Beating the Lunchbox Rut

It’s that time of year again…
The holidays feel long gone, the January slog is over, but there’s no end to lunchbox packing in sight. Enter: the lunchbox rut. If you’re feeling like you’re out of inspiration for packing that lunchbox, you are not alone. Here are some tips to getting over that hump and sailing through the end of the school year. If you find it helpful, share these ideas with others and tag me on Instagram when you post your lunchboxes using these ideas!

1. Don’t panic

   Lunchboxes don’t have to be new and exciting every day. Are there a handful of foods that your child loves? Do they eat those foods reliably and happily? There is absolutely nothing wrong with packing the same lunchbox ideas over and over. I think that parents get bored with the foods in their children’s lunchboxes faster than kids do. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel every day. Remember: a fed kid is most important.

2. Switch it up

   Adding things like lollipop sticks or food picks to the lunchbox can breathe new life into old foods. I buy lollipop sticks in bulk and use them for loads of foods in the lunchbox. When foods become kebabs, there’s renewed excitement! You can find the lollipop sticks that I buy here on my Amazon Shop. Some examples include:

fruit kebabs

sandwich kebabs

tortellini kebabs

3. Use Leftovers

Does your child have a favorite dinner? Pack it up for lunch! I often hear from parents that they don’t pack foods because they’re worried that their kids won’t eat them cold or room temperature. It’s a normal, understandable concern. Here’s how I handled that here: I serve dinner at room temperature from time to time. It sounds crazy, but hear me out… eating a meal at a different temperature at home made my kids much more open minded to eating it that way outside of my home. Bonus: this really comes in handy on those days when I need to make dinner in advance and then tend to a million things before actually serving dinner. Try this with your kids’ favorite foods first. Did my kids complain initially? Not really. They were happy to eat their favorite foods. The best examples of this strategy used in a lunchbox is with pasta and meatballs, or cold pizza. My kids now eat these dishes room temp or cold!

leftover meatballs and pasta

leftover pizza rollups

4. Involve your kids in lunchbox planning

I am all about this tip. My kids are actively involved in the decisions around what’s for lunch. They use the LaLa Lunchbox app (free to download for iOS here) to plan their meals in advance. There are no surprises when they open the lunchbox, and they love that. They decide what to eat and how much, but I decide what to make available for them, so I am always in control.

LaLa Lunchbox app

Have more questions about beating the lunchbox rut? Drop me an email or send me a direct message on Instagram. I’m happy to assist where I can!

5 Lunchbox Ideas with Eggs

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Eggs are a relatively inexpensive protein source that my family loves. Sometimes we go through phases where we’re eating 2 dozen/week, and other times, a dozen eggs can last ten days. Having a variety of ideas to use eggs in the lunchbox is a savior for me… it keeps the overall cost of packing lunches for my 3 kids down, and at the same time, keeps my kids interested.

I buy organic, pasture raised eggs and they cost about $6.50/dozen. It feels expensive sometimes, but when I actually think about it and tally, the reality isn’t so black and white. One dozen eggs can feed my family of 5 for one meal (usually with two eggs to spare). Actually, if I use a dozen eggs to make a big frittata loaded with veggies, it can last more than one meal. That’s pretty awesome! Comparatively, one chicken can feed my family too, but that’s way more than $6.50, especially because I buy organic chicken. I can make a big pot of black beans to serve with a DIY Taco Bar and that is less expensive than a dozen eggs, especially if I start with dried beans. But all things considered, when I approach grocery shopping from this perspective, $6.50 doesn’t feel offensively priced at all for a dozen eggs.

Anyway, eggs are easy to buy, easy to make and easy to love, in my humble opinion. Here are five new ideas for lunchbox packing that I’m sure you’re going to love!

1. COBB KEBAB

Cobb Kebabs

Cobb Kebab is exactly as it sounds - Cobb Salad, deconstructed on a lollipop stick and eaten like a kebab. Here we’ve got eggs, lettuce, chicken (use leftovers here!), avocado, bacon, tomato and cheese. Seriously delicious. Even my non-salad eating kid loves this one! The best part is that this can be customized to include any ingredients you’d like. Cobb Kebabs are also a great way to introduce salads to your kids for lunch. I use these lollipop sticks to create the kebab, and I love them because they have no dangerously sharp edges and are therefore safe for young kids.

This lunch is packed in my Planetbox Launch.

2. EGG & QUINOA STIRY FRY

Egg & Quinoa Stir Fry

Egg & Quinoa Stir Fry is made just like fried rice. But there’s no rice involved, and it’s not fried. I love using quinoa because it tastes great, but quinoa is a feel good food for me. Loaded with protein and fiber, it’s pretty dang amazing.

One batch of my Egg Quinoa Stir Fry contains:
4 large, scrambled eggs
3 cups cooked quinoa
1.5 cups cooked chopped vegetables
1/4 cup chopped scallions
2 tablespoons vegetable or neutral oil
salt to taste

I combine everything into a frying pan and sauté in oil until the flavors are thoroughly mixed. Simple. Delicious. Easy to make. Great for leftovers. Perfect for the lunchbox!

This lunch is packed in my Lunchbots Cinco.

3. EGG & CHEESE MINI SANDWICHES

Egg & Cheese Mini Sandwiches

As a New Yorker, egg & cheese is a classic breakfast sandwich combo. This is my riff on the classic New York Bacon, Egg & Cheese (affectionately called BEC) but I’ve omitted the bacon here, and used baguette in place of a hard roll to make mini sandwiches. Feel free to add the bacon back if you’d like!

To assemble, lightly scramble two large eggs in a pan with some unsalted butter. Set aside. Slice a baguette into rounds (I used whole wheat here) and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cheese (I used cheddar here) and pop under the broiler for a minute or two, or until the cheese is nice and melty. Remove from the oven, and add egg to make mini sandwiches. That’s it! Easy peasy!

