What to pack in your kids lunches?

It wasn't too long ago when I was fixing my own lunch for school. My parents both worked at my town's high school, my mom an English teacher and my dad a coach/athletic director. Since they were running around like myself to get ready for school EARLY in the morning, my mom gave the responsibility to my sisters and I to prepare our lunches. My mom was always concerned though that we ate healthy. She would buy us fruit, cheese, and other things to pack in our lunchbox. Sometimes my younger sister, Brittyn's fruit wouldn't get eaten but rather she would sell it to her friends. Ha ha! She was a little entrepeneur at a young age. I definitely know she is in a good field with majoring in marketing.

So with the start of school, I want to share with you a few modern Back-To-School lunch options to pack in your kids lunchbox.
Let your kids play with their food! Yes, I did say play with their food. With my vegetable skewers, you can skewer on vegetables and cheese. I know what you are thinking. Danger! Skewer? This skewer is edible. By cutting thin sticks out of broccoli stalk, you can make the perfect skewer.

Broccoli stalks really work great and taste good because they are sturdy and have a neutral flavor. I have skewered cherry tomatoes and mozzerella cheese onto my broccoli skewer.

Broccoli stalks are also really good dipped in peanut butter. Now, when it comes to purchasing peanut butter, I want it to be healthy but also taste good. I don't like the kind where you have to stir in the oil. That kind of grosses me out. My favorite natural and flavorful peanut butter is Skippy Natural Peanut Butter. You can view the ingredients on the back and it list- peanuts, salt, and sugar. You have to have the little bit of sugar to give it the flavor of like Jiff but without the hydrogenated oils (bad stuff!).
*Tip: spoon peanut butter into a zip top bag. Kids can tear a hole in the corner and squeeze out the peanut butter.

What kid doesn't like chips? I like chips too but not the kind of chips you are thinking about. I make homemade sweet potato and green apple chips. These aren't your typical deep fried chips either but instead oven-baked until perfectly crisp. The secret is to use a pizza stone. The pizza stone absorbs the moisture and makes whatever you put on it crispy. To make the thin slices, use a mandoline. Heat the pizza stone in the oven on 400 degrees. After 5 minutes, pull it out of the oven and place your slices on it. Lightly spray the tops with cooking spray. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until crisp. Sprinkle sea salt on top. Remove to an air-tight container or for immediate enjoyment, serve on a plate.

Emile Henry Flame Pizza Stone is my favorite pizza stone. I want to share with you a way to purchase it at a special price. If you haven't heard of OpenSky, it is a shopping community of chefs, trainers, actors, etc. that want to share with others the products that we love. It is easy to follow me on OpenSky, all you have to do is go to http://t.opensky.com/TkT5omdj2c1NAAEG/TkOoIpxiiHQFdXIgA22b9 and click follow me. Then type in your email address and that is it! You won't receive tons of emails but every Friday I offer a product at a special price and you will receive an email about it.


I hope your kids love these quick and easy snacks for their lunches! Share with me your tips so that I can pass them along to others.