We have a fairly simple palette here in our house. We go light on spices, easy on sauces and tend to stick to home-style what-we-know meals. I know – sounds boring, right? Alas, lunch time is no different. I try to “spice” it up a bit for my fam (thanks to Pinterest I attempt new meals a bit more than my peeps would prefer). Sometimes I’m successful, most often I’m not. But, I’ve perfected a few lunch box ideas that the kiddos really love.

Tip #1

Ditch the bags!

My kids LOVE using reusable containers. Thanks to our amazing schools, and of course what we instill at home, my children are actually very environmentally conscious. They’re the true leaders in our home when it comes to the 3 R’s. They certainly keep us on track and keep those recycle containers full outside!

The reusable plastic bento box lunch containers we tend to use the most are these – they’re economically friendly and come in a set of 4. Which works out really well for us since we tend to lose at least 2 by the 3rd month of school and a few are in the cabinet without lids (like, how in the ever-lovin’ heck did you bring the box home but not the lid?!?) If you’re looking for something non-plastic, these metal ones are really nice but a lot more expensive – so unless you’re planning on attaching them to your child on a leash or taping them to their bodies, I would hold off on these until the kiddos are a bit more responsible (for us, that would be when my kids are like, I don’t know, 25? Maaaaybe.)

And for additional compartments or if your children are the “No Food Touching” type, these silicon cupcake baking cups do the trick wonderfully and they’re easy to clean!

……………………………………………………………………..

Tip #2

Shapes. I’m serious.

I don’t know what it is about shapes, but they seem to magically improve my kids appetites. One of my littles would turn down Babybel cheese discs every time they were offered. “No thank you. I weawy don’t wike dose.” I decided one day to cut the cheese (<—- lol! Sorry, #boymom!!) into cute little flower shapes. And you know what? She ate the whole darn thing. And loved it. And to this day doesn’t even realize it’s a Babybel. Same thing with another one of my picky eaters and sandwiches. As soon as I started cutting the sandwich into fun shapes, they started happily chomping them down. And for us, the scraps from the cut pieces either become lunch for someone else (typically my husband – he’s like a human garbage disposal) or are served to the chickens in the backyard, so there is most definitely no food going to waste.

These are the shape cutters I have. They’re not only great for sandwiches and cheese, they’re fun for brownies as well as fruit and veggies. If you like to entertain, you can really dress up a charcuterie board with these lil’ babies – take that Martha Stewart!

……………………………………………………………………..

Tip #3

Kabob <——> Put it all on a skewer.

Whether it be a short and fancy food pick or a long bamboo skewer, putting the veggies or fruit on a stick or rolling up lunch meat and cheese in a row is always a favorite way to eat around here! * If you are using bamboo sticks, make sure to soak them overnight in a bowl or tray of water. Otherwise, you’ll have splinters in your food which gets not fun real fast.

I store all of my tiny kitchen lunch gadgets in a clear sewing accessory box. I found it at the craft store, but Amazon and Walmart rule the world, and I’m 100% positive you can find one at either of those. I like that I can slide it all into the cabinet when I need it off my counter and it keeps everything together for when I’m feeling extra lovey on my kids and want to make them a lunch that screams “MOMMY LOVES YOU!” <—- FYI – in full disclosure, this typically happens the first few months of school when I’m refreshed and still in the running for Mom of the Year and not again until the last few months of school when I realize I’ve probably failed them all irrevocably beyond repair, my Mom of the Year qualifications have been flushed down the toilet, overflowed, violently plunged and then flushed again, and I feel like I need to do something, anything to attempt to redeem myself in the eyes of my mini minions.

……………………………………………………………………..

Tip #4

Bring home the leftovers.

I have my kiddos pack back up whatever they didn’t finish/eat that day. This not only helps cut down on food waste (the dry, non-refrigerated goods can be reused if not open), but also gives me an idea of what they are eating. Am I packing too much? Too little? Is there something that they don’t really care for? By seeing their lunch box after they’ve eaten, I have a better idea of what they need.

Funny Story: When my oldest was in grade school and I had just had baby #3, I was exhausted and more like a walking zombie during those first few weeks (months – maybe years?! None of my babies slept well at night. Like, ever. They were all nursed and liked to eat and be on me all.the.time.) Anyway, the sweet kid asked for apples and caramel dip in his lunches. I was totally on board – fruit and dessert in one! After days of sending the delicious duo in his lunch box, the same caramel dip kept returning home unopened. Why would he ask for it if he wasn’t going to even eat it? After the 4th day of that same stinking cup of caramel in his box unsealed at the end of the day, I called him into the kitchen and asked why he wasn’t eating the caramel he wanted so badly. “Mom, the apples you’re packing aren’t cut up.” Guys! I was literally sending in an entire, uncut and huge apple (it was fall) along with a teeny cup of caramel dip that he had no way of using! DUH!

……………………………………………………………………..

Tip #5

Print this out.

If your kiddos are older and want to be a bit more independent (or Mama is just plain flippin’ tired…) Here’s a printable version of my School Lunch Checklist I created for my own kids. I taped it right inside the pantry door to make it easy to see and hard to miss!

Here are a few of our family favorite bento box lunch ideas