This lunch is packed in my Planetbox Rover.

4. BAKED EGG ROLLS

I am in love with this lunchbox idea. I make them on weekends for my kids, and finally the idea dawned on me to send them in the lunchbox. Here’s how to make the magic happen here:
Hollow out two rolls and place a raw egg inside each hole. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for approximately 30-35 minutes. The egg will be fully cooked - aka, no runny yolks, so if you’re looking for a runny yolk, cook it for less time. My kids bite into these like they would an apple, and because the yolks are baked to creamy perfection, and not runny, it won’t be a drippy mess at school.

This lunch is packed in my Lunchbots Cinco.

5. CHUNKY EGG SALAD WITH DILL (MAYO FREE)

Chunky Egg Salad with Dill (no mayo)

I love egg salad, but I don’t love mayo. For this chunky-style egg salad, cook the eggs for seven and a half minutes, submerge them in an ice bath and peel them once they’ve cooled. Chop them into chunks and place in a bowl. My general rule of thumb here: for every two eggs, add 1.5 teaspoons of chopped fresh dill. Add 1/2 teaspoon of paprika and salt to taste. Feel free to add mayo if you enjoy it! Serve with toast or pita to assemble a sandwich, or eat it as is.

WHY I BUY PASTURE RAISED ORGANIC EGGS

I’ve been buying organic eggs for as long as I can remember. At some point, I started noticing labels like cage free, free range and pasture raised. I didn’t understand the difference, so I made my purchases mostly based on price. After visiting egg farms in Kentucky with the Feedfeed and Handsome Brook Farm, my eyes were opened.

Handsome Brook Farm works with 75 farms across the United States to produce pasture raised, organic eggs. Pasture raised means that each hen has 108.9 square feet each to roam outdoors and forage. (That’s 400 hens per acre of land). The space enables the hens to live in a non-competitive environment and live stress-free lives because of it. These eggs are organic, which means that both their feed is organic and and the land that they roam is organic. Both mean that the feed and the land are not sprayed with traditional pesticides and herbicides, and there are no antibiotics or growth hormones used.

Because there are no antibiotics used, keeping the flock healthy is critically important. There’s never just one sick hen. Operations management for hen health is taken very seriously, to protect both the overall health of the flock and the livelihood of the farmer. They live symbiotically in this way.

Comparatively, Cage Free and Free Range denote the space available on the farm for hens. Cage free literally means that the hens are not placed in cages, but it does not specify much else about the hens’ quality of life. Unless a label says Pasture Raised, it is unlikely that the hens will have even remotely close to 108 square feet each. Free Range means that the hens have outdoor access and at least 2 square feet each. It doesn’t specify much more beyond that.

Marketing jargon can be dizzying, and becoming an informed consumer is empowering. If you want more information about Handsome Brook Farm, hop over to their FAQ.

Huge thanks to Handsome Brook Farm for including me on the farm visit and for sponsoring a week’s worth of egg ideas for the lunchbox.

The Lunchbox Homestretch

Packing lunchboxes at the end of the school year sometimes feels like the worst. chore. ever. Am I right? Unfortunately those lunchboxes can't pack themselves, so here are some recent lunchboxes that I hope will give you some inspiration to help you through the lunchbox homestretch. If you're looking for more frequent ideas, be sure to follow along on Instagram. And of course, if you want to take the guesswork out of packing lunch, download the LaLa Lunchbox app (free on iOS), hand the phone over to your kids and empower them to make choices -- all within a list of available options that you control. 

Anyway, below are 5 lunchboxes, all with a slightly different approach, but with a common theme: they all have an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, they're all nut free and they all took less than 10 minutes to put together. 

1. Leftovers! My kids had tortellini one night recently for dinner and I made much more than I needed for dinner so that I could pack it in the lunchboxes. Easy peasy. Toss that in the bento with some fruit and a veggie and you're good to go. This lunch is nut free and vegetarian. 

2. The Big Dipper. This lunchbox has two dipping options: sunflower seed butter and hummus. There are veggies, corn chips and apple slices for dipping and a fun little polka dotted banana with the sweet treat of mini chocolate chips. It's a finger-friendly lunchbox. This lunch is dairy free, nut free, gluten free and vegetarian. 

3. The New Outfit. I don't know about you, but I've packed pretty much this same lunch a thousand times. Look closely and let's break it down: it's a cheese sandwich, with fruit, carrots, lettuce and a brownie. But here I've used a different bread (these are bistro buns) and I popped the raspberries on top of the baby carrots. It's old familiar foods, dressed up in a new outfit, and sometimes that's all the jazzing up that's needed. This lunch is nut free, gluten free, dairy free and vegan. 
 

4. The Crunchy Bruncher. This lunch is half brunch, half crunch. There are wafflewiches with sunflower seed butter (aka: frozen mini waffles made into sandwiches with sunflower seed butter - and any nut butter will do here), and dates for that creamy sweet appeal, plus pretzels, crunchy veggies and guacamole for dipping. There's a sunflower seed butter and chocolate cup for a treat. A fun lunch to eat! This lunch is nut free and vegetarian. 

5. The DIY. Do you have Taco Tuesday at your house? We frequently do, and my kids love to make their own tacos for lunch the next day with leftovers. Here we've got corn tortillas with chicken (seasoned with my homemade taco seasoning) with lettuce and peppers. Kids can put their fixins on at lunch and gobble it up. On the sweet side, we've got watermelon with mint and some dye free gummy bears. This lunch is nut free, dairy free, gluten free and vegan. 

What's your lunchbox homestretch strategy? Email me, I'd love to hear it!