Back to School Lunch Ideas

We cannot believe how fast this summer flew by and school starts next week. It's going to be a special memorable year, my little girl starts 4th grade and my little guy's first time in school to start kindergarten. It's been a bit busy in our household. We welcomed baby girl a little over a week ago, so having a newborn and two older kiddos is a serious learning curve.

I've been checking out pinterest a lot lately for easy peasy lunch ideas since this mama doesn't have a whole lot of time to make elaborate lunches. I'll share below some of our fave lunch ideas as well as some awesome lunch gear.

We were gifted these awesome insulated lunch jars from this awesome brand "MIRA" I love the sleek simple design. I also went ahead a bought some awesome bento boxes on amazon as well.

A bit about these awesome insulated lunch jars....

- the jars are double-walled vacuum sealed (stay hot for 5 hrs/stays cold for 10 hrs)

- jars are made with high quality stainless steel

- BPA, phthalates, lead and PVC free

- It's a great eco friendly, reusable option.... especially for my kiddos school that is going greener and have asked parents to use only reusable lunch gear

- A great 9 oz capacity... great for little kiddos hands

- And of course..... food jars are NOT microwavable

These two eat quite a bit, so besides filling the thermoses with their fave hot meals such as lasagna (well any kind of pasta really), dumplings, perogies, etc.... the list goes on. My favourite part of packing lunches is making the bento snack containers fun.

Please note these photos I found on pinterest.... but you get the idea. Have a variety of things for the kiddos to choose from. Fun shapes, fun food picks, making a regular sandwich different by turning it into a wrap or using a cookie cutter for fun designs.

Here's my little list of what I go through to make sure and include in lunches.... I hope it helps you make your kiddos bento style lunches so much easier.

1. Start with starch....

Pasta, Rice, Crackers, Pretzels, Rice Cakes, Granola, Tortilla Wraps, Potatoes, Pasta

2. Vegetable.....

Mushroom, Sweetcorn, Cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, snap peas, cabbage

3. Protein....

Eggs, shrimp, chicken, deli meats, tuna, ground turkey

4. Fruits....

Oranges, mango, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries

As long as I stick to this list of food groups it makes packing lunches so much easier. Plus I add a little treat like a cookie.

A great tip to get picky kiddos to eat their lunches, get them involved in making lunch, have them pick out a vegetable they want or what shape they want their sandwich to be. It's a great way for the kids to feel accountable for making their own lunches which makes them more inclined to eat their lunch.

I have also included below some fun bento lunch accessories to make lunches a whole lot more fun.