Have you seen the Bill Murray film, Groundhog Day?  The one where he wakes up each morning to face the exact same day….over….and over…….and over again?  Well, as I got up yesterday to pack my children’s lunches I felt a bit like Bill Murray (minus the dry sense of humor and experience as a Ghostbuster).  Alarm goes off, I pad into the kitchen, pull out our lunchboxes, open the fridge: turkey, cheese, bread — add some fruit, something for snack.  Done.

By now, the second week of September, it is safe to say most of our children are back in school — even settled into their routines.  Which is great.  However,  I’ve also already gotten into the routine of packing the same ol’ thing in their lunch boxes. Yes, I have a list of resources, many of which I’ve developed myself, but the turkey and cheese sandwich and fruit seem to continue to make it in to their lunches several days a week.  I guess you could say, I was in need of some inspiration from you.   And I got it…

Earlier this week I asked a question on our Facebook Page, “What’s in your kid’s lunch box today?” – and I got some wonderful, inspirational ideas from you.  Many of the ideas don’t require new recipes or ingredients, they just put real, healthy Foods into a lunch box and remind me that there are other easy and accessible options.  I asked the question of you, and you answered.  Thanks for breaking me of the Groundhog Day cycle.

Here’s what you said:

READERS LUNCH BOX IDEAS:

• J.Frechmann: Left over meatloaf and mashed potatoes, yogurt and watermelon!
• S.Hammock: pb & banana ‘sushi’ (very simple! smear your favorite peanut butter onto a large tortilla, slice bananas, place one row at top edge, roll, place another row from edge to edge, roll again, repeat until you’re to the last 1/8th of the tortilla, then roll to seal. Slice into ‘sushi’ rolls. Works well with pb & j, too, but you have to go light on the jelly or you have a goopy mess), blueberry cereal bar, cheese crisps & white grape juice
• J. Wagner: My son wanted a pizza lunchable, so I gave him one… home made, of course!!
  In his laptop lunchbox, I put four large cracker rounds, a small container of sauce, a container of shredded cheese and a couple of pieces of pepperoni. Also, a container of mixed green and red grapes, a cheese stick for snack time and some carrot sticks, too!
• T. Munro:  A Bagel with cream cheese, carrots, grapes, yogurt 🙂 Pizza lunchables were yesterday and they both LOVED them. Thank you for the recipe
• K. De Haan:  Nori, a swiss cheese wrap, and some juice. She generally doesn’t want much more than that.
• H. McLean:  Roasted broccoli and baby potatoes with dipping sauce, grapes, yogurt, and cubes of cheddar cheese for “dessert”.
• L. Burns:  Cornbread meat and cheese muffins, grapes and green beans.
• J. Wright: Banana, grapes, kiwi, sugar snap peas, heart shaped ham in wholewheat bread.
• M. Nardone:  Grapes, buckwheat bran soy buttermilk pancake, hard boiled egg, watermelon slices and water.
• Healthy Kiddo Snacks:  String cheese, aussie bite muffins, strawberries, mango apple sauce and cashews. Sure beats my can of soup!
• A. Stickel: For my 8 yr old son, string cheese, 100% juice box, natural (no sugar) apple sauce, 2 turkey sticks & some cheese crackers.  Not sure what my 15 yr old daughter packed, but I’m CERTAIN it was healthy (she’s almost as crazy as I am, hehe)
• J. Bullard: What wonderful lunches you parents make!! Today at my sons elementary school I saw what the kids were given to eat for breakfast… Frozen PIZZA and chocolate milk??!!! For breakfast! My child will NOT eat school provided lunches.. It saddens me to know that kids who cannot afford anything else are getting duped like that.
• J. Fay:  Whole wheat tortilla wrap with organic ham and cheese, homemade coconut almond protein bars, baked snap peas, applesauce, dates and almonds, banana, tea. I have hungry teenagers.
• A. Belding:  Today’s pita pocket sandwiches, salad and grapes. Yesterday was hummus which always gets two thumbs up from my kiddos
• L. Scully: Green salad with homemade dressing, 1/2 bagel with cream cheese, yogurt, water.

I love the “town hall” approach to packing our kids lunches.  Next month, as we get into fall, I’ll pose the question again and see what we can come up with together.  It truly takes a village and I thank you all for being a part of our village.

Until next time…