lunchables, lunches were coming home uneaten and I had lost my patience with lunch packing.

So, I decided to go back to the basics. We all sat down and decided on a few thing everyone wanted in their lunchbox. Tastes differ and not every kid likes everything, but we could agree on the basics.

Here are today's lunches. Same ingredients - almost - and ranging from first to eighth grade!

First Grade Lunch

My daughter does not eat much for lunch, so I choose our Lock&Lock box today. She has:

• mini cucumber slices
• a raspberry greek yogurt muffin
• a ham, cheese and spinach mini roll
• grapes
• and a Superwoman Chobani tube yogurt 

Fourth Grade

This lunch is packed in our Arctic Zone lunchbox and contains the exact same ingredients as above - just more of it! My son has:

• mini cucumber slices 
• a raspberry greek yogurt muffin
• three ham mini rolls
• grapes
• and a Batman Chobani tube yogurt 

Eighth Grade

My middle schooler needs more food than his siblings, so we packed his lunch in Easylunchboxes and added a cereal bar. However, still the same ingredients:

• mini cucumber slices
• raspberry greek yogurt muffin instead he had:
• a peanut butter mini cereal bar instead of the muffin
• four chicken, cheese and spinach mini rolls
• grapes
• a Flash Chobani tube yogurt 

Planning with your kids makes packing lunches so much easier! If the basics are the same, you can pack lunches so much faster! Swapping an ingredient is not a big deal and everyone is happy in the end.

What I used to make these lunches (contains affiliate links):

Red, White and Blue and a German Brunch

It's finally summer and with summer comes BBQs and celebrations and Blog Hops :)

We made some fun Red, White and Blue and otherwise patriotic lunches to kick of summer and give you some ideas for the 4th of July and other upcoming holidays!

For this Red, White and Blue lunch I packed red, white and blue gluten free Tortilla chips from R.W. Garcia with Peach Salsa, a red, white and blue wrap with Roastbeef (red), Provolone cheese (white) and beets (blue) and a red, white and blue fruit salad with strawberries, apple stars and blueberries. To keep the fruit salad fresh I added a 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice and about a 1/4 teaspoon of confectioner sugar to coat the fruit. I also added a cucumber cup with fresh salmon because it is my favorite even though besides the tomato nothing really is red, white and blue but it represents the 4th of July BBQ mood for me.You can find the recipe here.

I also added a German Style Brunch today because I wanted to represent both countries dear to my heart - my home (the US) and my origin (Germany). For this lunch I made another fruit salad. This time with banana, kiwi, blueberries, strawberries and peaches. I added just a little bit of orange juice to prevent browning and a couple of drops of honey. On the other side next to the fruit salad is a Bircher Müsli (recipe below). It is one of my favorite breakfast options. Healthy, easy to make but keeps you going all day! I decorated the Müsli with a dried apricot and a small piece of cereal bar. Also in the Brunch Lunch is a bagel with smoked salmon and alfalfa sprouts, yum!

Now go and see what my friend Marie packed for today!

Bircher Müsli

for two hungry adults

6 Tablespoons of Swiss Müsli

3 Tablespoons of unflavoured plain yogurt

2 teaspoon of honey

1 apple

nuts or fruit

some milk

Add the 6 Tablespoons of cereal to a small bowl.

Add enough milk to wet cereal.

Set aside. Let stand for 5-10 min until cereal absorbed a little bit of the milk.

Peel apple and grate into small bowl.

Add to cereal and milk.

Add yogurt and Honey.

Add nuts, fruit, or fruit salad.

Enjoy.

Tip: If your cereal is too wet, add a little more Swiss Müsli and let stand an extra couple of minutes.

Family Picnic at Home

Some days it is easier to pack lunchboxes for lunch even if you don't go anywhere. I love how easy it is to fill them when they are all lined up on my counter. That way I have a mini assembly line and can just put veggies and fruit in each one at the same time.

Plus, the kids still love having lunch out of a lunchbox even if they are eating it at the dining room table.

These two lunches have strawberries and blueberries, broccoli, tomatoes and carrots, veggie dip and 4 sandwich quarters held together by a bento pick. My kids wanted Turkey Clubs, so I put two slices of bread in my toaster oven (one with cheese) and in about 3 min at 350 degrees the cheese is melty and you have nice toasted bread. I added turkey, salad, pickles and a small amount of mayonnaise :)

The lunchbox on the right is packed as I mentioned above and for my one child that does not like sandwiches I omitted the Turkey Club and just added Deli meat on food picks. He was happy with just the meat and you can add crackers to the lunch  if desired.

