This post was sponsored by King’s Hawaiian as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. These mini meatball subs are the perfect weeknight dinner and meal for the lunch box. Think outside the sandwich and pack a delicious, savory meal for your kids for their school lunch. We're just a couple weeks into packing school lunches and I'm sharing one of my girls' favorites. They've both told me that when they open up their bento boxes at lunch and these adorable sized Mini Meatball Subs are inside, they do a little happy dance! While the girls are fine with eating school lunches, I prefer to pack their lunch because I know just what type of nutrition they are getting throughout the day. I can also watch to see how much they're eating [or talking] during lunch … [Read more...]
6 Easy Lunch Box Hacks for a Lunch Box Refresh
Have you hit a lunch box wall? Need new ideas for school lunches? Here are 6 simple lunch box hacks that will give you a total refresh for your child's lunch box! We're 3 months into school and if I'm being honest with you, we usually would have hit a lunch box wall by now. The past couple of years, lunch boxes in August contained the cutest containers, the cutest shaped sandwiches and fruit, and all the fresh vegetables I could find. Then around October, something hits... or rather I hit something, the dreaded lunch box wall where all you want to pack is some chips and a frozen sandwich, right?! Well this year it's not happening and that's because I'm taking full advantage of these 6 super easy lunch box hacks! Today I'm going to share these ideas with you, as a part of a paid campaign with Stonyfield® Organic YoKids®, to give your … [Read more...]
How to Pack a Lunch Box Printable
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon Organic. The opinions and text are all mine. Does packing your child's lunch box cause you stress? It never will again when you let them become part of the process with this How to Pack a Lunch Box Printable. Although I tried really hard to never have it happen, it happened. I raised two picky eaters. Now some days they tend to be more adventurous than others, but give them a choice and they'll always choose Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches for lunch. One reason is because they love PB&J's, but the other reason is that's really all the know to choose. So why don't I just pick what to pack in their lunch box myself? Been there, done that. Most of the time it works out fine, especially if there's a protein + fruit spread concoction inside, but sometimes not … [Read more...]
Dairy and Gluten Free Lunch Box Ideas featuring Daiya Foods
Don't let food allergies have you struggling with school lunches. Here are great dairy and gluten free lunch box ideas that any kid will love. This post was inspired by a collaboration with Daiya Foods. All opinions are my own. When my oldest daughter was diagnosed with a dairy allergy at the age of 3, it honestly shook our world. I hadn't given food allergies a thought before that time. But with that diagnosis, along with gluten intolerance, we had to make some lifestyle changes in the food we ate. It was much easier to make our foods safe for Sophia rather than serve her dairy and gluten free meals on her own. When I first started researching and shopping for dairy and gluten alternatives I kept coming across one name, Daiya. I read that Daiya Foods and cheeses were a great alternative because they had some of the same … [Read more...]
Back to School Lunches with Natural Foods
It seems like the last day of school was just a few days ago, but here we are ready to start a new school year! Moreaya will be in her 2nd year of preschool and Sophia has graduated to first grade. She's been counting the days until it was time to go back to school because she enjoys learning so much. As we prepare for back to school, I'm starting to gather school supplies and lunch box supplies to get ready for the busy days ahead. Since Sophia has a dairy allergy, I always pack her lunch so I know exactly what she's eating and that all the foods are safe for her. She definitely likes taking her lunch because I always try to pack some of her favorite foods and her adorable new lunch bag adds to the excitement too! Sophia was already 3 years old before we were aware of her dairy allergy. At the time, I was so worried because we live … [Read more...]
Layered Hummus Dip Recipe – Gluten-Free Adult Bento Box Ideas
If there's one thing I love, it's a good snack. I'm so guilty of hitting a slump in the middle of the afternoon and running to the kitchen to get perked back up with a quick bite to eat. Unfortunately, a lot of times I reach for not-so-healthy treats, but I'm telling you, I'm getting better! I was challenged me to create a delicious adult bento box with some of these delightful, gluten-free crackers and the first thing that popped into my mind was hummus! It's true, I've become completely obsessed with snacking with hummus and I couldn't wait to try a new recipe with these snacks! Of course, they're quite delicious with any type of hummus so don't let a recipe hold you back. Plop some out of a container with the edamame chips and you'll be in snacking heaven! But if you're ready to take your hummus dipping up a level, be sure to … [Read more...]
