Switch up the usual sandwich for these easy turkey pinwheels!
If you’ve had pinwheels before, you know how popular they can be with kids and adults, and I’ve spruced up the classic recipe with fresh ingredients and creamy hummus for a healthy lunch option that fits perfectly in a lunchbox.
Healthy Turkey Pinwheels Recipe
Healthy turkey pinwheels are made with fresh veggies, sliced turkey, and creamy hummus rolled into a soft flour tortilla.
To make this recipe more nutritious than the original version, I swapped out the cream cheese for hummus, which is lower in fat and more flavorful. The addition of carrots and spinach brings volume and fiber to every bite.
Even with the extra greenery, these turkey pinwheels still disappear quickly from the lunchbox. And if this recipe is a hit with your family, give the Avocado Bacon Pinwheels a try!
What are Pinwheels
Classic pinwheels consist of a cream cheese base, deli meat, and more cheese rolled up tightly in a tortilla, then sliced into rounds.
Pinwheels have a small, round shape, making them easy to pick up and eat with your fingers, which makes them a great option for party appetizers and, in this case, packed lunches.
If this recipe is a breath of fresh air, you’ll love what’s inside the 101 Packed Lunches eBook. You’ll find much more than sandwiches and wraps; it includes hot lunch ideas, soups, epic salads, and incredible power bowls- all of which anyone can enjoy from school or the office.
101 Packed Lunches eBook
All my best kid-friendly lunches from over a decade of creating meal plans. Add some variety to your child’s lunchbox with these epic lunches, plus receive my Pack Meals Like a Pro ebook, free with purchase!
Turkey Pinwheel Ingredients
The ingredients for these healthy turkey pinwheels are simple; you’ll need the following items:
- large tortillas: whole grain, white, spinach, whatever you keep on hand.
- hummus: acts as a “glue” and holds the pinwheels together.
- spinach: for extra fiber and vitamins.
- deli turkey: provides these pinwheels with satiating protein. Swap it out for deli ham or chicken.
- shredded carrots: for extra crunch and veg.
How to Make Turkey Pinwheels
Pinwheels are just as easy to make as the usual wrap and burrito. The only extra step is slicing them into the rounds or “wheels” let me show you how it’s done.
- Make a base
Spread the hummus over the tortilla. - Add the fillings
Top the tortilla with spinach, sliced turkey, and shredded carrots. - Roll and slice
Beginning on one end, tightly roll the tortilla. Slice in half, and then in 1-inch pieces.
You can also watch this quick video to see the entire process from start to finish:
Can You Make Turkey Hummus Pinwheels Ahead?
Pinwheels are a great lunch to make the night before, and I find they taste even better the next day. Over time, the tortilla absorbs the hummus flavors while the ingredients ‘meld’ together.
If you want to make this recipe ahead, don’t slice the wrap until you are ready to pack it into a lunch container. The sliced pinwheels will dry out overnight. Instead, cover the wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the next morning.
How to Pack Pinwheels for Lunch
To keep pinwheels fresh and intact, pack them into a small compartment of a lunch container. Otherwise, it’s easy for them to get smashed or jostled when packed in plastic bags or large containers.
Easy Lunchboxes or bento boxes come with compartments and are what I typically use to pack this recipe and all sorts of lunches.
Easy Turkey Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 1 large whole grain tortilla
- 1 tablespoon hummus
- 1 handful Handful spinach or mixed greens
- 2-3 slices deli turkey
- Shredded or matchstick carrots
Instructions
- Place the tortilla on a flat surface. Spread hummus, top with field greens, place turkey slices on top and sprinkle carrots over the turkey.
- Beginning on one end, roll the tortilla tightly. Slice in half, and then in one-inch pieces.
Tracy Green
Hi Laura. What is the item in the upper left of the lunch container? Some kind of cheese? Coconut? Cookies? I can’t tell what it is. 🙂 Cannot wait to pack my daughter this lunch. She will LOVE it!
Laura Fuentes
It was dehydrated coconut. Enjoy!
nicole
My favorite kitchen tool are those silicon muffin liners. I use them to portion out small amounts of different foods. My kids love it. It’s like homemade lunchables. Put the same stuff on a plate and they’re not interested, put it in muffin cups and they love it! Kids 🙂
Kelli
I usually pack sandwiches or hot soups in a thermos. I really want to try some more interesting food ideas though.
