Muffin Tin Lunch

We are again out and about today so an early lunch is packed in our Innobaby Din Din platter with lid.

We packed no bake energy bites, strawberries, apples, two jelly sandwiches and some carrots with ranch dip.

And thanks to the lid we can bring our early lunch with us if we are running late :) 

[Review to come - stay tuned]

Things I used for today's lunch:

Kiwi Fruit and the Importance of Food Education at School

My kids had a special unit at school last week which included a mobile agricultural products laboratory and besides learning so many fun and important facts, each class won a case of kiwifruit for answering closing questions.

The elementary school classes won kiwifruit and ate them in class. And three very excited kids came running home that day full of things to share with me including that they love kiwifruit. I was stunned. My kids are not very adventurous when it comes to trying new fruit and since I love kiwi I have offered it before - with no luck. However, learning about the fruit in school and sharing a special "prize" with their teacher and class allowed my kids to try it away from home - and it was a full success. I wonder how many kids came home that day asking their parents to buy kiwi.

I think this is amazing and a great lesson to learn. We all know we have to keep offering our kids food they may be hesitant to try or taste but learning about food at school with a chance to try something in class has made a big impression on my kids. And now they love kiwifruit!

This is the lunch my first grader packed himself in his Easylunchboxes today:

• no bake energy bites
• strawberries
• kiwifruit
• carrots
• tangerine
• cereal bar and 
• a slice of starfruit

I helped him arrange the food so it would not get soggy and I cannot wait to see how lunch went today! Not only did they try a new food at school but they were open to pack some starfruit in their lunch as well to try.

My two older kids packed also no bake energy bites, strawberries, kiwifruit, starfruit and a sandwich. All kids also packed yogurt and ice water.

Energy Lunches

Happy Monday! Hope everyone has a great start into the new week!

We made some no bake energy bites this weekend (recipe below) in preparation for state wide testing this week. They are filled with protein and a great snack for the days the kids need extra energy!

For my two older kids we packed no bake energy bites, all natural apple sauce and a chicken, mustard and salad sandwich with a Chobani Champions blueberry tube. They also packed ice water and a small orange juice.

My first grader packed a Chobani Champions blueberry tube in his yumbox as well as oranges, carrots, no bake energy bites, a protein cereal bar and a small treat.

We have been making no bake energy bites for a while and I first found them HERE. I still use the recipe from Smashed Peas and Carrots as a base recipe but I tweaked it a little bit.

Ingredients:

(it makes about 50 - 70 mini energy bites)

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup peanut butter 

2/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1 cup ground flaxseed

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup of sliced almonds or 1/2 cup of dried fruit

Add all ingredients into a large bowl and mix until a dough forms. 

Wet your hands slightly and roll into balls. 

I store mine in parchment paper lined tupperware in the fridge.

For a great picture tutorial visit Smashed Peas and Carrots :)

Look who's driving to School!

It is a dreary rainy Tuesday morning here and while I was in the kitchen making lunches my 5 year old came running in excited that we would have to drive to school because of the rain. He was so excited and so I decided to make him a "We are driving to School today" lunch.

I packed Veggie sticks, oranges and apples, no-bake energy bites as the tree trunk and spinach leaves for leaves and a LunchPunch peanut butter car.

I really love these picks and my son laughed when he saw his lunch because he thought it looked like him driving the car :)

Stay dry today!

Things I used to make this lunch - click on the pictures for more information :)

        

Beary Snack

I packed a quick snack to bring with us today while running errands.

I packed a bear shaped PBJ, half a PBJ organic cereal bar, no bake cereal bites and some strawberry hearts. Quick, easy and still cute ;)

Happy Thursday!