The Best School Lunch Ideas and Lunch Box Hacks for Busy Moms
This post sharing school lunch ideas and lunch box hacks was created in partnership with Stonyfield. All opinions are my own. If there's one thing that I want to save time on when it comes to back to school time, it's packing lunches. Sophia preferred taking her lunch last year in Kindergarten and has already informed me that this year she plans to do the same. Thankfully I learned some great ideas and lunch box hacks last year that will help me make it through another year of packing lunches! When it comes to packing lunches, I admit, I get a little lazy as the school year goes on. In the beginning of the year, she gets cute little shaped foods and super healthy and fresh choices that are unique almost everyday. By the end of the year, I'm struggling to think of something that she'll eat without returning a full lunch box! … [Read more...]
Must-Haves for Bento Beginners
This post may contain affiliate links. With school back in session, I've been creating a lot of lunches - some a little more "bento" than others. The truth is, bento lunches can seem overwhelming, they can take some extra time [depending on how much creativity you want to put into them], but they really don't have to be. Any time I post a picture of one of the girls' bento lunches I always hear... Those are lunches only non-working Moms can create. My kid would never eat that! I don't have all those supplies! They really don't have to be complicated and believe me, your kiddo will eat them. I can put a sandwich in front of Moreaya and she'll take two bites of it... I can put the same sandwich cut into a cute flower design [that literally takes 2 extra minutes with a small cookie cutter] on her plate and she eats it right … [Read more...]
4 Tips for Creating Easy Bento Lunches
This post about Tips for Easy Bento Lunches was inspired by a collaboration with Horizon Snacks. All opinions are my own. It's here - school time is here for most of us and one aspect of going back to school that I've both looked forward to and dreaded is... school lunches! Sure, I used to love creating adorable bento lunches for Sophia, but now that she's in Kindergarten and going to school every day, it makes taking the time to create them a little more challenging. It finally hit me today... My baby is definitely growing up! First day of #Kindergarten #bts #backtoschool #kidsofinstagram #ad #shopkins @striderite #surprizebystriderite #surprize #surprizeattarget A photo posted by Lindsey G. (@lindseyblogs) on Aug 19, 2015 at 10:54am PDT Not only do I have a 3 and 5 year old to get dressed in the mornings, but I also … [Read more...]
Kid-Friendly Halloween Bento Lunch Ideas
As we close in on the upcoming spooky Holiday, my girls are all about pumpkins, spiders, and anything Halloween related... even in their food requests! I've been throwing together some fun Halloween inspired lunches and I thought some of you might like to see some great creepy inspiration too! So I've gathered a great collection of kid-friendly Halloween bento lunch ideas. Some are easy to replicate and apply to different foods, some require certain bento tools and others you can easily create with whatever you have! How fun is this lunch with a meatball bat on a bed of noodles, Mummy Pizza, and Pumpkin Carrots!? All put together in a PlanetBox Bento Box. This cute lunch would make any kiddo go wild - pumpkin shaped sandwich, string cheese bones, spooky Spider Eggs, and delicious Halloween decorated fruit - this lunch comes … [Read more...]
Bento Lunch at Home on Eco Friendly Toddler Tableware
You all know that we've been bit by the bento bug in our house. Well, in particular the bitty bentos bug. Most of the time I save my lunch creativity for the 2 days a week that Sophia goes to preschool, but I just couldn't resist a fun, Toddler Bento Lunch at home this week! How could I with that adorable plate, right? I can't wait to tell you all about Sophia's new eco friendly tableware from ecoSweetie! We were sent a package of ecoSweetie eco and toddler friendly tableware to share with you... It was packaged in a lovely, natural and reusable boxes which made opening the package even more fun for me and Sophia. And I didn't even realize, but the fork and spoon can sit atop the pink fish plate like in this picture - even cuter! At first glance, you can tell that the products are high quality. They're thick, … [Read more...]
Bento Printables
Sophia started preschool this week! Ah! I still can't believe she's old enough to be going to preschool. It also marked our beginning of real bento-ing. I had been making her "special" meals and snacks randomly, but now it's time to really jump into the bento fun! She'll be going to preschool twice a week and taking her lunch on both days. As I was packing her first lunch the other night, I began fretting a bit about all of the cute picks and resuable silicone cups that we have in our stash... How would her teacher know that most are reusable? How could I politely let her know to be sure to not throw them away!? So I came up with a cute, little note idea. Then, I thought... Why not make it super … [Read more...]