Lisa Marz
My kids like cheese and turkey wraps and tortellini in a thermos.
Tracy
I like the idea of using a vegetable peeler to be able to fit more veggies in wraps. Thanks for sharing! One trick I do with my wraps is roll them up in aluminum foil. Then, when I need to eat them on the run I can peel a circle layer off of the foil at a time as I eat down the wrap. It keeps the wrap together, minimizes a mess, and is easy for on-the-go. The lunchbox you’re featuring looks like a great tool to help pack healthy lunches with a variety of fruits and veggies. Thanks for all you do and share!
Melissa
My kids love meatballs.
Holly
This would be really neat! Try to add fun bright colors to their lunches with napkins straws silverware etc.
Deja
One of the best lunch tips I can think of is using leftovers. It’s quick, easy, and you don’t have to worry about the leftovers spoiling later in the week.
Talia B.
We don’t have to pack lunches often, so sandwiches, or meat and cheese, fruit, veggies, and whatever homemade baked good I have laying around often go in out lunchbox.
Rachel
Thanks for the tip! I love to pack all different kinds of wraps in my kids lunches!
Haley Nguyen
My favorite items to put into a lunch box are, any type of wrap, carrots with hummus, and fruit. I would like to win this lunchbox so I could be ready for school! 🙂
Susan
Candied Ginger is a fun and tasty addition in a lunch box.
Leah
I put lots of different kinds of fresh fruit in my son’s lunchbox. He loves it and I love that he’s eating something nutritious, but still getting that sweetness he likes. I also cut his sandwich into shapes or draw a smiley face in it with a toothpick and ketchup. He loves that.
Liza
I would Love to win the Bentology lunch box!! An easy lunch recipe I do for my daugher are Jelly Roll Ups.
2 pieces of whole wheat bread with crusts cut off, then roll then out flat with a rolling pin.
Smear a layer of cream cheese
Add about 1 tsp jelly/jam
Then roll up and enjoy
Nicole
I have both your cookbooks and appreciate the incorporation of fresh fruits and veggies with fantastic ideas for school lunches. Last year my daughter was cycling between 3 different lunch options…boring! May favorite so far is hawaiian pinwheels, oatmeal muffins, grilled italian. I am just getting started and so excited to make more creations. And my daughter seems to appreciate the variety as well!
Christina Struik
My kids discovered cucumbers when they were from the garden and sprinkled with black pepper and Parmesan cheese. This works well in a lunch box. Kitchen tip: if you need to eat gluten free and vegetarian (or vegan) you can wrap your lentil “sausages” in those round rice paper wraps to fry them and keep their shape without affecting the flavour much. These work well in a lunch box too! I think your recipe would work well with nori wraps instead of wheat wraps as well.
Adriane Fitzhugh
I use these to lunch prep for my husband. Then he can just grab and go in the morning and is ready for lunch time!!
Carole S
Our 5 year old loves seeing pictures we took during our summer break. I print a few out for the week and slip them in her lunch box along with her favorite foods.
Stacy
I love using the silicone muffin cups and the silicone ice pop makers. Some of my three boys favorites are ‘apple sandwiches,’ wraps and frozen organic peas.
Alicia
My 7yr old still enjoys nutella sandwiches cut with different shaped mini cutters.
Karen
One of my kids favorite this past year was what we call the “Nacho box.” I would give them frozen pre-cooked chicken strips from Trader Joes, frozen corn, beans, shredded cheese and salsa. By lunch time all the frozen items were room temp, and with a bag of tortilla chips on the side, it was a total success! They also really enjoyed having quesadillas instead of the chips.
Thank you for what you do. Your book and blog have given me the desire to branch out from a very boring lunch routine! My kids are so grateful and excited to see what are in their lunch containers now.
Heather Benes
Hello. I like to fill my kids lunchboxes with homemade “Lunchables”. I find the food in the pre-packaged/pre-made lunchables gross (texture and ingredients) so I make up my own. My kids love it because I can customize the crackers, cheese and meat to what my children like. I also include some sort of cookie or small piece of candy because that is the treat they can have after they’ve eaten the rest of the meal (at least I hope they eat the rest of the meal first!). I really need to invest in some new lunch containers because right now I’m using some leftover plastic boxes from deli meat to put my lunches in. I would like to invest in ones that have the dividers so that it will keep the food apart from each other and fresh. I really like what you use on your website…I have them added to my Amazon wish list. Thank you!
