Doesn’t it feel like just yesterday you were stowing away the lunch boxes for the summer, relieved of the pressure to come up with exciting lunch ideas that are healthy AND kid-approved? Well, it’s time once again to whip out the sandwich bags and stock up on juice boxes. Here are a few suggestions for great lunchtime ideas and recipes that will get kids (and parents) excited for lunches once again.

Two-Toned Sandwiches.  Using cookie cutters and two slices of different bread (ideally brown whole wheat and white whole wheat), cut out the centre of each slice and swap out the cutouts. Assemble your sandwich as normal.  Talk about taking PB&J to the next level!

School of Fish. If your kids love Goldfish crackers, give this cute, healthy snack idea a try. Using dried apricots, small pretzels, cream cheese and mini chocolate chips or raisins, you can quickly and easily assemble adorable (and delicious) pretzel fish. This is one the kids won’t mind helping you make.

Cheesy Pretzel Dippers. These couldn’t be simpler and yet, there’s just something awesome about cheese on a stick, especially a pretzel stick, that makes this one more fun that just cubes of cheese and pretzels. Take room temperature cheese cut into cubes and spear the cubes with pretzel sticks. Serve with honey Dijon mustard or ranch dressing. These are delicious little cheese wands that will inspire your child’s imagination.

Lunch Box Fun-Due. Fondue — the cocktail party standby of the ‘80’s is making a comeback these days and it turns out, it’s not just for adults! Lots of lunchboxes these days are built like bento boxes with different compartments that eliminate the need for separate containers and disposable baggies. This make it easy to assemble a variety of items and ‘dips’ that make lunch feel like gourmet hors d’oeuvres — minus the scalding hot cheese.

Sandwich kabobs. It’s like a deconstructed sandwich where kids get to customize every bite. Using a small bamboo skewer (cut them to size as needed), cut cubes of bread and cheese and roll up slices of different deli meats, along with lettuce and tomatoes or whatever else you can spear. Sometimes it’s as simple as taking a classic, like the sandwich and revamping the approach.

Hopefully these ideas will help inspire a little lunchbox creativity. Looking for more? Check out the amazing blog by the Lunch Box Dad where a delicious, healthy lunch is nothing short of a work of art. His creations may put my ants-on-a-log to shame, but I have to respect a guy who takes his job as Super Dad very seriously! 

Recipes courtesy of food.com and simpleasthatblog.com 

Posted by Wally Fakhreddine on
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