This week's sack lunch tip is all about creativity. Lunch time will be more fun if you give your lunches a theme. You could even make it a game and see if your family can guess what the theme is but here are some ideas to get you started:* An international day such as Mexico, Japan, Thailand, the Middle East, etc. and fix sample foods from that country or region. This doesn't have to be fancy, try guacamole and chips with salsa, spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce with a fortune cookie, hummus and a pita with olives and dates.
* Foods that all start with the same letter: bananas, blueberries, bread, biscuits, biscotti, bangers (sausages), braeburn apples, butter or beans.
* Foods that are all the same color: spinach leaves on a pesto-tortilla with guacamole and fresh peas, bell peppers and lime yogurt.
* Foods that are all the same shape: melon balls, oyster crackers, slices of hard boiled eggs, slices of banana, slices of salami, a bagel, a tortilla or uncut pita.
* Foods for a pirate: cannonballs (grapes) and cannons (carrots), a dead man's chest (dip), a bottle of rum (juice box), goldfish crackers, Swedish fish and serve them with a little plastic toothpick sword. Include a "treasure" map and tattoo.
(see this post at Design Mom for more pirate-inspired lunches)
* Foods for an astronaut: dried fruit, beef jerky, moon rocks (granola) a Capri sun and . . . of course cheese. Serve some extra jet pack fuel (a yogurt) with a straw to drink it like the astronauts.
* Foods for an undersea explorer: tuna on fish-shaped toast (cut with a cookie cutter), goldfish crackers, pasta shells, seaweed (lettuce or spinach), sunken treasure (fresh fruit in a little box) and gold chocolate doubloons.
Check in with Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday for other good tips.
Technorati tags: WFMW, sack lunches, bentos, school lunches
26 comments:
these are very creative - lurve it!
I might have to try one of those if I can get creative enough - so far every lunch that Abby's taken to school in the past few weeks has had a theme of 'bologna sandwich'... That's my second challenge though. The first has been getting her to remember to actually bring the lunch box home after school every day! :)
I give...can the boys (even the big one) and I just come live with you?? You are so, so much more fun.
Fabulous. As always. :)
I love this idea!!!
You have great ideas!
Me? I'm still half asleep in the mornings when making lunches and the kids sometimes are missing things with extras in anothers bag.....
Great ideas Michelle! I have a super-picky eater and some of these might inspire her : )
Remember...September 19th is "Talk Like a Pirate Day. Seriously. The folks here in Galveston, TX (hey, used to be the home of famed pirate Jean LaFitte)and there was even an article about it over at ParentDish. Who knew?
http://www.parentdish.com/2007/09/18/talk-like-a-pirate-day/
So, today may be a good idea to use the pirate theme!
Love the ideas. I am always up for trying something a little less boring than the usual brown paper sack lunch!
Erin
www.ExpectingExecutive.com
I try to extend a little effort on my daughter's bento too because she started saying she missed the bento provided by her school in Japan!!
Oooh, very clever!
Great ideas - you are so creative! WOW - I'm seriously amazed :)
Organising queen and
Marcia's take charge blog
ROFL b/c I can just hear my 3 year old telling people he's drinking RUM!
Great ideas!
LOVE the ideas!! Now, if only I could get my son to eat any of that . . .
My daughter would totally go for these ideas :-) (thank goodness)
Good ideas. I'm thinking brown would be an easier color, though, than green. ie bread, peanut butter, turkey, cookie, brownie.. you get the idea.
We don't do sack lunches often, but when we do, I am always looking for neat things to pack. Thanks for the ideas!
I think that might 'feed the beast' [OCD!]
I think I'll just keep working on the same theme [please eat some of it, any of it, don't dump it in the trash / bring it all home smooshed]
Cheers
How creative and clever!
These are great ideas. Our lunches are becoming a bit boring so this will help spice it up a bit. Thanks
My girls can't take sack lunches to school, but they just love it when I do theme lunches here at home.You give some great ideas, so far I've only tried all the same colors...
ps I've read and really liked the book "A Year in Provence". The author doesn't live very far from where I do and so much of his story rings true with the life I am leading...in a down-scaled kind of way.
WHAT A GREAT idea! I am always in a WHAT TO PACK FOR LUNCH rut!
This is Brilliant!
what a fabulous list! thanks!
I love theme lunches for the kids I babysit for. Last week, their mom left a plate of "orange" lunch, complete with squash soup, mangoes (diced for the older, and pureed for the baby), carrots, and bits of cheese. It definitely makes it fun for the kids and the sitter or mommy or daddy or other caregiver. If I ever have kids, I will use your ideas, too.
What a great idea. You are so creative. I love these. You are one fun momma!
Cute ideas! Thanks for sharing!
You have the best ideas!
I just went to costco today and bought all the prepacked -fruit snacks, fruit cups etc... These old ladies were scoffing at it - I would assume because it was all in boxes. That's how I fix lunches - I'm not that creative - but this just might inspire me to be :)
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