Arissa
I like making mini pizzas with spinach and pepperoni on a whole wheat mini pita. Of course we use fresh mozzarella. I buy an eight pack of pitas and make them all at once. I freeze them separated by wax paper and then take them out the night before. I think the Easy Lunch box would work so well with our family. Thanks Laura for all your ideas!
Andrea
So excited about your give away! I am overweight and REALLY trying to eat healthy, sensible meals. I like divided containers for portion control. I love filling my container with cut up fruits and vegetables, cottage cheese or yogurt, and leftovers.
Sara
baby bagels with cream cheese & strawberry jam. Kiwis are always a big hit.
Molly
I love to make octo-dogs: Hot dogs cut in half then each half gets 4 cuts in the bottom half. When you boil them they cuts curl up into legs. My kids have loved these for years.
Kathy
My daughter loves fried rice (eggs, ham and lettuce) and tortilla. Combine the two and it’s a fried rice burrito.
Stephanie
I put little notes in their lunchboxes. There is always alot to choose from – and I’ve found that even leftovers work well. It’s gotten to the point now that even if I say I’ll give the kids money for lunch they don’t want to buy it because they like mine better. YEA! a win in my book 😉
Amy
My favorite lunch tip is using toothpicks…..just plain…. to create kabab picks! My kids are not big sandwich people so I will make stacks of meat, veggies, and cheese on toothpicks and they love it. And so many opportunities for variety:)
lemon
My kids love wraps. I use different fun themed plastic tooth picks (inserted at an angle so lids close) to keep them closed
Erica K.
I am a teacher and my lunch time is actually brunch, so I love breakfast. I make a big batch of breakfast taquitos, freeze them, and then they are easy to grab and go. I bake them so they are healthier, and I can mix up the ingredients, so I won’t get bored. Plus the egg is a great source of protein and fills me up.
Tara
When something calls for shredded zucchini, I use my spiral funnel slicer, and then cut it smaller with a knife. Then I don’t have juice or little pieces of zucchini making a mess on my counters and floors.
Stacey R
I like to put ham and cheese on a pretzel roll and frozen smoothie pops in our lunchboxes.
Laura O'Halloran
Okay, this might sound silly, but my son loves the days when he has more to pull out of his lunch bag or box. In order to achieve this I pack everything into small containers (so he actually thinks that he is eating more!). I don’t do this every day…
Cynthia
Lots of berries and yogurt
Mina
I love to put little notes on my lunches that match what I put inside, whether it be slipper shaped sandos (‘Have a magical day” or “I love you princess”) or snack bears (“Love you beary much”) it’s all about the feeling you give your kids that you were thinking of them.
🙂
Celine l
i save the mouths or picture off lollipop and use them as pics in a lunch
Melissa Olson
My kiddos love apple sandwiches w/ nut butters raisin’s or cranberries, bananas with any type of muffins and fruit salad. They really aren’t that picky and eat anything!!
Jessica F
I have to very picky eaters so I “hide” veggies is their muffins 🙂
A_Shoemaker
Hi Laura! I am on your site so often I feel like we are best friends lol…I just made this crunchy turkey wrap for the kids first day of school. My girls don’t like carrots but I am able to sneak them in this wrap because they don’t really taste the small shreds. My daughter asked me why I put them in there and I told her because it looks pretty. That is enough I guess. 🙂 My 11 year old just told me yesterday she doesn’t like the tortilla, ugh. I am going to try rolling bread slices really thin first and if that doesn’t work I think I will try your grain-free wraps. I will find an alternative for her so these easy delicious wraps can stay in our rotation along with the many others I use on your site.
My favorite go to for the lunch box is cucumbers. The girls love them and I can pair them with ranch, hummus, cream cheese for “sandwiches” and in a rice vinegar and sesame salad with tomatoes. Yum!
Laura Fuentes
I love that you made this lunch already! Yes, you can use a slice of whole grain bread for these too! Take the bread slice, roll it with a rolling pin a few times to flatten it into a bread tortilla, and make the wrap, then roll. Maybe you can haver her roll it out and let her see that it’s bread 😉 You definitely sound like me by answering the question “because it looks pretty” lol. and the rice vinegar + sesame salad combo? definitely YUM!
Jill
My daughter likes snack type foods like hummus and pita chips; tortilla chips with a cream cheese, salsa and black bean dip, apples and peanut butter. Variety is key.
