Resist the Rut

Lunches can literally be a daily chore, or an opportunity to be creative at introducing your kids to new and different food each day. I don't suggest that you run the risk of them not eating the food you pack and going hungry but rather don't limit yourself to a sandwich, chips and fruit everyday.

Here are a few tips I've been trying to follow:

1. Use leftovers, but repack them in a different way. Make it once, eat it twice.

2. Consider the presentation. It goes a long way. I know I eat with my eyes first. My kids are no different.

3. Make a schedule. I make a weekly menu for our dinners and now have a weekly lunch schedule I loosely follow. (All our meals are flexible. What's important is that I have the ingredients for the meals we want.)

4. Diversify. Change up what you give. One day do a roll, the next day skewers or a bento, followed by a sandwich in fun shapes. You get the picture.

5. Don't get lazy and say you don't have time. New items don't have to take more time, maybe just a new way of thinking about lunch boxes.

I will occasionally post lunch ideas here but if you are looking for some other resources on lunches try, iLunchBox and Wendolonia. iLunchBox has a slew of areas you could be a mouse potato (recipes, seasonal items, sugar alternative, etc.) and Wendolonia is great with the bentos.

Resist the rut!
Photo from iLunchBox.com