Today's theme at the URS is Lunchbox Love. I was stumped on this one for a while. I don't think of myself as very creative when it comes to lunches. Lots of room for improvement in this area of our lives.
Lunchbox love at our house is usually a note. About once a week I try to include a note in the kids lunches, (occasionally I do this in hubby's lunch too!). Sometimes it's when I know they're going to have an especially exciting day or when I know they had a rough start to the morning. The kids really like these and have even requested them. My son often saves the notes for posterity. Even my kindergartner, who can't read most of them yet, enjoys getting the notes and will ask a nearby grown-up to read it to her. I like to use an interesting notepad or shaped notepad, but any kind of paper will do. I recently found this form at MomAdvice which would be great for lunchbox notes too!
The typical lunch at our house is either leftovers or one of several different sandwich varieties. My son has absolutely no problem taking a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school every day. He loves them. I think he really loves the predictability.
My daughter on the other hand is not a big fan of the same ol', same ol'. she gets tired of sandwiches quickly and wants more variety.
Enter the Thermos.
I found a Food Jar Thermos last year and this has been a wonderful addition to our lunch rotations. This allows me to send some of their favorites for lunch: mac & cheese, soup, spaghetti, leftover whatever! We haven't tried a hot dog yet, but that's on the plan for later in the year. They love having a hot lunch, especially on those cold days in winter. You can probably find a Food Jar Thermos at Walmart, Target or K-Mart. Anyplace that sells camping gear might also have them.
I have a problem, though, that maybe you all can help me with. My kids much prefer soft veggies, which means - cooked. They really do not like raw crunchy veggies. But, I really want to include a veggie in their lunches. So recently I've been wondering...
Is there a smaller container of some kind, only large enough for about 1/2 cup of food, that I could use to keep their veggies warm for lunch? The Food Jar Thermos is a bit large and heavy for just a side of veggies. Anybody have a suggestion?
There are lots more lunchbox ideas at LifeAsMom.
3 comments:
Great ideas! I once read about packing the hot dog into a thermos of chili. Send buns along separately. Have yet to try it, but thought it was brilliant.
As for the smaller thermos, I would imagine there has to be one out there. Maybe shop around at Amazon?
Great lunchbox ideas, and I love the note idea. My mom would sometimes leave notes in my lunchbox, and they meant so much to me!! I will have to remember this when my boys get older.
There IS a smaller thermos...they're at Walmart. They're the crayola ones. They're shaped like a little stumpy crayon, and about four inches tall with a wide mouth lid. They're perfect for what you need it for. The Walmart here has them, and I found them at a WM up in Maine and Mass. this summer, so they're probably at all WM's. Hope that helps!
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