Dawn Walbeck
My 11 year old loves to pack a lunch. He is kind of a picky eater, so it is hard to find things that he will actually eat. We many times resort back to prepackaged things, which does not make me happy. 😉 He does like when I put homemade granola bars, mini cheesecakes, ham/cheese and pickle roll ups, frozen go-gurt, and ranch dip for just about anything in there. I try to vary it as much as possible-to encourage him to eat it all. I always top the lunch off with a joke-which he shares with his friends. LOL
Jess
Strawberries, grapes, carrots and hummus, kiddo is on a bean and cheese taco kick, so one of those!
Sandra
We like pasta, hot or cold, with sauce or olive oil and seasonings.
Amy
I like to put carrots or cucumbers with ranch in my son’s lunchbox. If I can’t find a lid for the little rang container, then I use one of the sauces from my fast food leftover stash.
Kiki
My cutie patooties are very picky and don’t want any food to mix with another food, so we LOVE the silicone muffin cups to keep everything in it’s own space! My kids love fruit, nuts and yogurt in their lunch boxes.
Rachel Smith
My favorite things to pack for my toddler is DIY pizza ingredients, English muffin, shredded cheese, pizza sauce and pepperoni and sliced veggies. He can either eat separately or build his own tiny pizza!
Cass
fresh fruits and veggies
Sandra
Love to pack seasonally, anxiously awaiting homemade pumpkin spice muffins, carrots and hummus, pumpkin biscottis, can you tell I am ready for fall!
annalynn robison
My daughter starts kindergarten next week so I dont have much experience packing a lunch for school but my favorite tip is using an ice cream scoop to remove all the seeds inside melons and larger squash.
Heather
Learning how to deal with my my son’s eatiing..I would not call it picky he is autistic. Loves cheese Sammies tasten lots of different cheeses in them. Mac and cheese yeah with sweet potato Tomale soup, ok.
Michelle
I try and make a large enough dinner to have left overs for lunch.
Karlie
Yogurt, crackers, fruit (one child only eats puree fruit), and green salad (that same child will only eat his greens in a smoothie so that’s what he gets in a thermos) are popular with my kids.
Jennifer Haddow
Last year my vegetarian son’s favorite packed lunch was a bean and cheese burrito, orange or yellow pepper strips, pineapple and blueberries or yogurt and blueberries.
Cathy G
My kids love pepperoni roll-ups…pepperoni and mozzarella melted in crescent buns. Yum.
Rebecca
For lunches, I love packing a variety of healthy snack items that can be mixed-and-matched for lunch or snacks, such as cheese cubes, cut fruit, pita slices, hummus and other dips, finger veggies, and so on.
Dona Perkins
My daughter LOVES the SnapPea Crisps! They are baked and crunchy, so she gets those instead of chips. And anything wrapped, rolled, speared, or cut in wacky shapes is a big hit at lunchtime. 🙂
Rebecca
You can never go wrong with some cottage cheese!! Or a good hummus with veggies =)
Teal Lockard
I’m pretty boring. I just pack whatever leftovers I have. 😉
Ivy
My son loves when I make foods into fun shapes. He really enjoys his sandwiches cut with his dinosaur sandwich cutter
Amanda
Yogurt and fresh fruit!
Virginia MacFawn
Wow, this is such a loaded question! As a mom to 2 boys and 2 girls ages 2-11 with varying apetites and tastes i do everything and anything I can to fill their lunchboxes and hope they eat it! That is what led me to find your webiste, blog and buy the book! So, some of my favorite tricks are muffins – mini muffins! I got that idea from you. I can make them zucchini chocolate chip, quiche based, apple cinnamon, sweet potato, anything that will pack some nutrition into a cute little package that might not come home in the lunchbox! Thanks for putting your ideas out there!
paula
Wraps are a favorites at are house
Natalie
I pack wraps with ham and cheese,and ham sandwiches,fruit and cheese
Nancy Ryan
As the mom of 3 daughters that never liked school lunches, I have always made lunches for them. My two older are now old enough to make their own, buy I still make my youngest daughters lunches. She has been my most adventurous eater and therefore the most fun to make lunches for. She really loves caprese skewers in her lunch. A toothpick with baby fresh mozzarella, cherry tomato and basil. She also loves to have the breakfast egg muffins or any muffin for that matter. I love to get ideas from you, 100days of real food and pinterest! I have your cookbook, so the possibilities seem endless. Thank you. This lunch box looks like a great addition to our lunch making station.
jennifer
fruits!! Any kind!
