With school starting, I’ve been having a lot of conversations about what to put in our kid’s lunch boxes. This is a very popular topic at the moment. In fact, last week I participated in something called the Lunch Revolution Blog Party hosted on Notes From the Cookie Jar. The Lunch Revolution Blog Party was an opportunity for Food Bloggers to come together from far and wide, offering up their best Lunch Box ideas and recipes. Take a minute to go to Notes From the Cookie Jar and see some of the great ideas for yourself. Believe it or not, there are actually lots of delicious, fresh and EASY lunches out there that don’t involve peeling the top off a compartmentalized box of processed meat. It’s true.
Because there is such a desire to expand our lunch box repertoire (and seeing as I needed a few new ideas myself) I decided to add The Lunch Box Loop page to Out of the Box Food. On The Lunch Box Loop, we can collaboratively share fresh, simple recipes and keep each other “in the loop” with new Lunch Box ideas. I’ll post ideas as I come up with them for my boys school lunches, and I hope you’ll send me your suggestions as well. There is a place on the bottom of the page to submit your fresh and easy ideas; all of which will be much appreciated by all Out of the Box Food readers. No need to make it fancy, just pop an idea over. But if you’re feeling wild and want to spice it up feel free to submit a recipe, add a photo, whatever you want. However you submit it, we will appreciate it!
So please check out our new page HERE, and check back often as I will update with new ideas as they come in. Our weekly posts will continue to be about bringing processed food Out of the Box, but now in addition you’ll be able to find updated lunch box ideas on The Lunch Box Loop page. Be sure to check out next week’s post where we will deconstruct “Fruit” Roll ups. Until next week…
Kim…. Just made the corn bread muffin sandwich for my 16 month old…. She loved them!! What a great idea!! Thanks for that yummy protein recipe!!
I have a concept for you. I’m going to be traveling with my daughter to Maui in a few months. Being a 6 hr flight, I know she’ll be hungry and I know I’m not going to feed her that airplane crap food (we’re going to fly first class, but I still think that food is not the best!!). I like to make Lola “homemade” foods. And we even grow a garden so she can feel that she is growing somthing that she can eat. But being in the garden and kitchen every second of the day is impossible! So my “help” question is: what are some great “travel” foods for little ones? I too am not for one for the “box” foods nor one for the “buy at the fast food just because “it’s easy”!!. Any help would be great!! Also, when your brilliant mind stirs one up for this, you might even think of great foods to pack for the return trip. That might be a tough one!! Having no kitchen to prepare somthing for the flight heading home!!
I think what your doing to super great!! Kiddos to you!! Hope all is well and say hi to your family for me!!
Much love
Mindee
Thank you for the note, Mindee! I really appreciate your support!
I actually just got back from taking my boys on a long plane trip to Nova Scotia and had to give some thought to the same thing. One fabulous discovery I made was that you can take those freezer gel ice packs on the plane…it does not count as an over 2 oz. forbidden liquid! That being said, I packed an insulated lunch box with sliced cheese, Triscuit crackers (the only ingredients in Triscuits are: whole wheat, soybean and/or palm oil and salt), fresh cut fruit, edamame, and smoked fish (my boys favorite). A freezer pack in the lunch box allows you to pack any fresh food she likes while keeping it cool for the flight. Another great thing about the freezer ice pack is that when you get to your destination, simply pop it in a minibar freezer and it will be ready to go for the return flight. Then all you have to do is pick up some cheese, crackers, fruit and a plastic knife at a market in Maui, prep a similar snack for the return flight, and you’re all set. Hummus and pita are also good wholesome supermarket pick-ups for the plane.
I hope this helps. I sure found that having that healthy snack packed for the plane kept my guys happy for the long flight.
Have a wonderful trip and keep me posted on how the plane snacks work out for you!