School is Back in Session - Let the lunch packing commence!

Kids are back to school and it's time to get back in to the lunch groove! I used to find packing school lunches to be a challenge. I've had to get creative over the years because until recently Kyle (my youngest) hasn't been interested in having sandwiches in his lunch and Brett (my oldest) has never been a fan of sandwiches.

Packing healthy, nutritious lunches has taken a lot of creative thinking on my part, but I finally feel like I've gotten the hang of it. Ok... so the boys coming home frequently saying the other kids were jealous of their yummy lunches was also a big clue I was on the right path!

One of my favorite "tricks" for their lunches is to pack left overs from dinner the night before. For example tonight I made chicken breasts in the slow cooker, with rice and salad on the side. The boys LOVED the dinner, so I have these fantastic split dish containers that I portioned out some of the left over rice. Add a mandarin orange, granola bar and yogurt cup and the kids have a super easy, nutritious and filling lunch that you can be proud of!

To save time I portion out the containers as we are cleaning up from dinner so it saves me tons of time when I'm getting their lunches packed up. The widespread use of re-usable lunch totes has made it easier than ever to send kids with containers that you know won't be thrown away. I make use of those to the fullest! I've sent the kids with taco leftovers, spaghetti left overs, slider hamburgers (made at home so I know what is in them!), bruschetta and more.

Also don't forget one of these super cute kids re-usable ice packs to keep yogurts and other goodies cold! I'll share some of our favorite packed lunches over the next few weeks and would love to hear (and feature!) some of your lunches (email me OCMomActivities at gmail dot com).

Read more...

School Lunch Ideas

Kids are back to school and it's time to get back in to the lunch groove!  I used to find packing school lunches to be a challenge.   I've had to get creative over the years because until recently Kyle (my youngest) hasn't been interested in having sandwiches in his lunch and Brett (my oldest) has never been a fan of sandwiches.  Packing healthy, nutritious lunches has taken a lot of creative thinking on my part, but I finally feel like I've gotten the hang of it.  Ok... so the boys coming home frequently saying the other kids were jealous of their yummy lunches was also a big clue I was on the right path!


One of my favorite "tricks" for their lunches is to pack left overs from dinner the night before.  For example tonight I made chicken breasts in the slow cooker, with rice and salad on the side.  The boys LOVED the dinner, so I have these fantastic split dish containers that I portioned out some of the left over rice.  Add a mandarin orange, granola bar and yogurt cup and the kids have a super easy, nutritious and filling lunch that you can be proud of!  To save time I portion out the containers as we are cleaning up from dinner so it saves me tons of time when I'm getting their lunches packed up. 


The widespread use of re-usable lunch totes has made it easier than ever to send kids with containers  that you know won't be thrown away.  I make use of those to the fullest!  I've sent the kids with taco leftovers, spaghetti left overs, slider hamburgers (made at home so I know what is in them!), bruschetta and more. 

Also don't forget one of these super cute kids re-usable ice packs to keep yogurts and other goodies cold!


I'll share some of our favorite packed lunches over the next few weeks and would love to hear (and feature!) some of your lunches (email me OCMomActivities at gmail dot com). 

Read more...

Countrytime Lemonade - A fun addition to water in school lunches!

Summer is coming to an end.  The school year has begun and I'm starting to settle back in to my lunch packing "groove".  In our house it's a rare occasion when I pack a juice box or other type of sugary drink in my kids lunches.  They mostly drink water ( & milk).  To be eco-friendly we've gotten the stainless steel reusable water bottles and fill them with water.  One of my favorite things to do is surprise the kids with a flavoring in the water.  One of the favorites I keep on hand is the Countrytime Lemonade mix.  I add a couple spoonfuls and the kids love it!  It's just a fun little surprise when they take a sip of their drinks and a reminder of Summer fun.  I love putting those surprises in their lunches.  We love the Raspberry Lemonade flavor!

What kinds of treats (healthy or not) do you find yourself adding to your kids lunches?


(* Note I received a sample of Countrytime to facilitate writing this post, but it's something I have purchased many many times!)

Read more...