This post is brought to you by Ocean Spray. All opinions are my own.
It’s hard to believe that I have been packing my daughter’s school lunch for eight years now. It’s a task that she’s old enough to take on herself, but I have kept it to myself because I really enjoy nostalgia of the process. I know that in a few years time she’ll be a teenager, and bringing lunch to school won’t be as “cool” as it is now. So, in the meantime, I’m relishing in the art of making her the perfect lunch each day for school.
Here are a few tips I’ve acquired over the years to Master the Lunchbox. Once you have these down, packing lunch for your kids will be a piece of cake!
Pack foods your children will actually eat – I totally get that, as parents, we want our children to have the most nutritious lunch possible. If your kids love bell peppers and sticks of celery— awesome! By all means pack those in as much as you can. But if you have a child like mine that would simply throw those veggies away once they hit the cafeteria, it’s a waste of food and money. Instead, I have consulted with my daughter on what items she will actually eat. When it comes to veggies, she’ll go as far as carrots ans broccoli if they’re paired with ranch dressing or hummus (I can work with that!) — but most everything else is off limits. Find out what healthy items your child likes and pack lunch around those items.
Mix it up – I really try to pack a different assortment of items each day to keep things interesting. One day it might be PB&J (still a favorite), the next meat, cheese and crackers, and then the next those veggie sticks with hummus. I also rotate the side items, but I always include at least one fruit. Other snack favorites are cheese sticks, yogurt, pretzels, Craisins® Dried Cranberries, and most recently, Craisins® Dried Cranberries Fruit Clusters and Greek Yogurt Covered Craisins® Dried Cranberries.
These snacks from Ocean Spray are packaged separately (love the resealable bags!), but my daughter likes them mixed together for a delicious, sweet and chewy treat. The Cranberry Almond Fruit Cluster are also great as a yogurt topper!
Leave a note – You can not go wrong with a note tucked into your child’s lunchbox. They might brush it off in front of you, but deep down, they LOVE IT! How do I know this? Because on the rare event that I miss adding a special note, my daughter will ask me about it.
Frozen liquids = Instant ice pack – Juice boxes or bottles can be frozen the night before and left to defrost in the lunchbox, simultaneously keeping the food inside cool. Once lunchtime comes around the drink is back to liquid form, while still remaining cold. Right now my daughter is enjoying Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, which comes in a single-serve multi-pack.
Need more lunchbox inspiration? Visit OceanSpray.com for tips, recipes and nutritious offerings that will help you become a lunchbox packing pro. From a delicious sip of sweet-crisp cranberry juice, to fun and flavorful Craisins® Dried Cranberries, it’s the little things that can make you victorious over any lunchtime challenge.
From 8/18/15 – 9/18/15, share your lunchbox tips & tricks and how a little cranberry can make your lunchbox amazing using #LunchboxMaster on Twitter and Facebook. Fifteen lucky lunchbox masters will be chosen to win the ultimate Ocean Spray Master Lunchbox set! See official rules.
