Most of the schools across the US start this month. With the start of school, one of the things you have to plan for is the daily school lunches. Here’s a Back to School: Lunchbox Guide to help you prepare for your child’s school lunch! Find suggestions on great items to include in your child’s lunchbox and tips for making preparing school lunch easier!
Back to School: Lunchbox Guide
Try these great products to create a filling school lunch your kids will love, and so will mom!
Skip the fruit snacks and try something healthier that kids will still love like the Pure Organic Fruit & Veggie strips! They come in two great flavors: Strawberry Apple and Wildberry Apple. Each strip has 2/3 serving of a combined mix of fruits and veggies. Busy moms on-the-go taking kids too and from school and activities need fuel, too. A Pure Organic Fruit & Nut bar is made with the simplest of ingredient and gives you a balance nutrient to keep you going. Both of these goodies are gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO verified and certified organic! Find them on their website or at your local Safeway affiliate and Sprouts grocery stores.
Ziploc Compostable zipper bags are bringing an eco-friendly solution to school lunches! These new bags are biodegradable and will bread down in a compost. They bring a perfect solution for communities with curbside composting available. Also look for the new Ziploc Compostable Food Scraps bags that can line a compost bin up to 2.6 gallons.
Apple sauce is easier to serve in a squeeze pouch! Now, you don’t need a spoon! Just throw a GoGo squeeZ applesauce pouch into the lunchbox in one of their fun flavors. GoGo squeeZ has ten flavored applesauce varieties including: banana, berry, cherry, cinnamon, grape, mango, peach, pear, strawberry, and original apple. You will love that this product is gluten and wheat free, kosher certified, vegan friendly, with no artificial flavors, colors or high fructose corn syrup!
You can start your morning off with a unique twist with something new from Nature’s Own bread! This new products combines what you love about bagels with the best of a delicious breakfast bread to give you Oatmeal Toasters! They are whole grain squares packed with real oats and sweet fruits. You can enjoy the Oatmeal Toasters toasted or straight out of the bag giving you a quick and easy breakfast you can feel good about serving.
Celebrate the success of the first day or week of school with one of Barbara’s Cookie Pies! These hand-made treats take a traditional cookie and make it something special by adding fun toppings with an artisan touch to bring you a great looking and fun treat that will really make the first days of school special. The cookie pie is layered with a buttery cookie dough that comes from a 3 generation family recipe. Each pie is made as part of a small batch with special care and attention and shipped fresh to your door!
When your kids come busting through the door after a long day of school they are always HUNGRY! We quickly learned that we needed a quick and easy mini-meal after school. Something to tide the kids over to dinner but that was healthy and filling, too, not just a simple snack. Moms Made Foods offers a solution with their organic kids meals, munchies and bites. They are easy and quick “convenience” meals that don’t sacrifice on quality or nutrition. Plus, the fun varieties like macaroni or meatballs will have the kids excited for meal, too.
Pack an unusual surprise snack into your kids lunchbox they are sure to love! Goldfish have a new look in the Goldfish Puffs variety! These puffed out fishes are loaded with flavor and come in three varieties: Mega Cheese, Cheddar Bacon and Buffalo Wings. Plus, Goldfish Puffs are gluten free! My kids thought the Goldfish Puffs were so cool and have really enjoyed the variety. They quickly recognized the classic goldfish shape but were really surprised and excited to see the fish in a whole new way!
Pack a healthy snack that will give your kids energy like a scoop of trail mix! Fisher Nuts has a variety of energy-packed varieties like their Summit and Sweet Nut trail mixes! The Summit Trail Mix includes a classic mix with raisins, peanuts, cashews, and milk chocolate candies. When you want to try something more unique, grab Fisher Sweet Nut Trail Mix with honey roasted peanuts, raisins, frosted walnuts, cashews, and cranberries. My hubby has been enjoying snacking on the Sweet Nut mix at work and loves the variety! Both mixes are gluten free.
It’s important for your kids to have a healthy start. A daily multivitamin can ensure they get all their essentials. But, vitamins don’t have to be boring! Rainbow Light offers vitamins that are fun like their Gummy Bear Essentials that feel like a fruit snacks package but loaded with the vitamins they need without gluten, lactose, dairy, yeast, nuts or hydrogenated oils. They are 100% natural! They offer a Gummy Power Sours variety, too. Having enough Vitamin C is essential to keep your kids immune systems up and defend against germs and bacteria to keep them from catching all the coughs and colds that are frequently passed around the classroom.
Finally, pack up all their lunch into an adorable personalized lunchbox from I See Me. You can customize the lunchbox to show your child’s name printed right on the front making it easy for them to find their lunchbox amongst those from their classmates. The lunchbox even includes a customizable chalkboard panel so you can leave notes of encouragement to your children they can read at lunchtime. The personalized lunchboxes are made out of tin and are food safe. They can be hand washed with dishsoap but should not be used in a dishwasher.
What are your lunchbox essentials for back to school?
Disclosure: I received a variety of samples of the products mentioned above for inclusion in this guide. The opinions are my own.