Sarah
One of my favorite thing to use to fill a lunchbox is silicone cupcake tins and fill with fruits and veggies or little snacks. Keeps food contained and adds some color 🙂
Shannon
We are all about eating different color peppers in our lunches for that crisp fresh crunch.
Marina S
I put steamed edamame in my child’s thermos – it always comes back eaten!
Cynthia
Since discovering your homemade blueberry syrup, I pack chia pudding with syrup and add toasted almonds from a separate container before eating.
Elizabeth Hernandez Forrest
I am a teacher so packing lunches for MYSELF (just like you do for a student) is very important since I don’t have much time to eat. I love to pack fruit, veggies and pinwheels since they are all hand held items that I can eat while I am grading, picking up the classroom, monitoring recess, etc. 🙂
Cassanadra Zimmerman
We like to freeze yogurt cups, and put them in a cooler. They serve as a ice block for the rest of the food in the cooler, and the yogurt won’t go bad! And if you eat it sooner before it defrosts, it is like frozen yogurt! win, win!
Cindee
My kids love anything they can either poke with a toothpick or slide off a skewer!
Sheryl Wilkins
My kids are pretty easy to please as long as they have plenty of daily variety. They especially like homemade ‘Lunchables’. They are easy to pack and keep very well until lunch. It is easy to keep new by changing up types of crackers, pita chips, hummus/dips, cheese, fruit, and veggies.
Jennie
My kiddos favorite meal in their lunchbox is a whole wheat peanut butter and jelly roll up, made with whole wheat homemade tortillas from Trader Joes and natural, unsweetened peanut butter and low sugar jelly. I make up enough for the week on Sunday and freeze them until I put them in the lunch box the night before.
Michele
My favorite packing tool is the remainder of my stash of Ziploc Divided Rectangle lunch boxes. I bought a bunch when the first rumblings came down that they were being discontinued. Only 4 left in circulation, and 2 are very questionable.
Wish that there were an affordable (cheap!) replacement that sealed completely between sections, has only 2 parts, and is properly sized for a good lunch.
Michelle
I am falling in love again with sandwiches! I have gotten creative with adding veggies, including bell peppers, kale, and we have home grown cucumbers this year. Just adding some fruit and nuts on the side make a great filling lunch.
Suzanne Kirkland
The compartment style lunch boxes really help my kids try new things. We also use a lot of silicone baking cups to make even more compartments. In fact, today they have bento boxes with salami, boiled egg, cheese, crackers, strawberries and carrots from our garden!
Beth
You can never go wrong with pb&j, veggie and fruit!
Angela
I have two boys, ages 5 and 7. They both have such different likes/dislikes but the one thing they both love is vanilla yogurt with sprinkles. 🙂 Sprinkles make them smile.
Karen R.
Just starting to delve into the nutritious lunch box arena. Trying to keep in mind whole grains, fruits and veggies and keeping everything balanced.
Natasha Brooke
We make our own lunchables. So much fun
Dawn
My favorite cooking tip is use a pizza cutter to cut through pancakes, sandwiches, tortillas, fruit or any other items for quick cuts.
Aubrey
I like to put PB&J sandwiches in different shapes. It guarantees they will eat it!
Mailea S
my 2cent tip: My kids love “PA-sghetti!! So in order to make smiles and not get it on the floor… I just make it in a sandwich! Be it bread, ham.buns, hot dog buns, pita bread… And our favorite is Hawaiian Rolls as “Sghetti-Sliders” !!!!!!! 😉
Maggie
I’ve been eyeballing new lunch containers for my boys, who are 8&6, this one looks like it will work great for my 3rd grader. I love to use leftovers for my kids lunches, but many times my kids reject cold food. I’ve learned that if I warm up thermos with hot water, dump it, and then add the warmed up leftovers, my boys are more apt to eat their lunch. It takes an extra minute in the morning and makes a big difference!
Laura Fuentes
I’m a big fan of thermoses too!
Allison C
This is the start of our 3rd year packing lunches.. My 12 YO son, loves anything that he can dip, veggies in hummus or dressing fruit in yogurt or pnut butter.. I use the silicone cups and self contained containers.. I enjoy putting surprise snacks in a small container.. gummy candy usually.. I even have a few larger containers for hubbys lunch he usually takes left over dinner.. if there is any with 5 boys 2-18 there rarely is ..
