by Amy James, Our Everyday Dinners

I’m not that Pinterest mom. I should be the mom who packs cute bento boxes full of healthy and fun lunches for my children. I’m a food blogger, for goodness sake! But I’m not that mom. I’m the mom who sends a peanut butter sandwich, some chips, a cookie, and sometimes a tube of yogurt (gasp!).

See, I’ve had kids in school for 6 years now, and I’ve probably spent hundreds of dollars on fruits and vegetables that have been thrown away. And now that I have all 3 kids in school, that’s a lot money in the trash can. I’d rather send my kids a lunch they will eat, and then focus on a healthy breakfast, dinner, and snacks.
I try to get creative sometimes, but I focus on what they like. I always pack a napkin with a smiley face or heart, a water bottle, and a cookie. Everyone needs a little dessert in the cafeteria!

Here are some of their favorite lunches that do not include sandwiches:
• peanut butter and crackers, strawberries, cheese cubes
• homemade lunchables: ham, cheese, crackers, grapes
• soup in a thermos with crackers, fruit on the side
• brown rice in a thermos, baby carrots on the side, ranch for dipping
• cheese tortelinni in a thermos
• Caesar salad (dressing and croutons on the side), crackers, fruit
• dry cereal (milk in a thermos), banana
• almonds, cheese cubes, yogurt, pretzels

 

Amy James, Our Everyday Dinners, is a wife, mother, home cook, amateur gardener, and MBA who blogs at Our Everyday Dinners. Our Everyday Dinners chronicles Amy’s success and struggles in the kitchen preparing healthy and delicious dinners for her family of 5, which includes her husband, John, and children, Kate, Abby, and Alex.

Our Everyday Dinners has been featured on iVillage, PBS, Dole.com, Tasty Kitchen, KNWA, Yummly, BlogHer, FoxNewsEdge, Parents Playground, Motherlode, Arkansas Women Bloggers, and numerous blogs.