It’s Day 2 of Back-to-School and Little One thoroughly enjoyed her first day in Senior Kindergarten. I am relieved. I also hope that the feeling doesn’t wear off any time soon!
One thing I’m excited about is making Little One’s lunches! She helps me out. She picks what she wants to eat. Thankfully the kid loves her veg! She helps me assemble her lunches and this year, I’m adding a little something special to her lunchbox to remind her of how much I love her. She is only four years old and she can’t read on her own yet (she can read a few words, but wouldn’t be able to read an entire sentence), but she loves the idea of me putting a special little note in her lunchbox each day. A little something to show I care and I love her…in the form of Lunchbox Love. She loves the encouraging thoughts and inspirational words, and she loves the fun trivia questions on the flip-side of the cards. She’s all about nature, animals, and trivia, so these are perfect for her!
Everyone needs a little reminder sometimes
Okay, though many of my friends are like-minded and some also embrace the idea of litterless lunches and bento lunches for their kids, I also receive a lot of flack from people for putting a little love in Little One’s lunches. “Who has time for that?”, “I’m too busy to do all that” and “Must be nice to have so much free time on your hands” are words I hear a lot. To be honest, I don’t put heaps of time into Little One’s lunches. It really doesn’t take me that much time to make her lunches at all. In fact, most of her lunches are leftovers from dinner the night before! I just dress them up a little so she doesn’t get bored of having leftovers. Plus, believe me, I don’t have so much free time on my hands. We own and operate a farm, I work full-time from my home office…but who needs to justify anything to anyone? As parents, we all do what we feel is right for our own children. To me, this is a reminder of what we teach our kids. Do what you think is right for your family and don’t chastise, judge, or criticize others for their decisions. Unless it has an impact on you personally or unless it is harmful to others, then I can understand the need to approach someone and voice your thoughts. However, if a person decides to make litterless lunches or bento lunches for their kid, then that’s cool too. No need to slam other parents when parents should be supporting each other and not bringing each other down.
If parents are treating others poorly, what message are we sending to our children?
Children and teens are not the only ones who are on the receiving or giving end of bullying. It’s everywhere. Adults get it too. It’s online, at work, in social circles, at the park, at get togethers…everywhere. I can’t say that I’ve experienced bullying, but I can see how it can be perpetuated. This is why I think it’s important to instill core values like respect to children at a young age. Don’t get me wrong. I’m guilty of not thinking before I speak. I need to be more mindful of the things I say – especially with little ears always perked up and absorbing every single word that comes out of my mouth.
The thing I love about Lunchbox Love is that through positive messaging, we can cultivate caring, understanding, respect, confidence, compassion and so much more in our children. Though I am on the #LBLmoms panel, this post is 100%, completely voluntary. We weren’t even asked to write a post right now, but since it’s the beginning of the school year, I wanted to share my love of adding something special to my daughter’s lunches. I asked her what she thought of Lunchbox Love notes and she said, “They make me happy because I know you love me”. Now, if that doesn’t melt your heart, I don’t know what will!
Today’s Lunch
- Sauteed Green & Yellow Beans
- Butternut Squash
- Deviled Eggs
- Watermelon
- Applesauce & Raisins
- Thermos filled with water & a splash of lime
Deviled Eggs
For some reason, I feel silly posting a recipe for deviled eggs since it’s one of those recipes that most people already have. Kind of like spaghetti sauce. Everyone’s got their own version! Here’s mine:
Ingredients:
- 6 eggs
- 3-4 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp Herbamare
- dill & smoked paprika to garnish
Directions:
In a saucepan/pot, place eggs in a single layer and make sure to put enough water to cover at least 1 1/2 inches above eggs. Heat on high temp until boiling. Cover and turn to low. Cook for 1 min. Next, remove from heat and leave covered for 14 min. Rinse under cold water. Crack and peel eggs. Dry eggs with paper towel.
Slice eggs in half length-wise with knife. Scoop out cooked yolk and put in a bowl. Arrange cooked egg whites on a plate or platter. Mash yolk with fork and add all ingredients except for dill and paprika. When mixture is mashed and smooth, spoon equal parts of egg mixture into the hollowed out egg whites. Sprinkle dill on some of the deviled eggs and paprika on the rest. Pretty and delicious! Also one of Little One’s favourites!
Today’s Litterless Lunch Included products from:
- Lunchbox Love for Kids
- MyFunkins reusable cloth napkin
- Starfrit Lock & Lock Food Containers
- Hello Kitty THERMOS FUNtainer Bottle
- Hello Kitty Soft Lunch Kit
- Spork by Light My Fire
- Watermelon and Butternut Squash were cut out with some cookie cutters I had on hand. Can’t remember the name of the brand.
FYI: Lunchbox Love and MyFunkins are both PTPA Award Winning Products! Check them out here and here! To learn more about the PTPA Seal of Approval, click here.
This reminds me of Grandpa’s birthday dinner for me last year, when my grandfather had not passed away, and our family had a happy birthday together.
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home lunch is about the number 1 best choice for children too take too school and i rate school lunch as the number 2nd luch in school from school majority of is school lunch (my opinion) exp. for very busy parents and more so for grandparents for me as a grandparent too believe that school lunches is very nutritent and thats why i have my grandchildren have school lunch all the way until graduation………..now this is it…..DELICIOUS SCHOOL LUNCHES and where i am from on the island of oahu hawaiian islands it is awesome…………………TYVM
Oh and you had me at… deviled eggs. LOL!
I love your posts about your LO lunches. They are so neat and include a variety of colours. I like the idea of including a little Lunchbox Love. What a great way to express how you feel about your child when you aren’t able to be physically with them. I almost wish I had to pack and send lunches to school for my child. There are so many wonderful ideas out there and it would be fun to test them out. Guess I will just have to start getting creative with our home lunches. 🙂
I always love the lunches you prepare and pack for LO. I have great intentions at the beginning of the year, but always find I slack off as time goes on. Maybe this year will be my year to shine!
Actually, I would love to know what containers you recommend the most? I find them so difficult to fit in the lunch bags and often have some just in the backpack, which always seem to be forgotten by my kids, and throwing out food at the end of the school day is gut wrenching to me.
Pam:
The ones I used for this lunch in the pic are Starfrit Lock & Lock airtight containers. They have them in different sizes and these 2 small ones and 1 medium one fit perfectly in Little One’s lunch bag/box with a Thermos of water in it too.
This is so creative! Can you come and pack my daughter’s lunch too? I promise I will send you some Montreal Bagels
MyKidsGuide:
Tee hee! You know I’d do anything for Montreal bagels! 😉 lol
I am SO inspired right now! Anyone who would question the love and effort you put into your sweet girl’s lunch, is just envious of your creativity. I SURE AM!!! As much as I want my little mama to not grow up too fast – I actually can’t wait to be able to give her some Lunchbox Love! How amazing is that!? I am actually inspired to do that for my husband. I think you just gave me brownie points with the hubs! Thank you!! 🙂 And you’re right – we ALL need a little reminder. Wish we had a dose of that everyday… Brilliant!
DEBALINO:
Awwww! Thanks! You totally made my day! <3 I think a little lunchbox love for your hubs would be awesome! Who doesn't love a little luvin'?