Tuesday Morning Tidy: Packing Lunches for School

Today's post is our last back-to-school feature. One of my family's more dreadful school year routines is lunch packing and grocery shopping for it.

Through the years, we've tried to be creative and go beyond the standard sandwich, chips and fruit. Below are a few ideas that might be worth considering for your family:

- cucumber slices, baby carrots with hummus or ranch dipping sauce

- hard boiled eggs

- olives (Trader Joe's Manzanilla Olives are a fave)

- mini bagels and cream cheese

- yogurt with (or without) fruit and/or granola

- soup/stew/pasta in a Thermos

- pita chips (we love the sea salt Specially Selected from Aldi) are delicious by themselves but also with hummus

- meat and cheese tortilla roll-ups --- you can slice them up to make small pinwheels

- fruit that stays fresh and tasty in a packed lunch: clementines, oranges, apple sauce, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries

Just as important as the foods packed are the lunch storage systems you use. The below products ensure your kids' lunches stay fresh and temperature controlled:

- Sistema Lunch Cube -- we've used this BPA-free system for years and it's great at keeping food fresh, separated and it fits nicely in most lunch boxes. Highly recommend.

- Bentgo Compartment Lunchbox - another great system -- it's leakproof, microwaveable and BPA-free but larger than the Sistema Cube. They are on sale right now on Amazon!

-- Dynamic Gear Reusable ice packs -- they are thin, effective and the perfect size to fit in most lunch boxes.

-- Thermos Funtainer - great at keeping soups, stews and pastas warm for lunchtime. The included spoon comes in handy, too.

I hope these ideas and products will make back-to-school grocery shopping and lunch packing fun and exciting. No one ever likes a boring lunch!

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