School is only a week out now, and I am thinking about school lunches. I tend to be rather health conscious so most school lunch menus don't impress me. When the monthly menu comes out I let my kids choose 3-4 meals they really want and then the rest of the days they take a lunch from home. They typically take a fruit, a vegetable and sandwich or side. I also try to send a water bottle, and occasionally a small treat.
Along with planning menus for my kids lunches, I also try to plan to have the appropriate containers for them to use for lunch. When I was a kid we always had to take the brown paper bags with the fold over plastic baggies. However, we are trying to be more earth friendly, and I hate to create that much garbage. I also feel that reusable containers are cheaper than purchasing insane quantities of zip lock bags to store all the little food items in.
So here are some of my favorite ideas this year for school lunch supplies that are lunch friendly, reusable and, where possible, adorable.
Lunch Boxes:
I like to go for insulated lunch boxes that are easy to wash and wipe clean. I love these adorable lunch boxes that are fun, whimsical and functional for small children.
Skip Hop Zoo Lunchies Insulated Lunch Bags and more styles $13
Stephen Joseph Lunch Pals and more styles $14
Lunch Tupperware:
I love these divided Tupperware containers that have a 3 separate spaces for the different parts of your child's lunch. It is easy, keeps everything separate and less containers to store and clean. This set comes with 4 containers, enough for us to have some being cleaned while the others are being used.
This set of kids lunch Tupperware has a lot pieces, but it also has ice packs that fit with the different containers. If I decide to send yogurt or something else that I would like refrigerated I can send them in these containers and know that they will stay chilled.
Kids Value Lunch Container Set with Removable Ice Packs - 14 Piece Set $15
Water Bottles:
My children have a hard time remembering to drink enough water particularly if they have to walk all the way to the drinking fountain every time they need a drink. If I include a water bottle, the chances of them drinking water go up substantially. If I include ice in their water bottle and they keep in their insulated lunch bag, it also doubles as an ice pack to keep their lunches chilled. These water bottles are created for easy use and to keep spills to a minimum.
Labels: back to school, kids menus, school lunch supplies, school lunches, school lunches for kids