I even made lunchboxes for my husband and I. I have the same Turkey Club lunch as the kids and for my husband I made a Salad and Chicken Whole Wheat wrap. 

And if you need to make lunches for a big crowd...KeeleyMcGuireBlog has a great post about packing multiple lunches HERE.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer vacation!

May The Force Be With You

Happy Starwars Day!

My kids love Starwars and so I could not pass up making a special lunch today. My 3 year old daughter was a little hard to win over but once I mentioned that Starwars has a princess even she was on board. Plus, she made sure none of the melted chocolate left overs went to waste ;)

I made Yoda, Princess Leia, Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. All with melted chocolate, candy eyes and fruit leather.

The first lunch Anakin Skywalker. I drew his face on whole wheat honey bread with melted milk chocolate and added candy eyes and a small piece of fruit leather for the scar. Also packed are strawberries, crackers and two light saber picks with blueberries.

The second lunch is Darth Vader. He is drawn on whole wheat honey bread with milk and dark chocolate. Also packed are strawberries, crackers and light saber picks with blueberries.

The third lunch is a Princess Leia lunch. I drew her with melted milk chocolate and added candy eyes and fruit leather blush and lipstick. Also packed are strawberries and light saber picks with blueberries on crackers.

The fourth lunch is a Yoda lunch. This lunch is not dye-free since the chocolate I used contains green food coloring. I love Yoda and had to make him. I just found a great company that make natural food coloring so next time I would use white chocolate and add some natural color!

 I drew Yoda with melted green chcolate melts and mixed in melted white chocolate for the details. Yoda also has candy eyes :) As  above this lunchbox also contains strawberries, crackers and two light saber picks with blueberries.

As always the kids all have ice water and yogurt as well :)

And now please check out what my friend Lise from Veggie Bento came up with :)

Just click our Blog Hop button!

May the 4th be with you, my friend!

Chobani Champions Review and Giveaway

Chobani generously sent us a box of their new Chobani Champion flavors to review. We were so excited when the box arrived and the kids could barely wait to taste test the new flavors :)

Chobani Champions' new flavors are Vanilla Chocolate Chunk and Orange Vanilla, yum!

And the best part? Two of you will get a chance to try these new flavors, too! Find out at the end of my post how to enter to win one of two boxes of Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk and Orange Vanilla!

Since I have a son with food dye sensitivities I am always looking for food without artificial color and Chobani Champions are free of processed ingredients including artificial colors, preservatives, flavors and sweeteners. Most of the sugar in their yogurt occurs naturally in the milk and the yogurt is only lightly sweetened with evaporated cane juice, an unrefined form of sweetener sourced from non-GMO sugar cane. The yogurt is also gluten-free and does not contain wheat, nut, soy and shellfish allergens. This yogurt also is high in Protein which is something I look for when packing a healthy lunch.

The first thing we noticed of course was the absence of neon colors found in other kids' yogurts and the amount of creaminess. Yes, you can actually see that!

Overall this yogurt was a big hit with my entire family. My husband and I love Chobani Yogurt, especially the lemon flavored one and my kids therefore were especially excited to try the kids' versions. The Vanilla Chocolate Chunk was of course the favorite but we also loved the Orange Vanilla. My 9 YO loved the creaminess and said it tasted like ice cream whereas my 5 YO kept telling everyone that there were really chocolate pieces in his! My 3 YO fell in love with the Orange Vanilla one and so did I. It reminds me so much of Orange Creamsicles and summer. My 6 YO loved the creamy goodness of both and everyone is requesting Champions for their school lunches now!

So here are the four school lunches for today:

My 9 YO had a french breakfast inspired lunch with chicken, cheese and salad stuffed croissants, blueberries, carrots, organic soy crisps and Chobani Champion Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Yogurt.

My 6 YO is bringing a Swamp Monster made out of German Dark Bread, Whole Wheat Honey Bread for the eyes and mouth and green sprinkles for the pupils. The hair is made out of cucumber peel which made the swamp monster more authentic and my son loves dipping it in ranch dip. He also has carrots with ranch dip (dip not shown), soy crisps and a Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk yogurt.

My 5 YO loves rescue vehicles and I packed a Hook and Ladder Firetruck for him made out of Whole Wheat Honey Bread and German Dark Bread and a carrot siren. He also has a carrot fire with a ranch emergency kit ( the cross is made out of carrot sticks), soy crisps and a Chobani Orange Vanilla Yogurt.

