Love in a Lunchbox: 10.26.11

We love eggs in our house, so this week I decided to send them to school for lunch. I wasn't sure how this would go over given that the eggs would be cold when my daughter ate them. As you can see below, I rolled the dice and sent cold scrambled eggs to school, along with a leftover biscuit and grapes.

I'm delighted to report the eggs were a hit! Below is a picture of my daughter's lunchbox at the end of the day. I think the image speaks for itself. And I think eggs may become part of our weekly rotation in the lunchbox. 

Love in a Lunchbox: 6.23.11

The focus of this week's lunchbox is very strongly tied to our dinner Sunday night, which happened to be Father's Day. After a wonderful day spent cooking breakfast together, going for a spontaneous jog with the jog stroller and "going for a boat ride in the river" (make-believe game) in our daughter's room, we realized we hadn't planned anything for dinner. That coupled with the fact that we have a potential car purchase on our hands later this month and I happened to discover some unused food during an afternoon freezer clean-out, meant that Father's Day dinner consisted of exactly what you see in our daughter's lunchbox: Trader Joe's Fish Sticks, Annie's Macaroni & Cheese, broccoli & ranch for dipping. Yup, that's what we ate for Father's Day dinner and let me tell you, it was YUMMERIFIC!!

We'd never tried the Fish Sticks before and rather than label them as a kids-only food, we decided to dive into the box as a family. Not only did E eat every bite on her plate -- and ask for more broccoli & ranch about three times after finishing her first plate of food, but we loved it all too. Sometimes it's fun to eat like a kid, and somehow, it was the perfect end to a wonderful father's day. Yes, I like homemade food most of the time, but don't ever think we don't buy boxed mac & cheese, fish sticks and bunny crackers. Cause we do.

Love in a Lunchbox: 6.15.11

Here it is: Love in a Lunchbox: week 2. Clockwise from top left: grapes, broccoli, freeze-dried blueberries, Dr. Praeger's broccoli littles and homemade macaroni & cheese, which I promise, tastes better than it looks in this picture. This particular lunch was a hit. I'm on a roll. 

Something else worth sharing is a link to a recipe we made together over the weekend. This Easy Mediterranean Chickpea Salad, courtesy of Cooking with My Kid, was pretty tasty. Assembling it was a family effort, with everyone involved in the whole process -- our daughter helped peel the cucumber and dump the ingredients into the mixing bowl.

As the tomatoes started going into the bowl, someone's tiny little hands reached in to fish out the goods -- yep, she ate the tomatoes right out of the bowl, which I have to admit, made me smile. Probably because it reinforced the hope I have that her tastes will expand the more she helps me cook. While she had no interest in eating the finished product -- good thing I did -- she ate lots more tomatoes after we made the salad. 

Love in a Lunchbox: a new series

Like many working parents, my husband and I have a nightly conversation that goes something like this:

"What should we pack for her lunch tomorrow?" - me

"I don't know." - husband

Silence.

"Okay, can you do the dishes and I'll figure out her lunch?" - me

"Yeah." - husband

Real inspired, wouldn't you say? There was also the day our daughter came home from daycare with a note from her teacher saying that she tried to take her friend's pizza at lunch. (We made homemade pizza the following night, with plenty leftover for her lunchbox)

While my daughter's school lunches have been fine, they've been particularly reliant on packaged (organic) foods. I'm not going to lie and say that will end anytime soon, but I am going to make a commitment to sprucing up the presentation of her lunch to make her feel that we've packed it with love. To get started, I made a trip to Williams-Sonoma to buy a few tools to help with the presentation: silicone muffin cups & cookie cutters. I have to say, they've made all the difference in the world by helping transform a boring set of tupperwares into what I think is a pretty cute lunch.

I also hope that posting one lunchbox picture a week might inspire some of you to turn the very uninspired process of packing school lunches, into something a little bit more fun. So, here goes...

My daughter's first "Love in a Lunchbox" package. Much to my delight, I'm told she ate everything I included, which hasn't happened in, um....5 weeks?

  Grapes, homemade banana bread, cheese & turkey quesadillas & Dr. Praeger's broccoli littles 

I'm not yet convinced that the presentation is going to solve our on-again/off-again mealtime challenges. However, I am quite certain that blogging about those challenges, and any successful remedies, is something I'm interested in exploring. For now, I'm just happy she enjoyed this meal.