My 3YO picked her own cookie cutter this morning and since she picked the moon, I made a moon and stars lunch with a moon sandwich made with Whole Wheat Honey bread and a sprinkle eye, cucumber stars, Goldfish Adventure Crackers which contain moons and stars (and no artificial colors ;) and she also brought a Chobani Champions Orange Vanilla Yogurt.

So, want to know how you can win one of two awesome boxes of Chobani Champions for yourself?

Here are the rules:

This GiveAway is open to all US residents.

Please leave me your email address or I will not be able to reach you!

GiveAway ends 11:59 Pm EST on May 5th and the winners will be announces on May 6th. I will email the two winners. If I cannot locate an email address or the winner(s) do(es) not email me at luncheswithloveblog(at)gmail(dot)com within 48 hours a new winner is drawn.

Here are how you can enter:

1. Like Chobani Champions on FB (mandatory)

2. Like Mamabelly's Lunches with Love on FB

3. Follow me publicly with GFC

4. Follow Lunches with Love on Twitter

5. Follow Chobani on Twitter

Please leave a seperate comment for each of your entries!

So, 5 chances to win! Good Luck!

Chobani send me a box of Chobani Champions for this review. All opinions are my own :)

EaRtH DaY LuNcH

Sunday is Earth Day!

To celebrate we are having an awesome Blog Hop again, so come and join the Earth day fun!

I don't always show everything I pack for the kids but today I wanted to show you that we only pack re-usable lunch containers and utensils. I always pack lunch in a re-usable lunch container like the EasyLunchboxes, the kids also bring a re-usable water bottle with ice water, a spork for yogurt and fruit and since last week a cloth napkin. There is always a yogurt in their lunch, too. I don't make yogurt myself, so that is our only throw away item. However, I do re-use yogurt containers for water coloring, bento pick storage and crafts, so they don't go in the trash either unless they are recycled at school :)

I made a no-waste lunch for today. There is the little boy holding and caring for the Earth sandwich decorated with melted chocolate from a left over chocolate Easter Bunny (re-use and recycle!), mini carrots with Earth bento picks, and yellow peppers with ranch dressing in a re-usable dip container decorated with a pepper heart. Because we heart the Earth. And of course everything is packed in my favorite re-usable EasyLunchboxes container!

If you wonder how I could have made a no-waste lunch with cookie cutter cut sandwiches, here is how:

I do have bread left overs when I cut sandwiches into shapes - obviously. But since I cut my bread before I put the filling in - I can save the rest.

Save the rest? Good question ;)

I save all my bread scraps in a freezer bag in my freezer and once it is full I cut all scraps into cubes and make French Toast Casserole :)

I makes the best French Toast Casserole and I feel good about not throwing away good food :)

Especially if you saw the Food Network Special "Hunger Hits Home" you know why I am especially careful about not wasting food. It is so hard to know that 1 out of 4 children under the age of 5 goes hungry every day here in the United States and I always urge my kids to remember that we should not waste food if others have none!

If you wonder what to do with veggie and other left over scraps, check out this post from BentOnBetterLunches!

Happy Earth Day 2012!

And now please check out Keeley's Earthy lunch here:

Helping with one no-waste lunch at a time!

Lunch Snack

I did not pack any lunches today but my daughter wanted to have a snack on her new Healthy Habit Plate from Super Healthy Kids that I won from BentOnBetterLunches a while back :)

I am working on some ideas for tomorow's blog hop ~ so be sure to come back to check out some fabulous Easter/ Spring Lunch Ideas ;)

Back to the snack :) My daughter wanted pizza so I made her a mini pizza, a bunny breadstick and a plate of cucumbers, radishes, and grape tomatoes.

I had some pizza dough in the fridge and just made her the mini pizza with the pizza dough, tomato sauce, cheese and one piece of pepperoni. For the breadstick I used a cookie cutter to cut out the pizza dough and baked it for 5 min at 425 degrees :)

She loved her lunch snack!

Happy Tuesday and don't forget to check back for tomorrow's Blog Hop :)

Valentine's Day Lunch

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Lunch today is heart shaped Nutella sandwiches with X and O sprinkles, X and O cookies and some grapes with a heart shapes Watermelon.

For my older son I packed the same Nutella sandwiches with sprinkles but added a yoghurt and had to package his watermelon a little more leak proof.

And since he did not want his lunch to have too many hearts I added a cute Valentine's lunchbox note instead. They were a free printable from http://www.mooo.com.au/valentines

Enjoy!

Monday Morning Lunch

Today's lunch is a power bar, a cheese stick, a pretzel bagel with cream cheese ham and salad shreds and some pinapple and red peppers.

Happy Monday everyone!