Jen J
Yogurt and berries and a separate container of granola to sprinkle on top. YUM!
Lisa D
My second grader is getting braces next week so we are brainstorming foods that will be easy for her to eat!
Allison C
yogurts, jello, PB&J cut into small animal shapes makes them bite size so she wont have to bite into anything with her fronts.. after a few days she should be able to go back to her regular eating.. we had the same issue last year.. we were lucky he got his put on in the winter so.. soups for that first week.. good luck.. I hope it isn’t to bad on her
Marilyn S
my kids love cheese, lunch meat, crackers, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies in their lunch boxes.
Michelle
Leftovers are my favorite things to pack in a lunch box. I love being able to cook once and eat twice. And, it helps my husband to eat healthier lunches, and my son to be exposed to new foods again. Plus, I can do a lot of the work the night before!
Tiki
My favorite thing to put in my boys’ lunch boxes are little chocolate with love notes (hidden of course so not to be too embarrassing)
Amanda Sours
Some of my favorite things to fill a lunchbox with is your recipes. I especially love the ones that can be frozen and then thrown in the lunchbox in the morning and will be ready to eat at lunch time!!!
Angela Mehaffey
Great ideas. I like silicone muffin cups. My preschooler has not started school yet, but your website has given me some great ideas for packed lunches
Janell K.
We like to put sandwich meat, cheese, fruit, and crackers in divided containers..and, a special note!
Heather
We like packing smoothies in a thermos on hot days and soups or tea on cold days..
Jennifer's
My son likes to dip things. Anything. Everything! Nut butter with apples, carrots with guacamole, cukes and hummus, you get the idea. If it can be dipped, he’ll eat it!
Melanie Hawk
Thank you so very much for the opportunity to enter you awesome giveaway! My kitchen tip is that I reuse (only once) my dryer sheets on hard to clean pans… anything from oily spaghetti sauce to cleaning pans that I cooked sausage in, etc… It is a great way to pre-clean before putting my pots and pans in my older dishwasher. I spread the words years ago throughout my family and I know that this tip is used all of the time. For lunches for my kiddos, age 14 and 8, it is pretty complicated for each child. My oldest loves turkey or chicken rolled into pinwheels with poppy seed dressing and any veggies shredded (or using a vegetable peeler) into the pinwheel that I have available. My youngest is straight up peanut butter and jelly or honey. They both love cut up fruits: apples, strawberries, bananas, kiwis, oranges, etc… I alway include carrot or celery sticks with peanut butter and often ritz crackers with cheese or peanut butter. Yogurt is always and option as well as hard boiled eggs. Of course there is always my homemade chocolate chip cookies or magic cookie bars or cookie of some sort. Water. Water, water, water. No juices. Just water. 🙂 Thank you for sharing your recipe. 🙂
Dawn T
I just started packing lunches towards the end of last school year. I’m using your Grain Free meal plan, as we’re trying to go Primal. What I found works best for MY kids, is to get them to help pick the things that go into their lunch boxes and to let them help make them. They’re 6 and 8, so it’s done with quite a bit of guidance.
I have boys and they’re ALL BOY so they aren’t really interested in pretty food. They’re getting more independent and are both cooking things for themselves. Anything they make themselves doesn’t ever make it back home.
So far, their favorite thing has been the Blender Bread. My 6 year old asks for “cashew bread” and my 8 year old loves the idea of having bread again.
Rima
Since my eldest daughter is diabetic and lactose intolerant, and my youngest daughter is a pickie eater, and my son has nut allergy making thier lunch is challenging but fun. Most days it is a bento style and full of whole foods with everything home made from scratch. And if i put one or two things they like, they are most likely to eat their lunch. They all love fruits and home made muffins which I hide the veggies in. Also a note that has a question of the day, they can answer it themselves or get a friend or a teacher to help. Sometime a joke or i love yous They love that part. My eldest still looks for ward to her notes even though she is 19.
P.s. love your blog…
Anna
My favorite way to fill the lunchbox is to supervise! My son is 12 and I found that he was not really interested in the lunches that I was packing. Call it pre-teen indecision, but if I packed tuna, he wanted peanut butter. Now, I watch him pack his lunch and give suggestions instead of taking over. He makes the choices and packs it up. I find that he empties the box every day and gives me tips about new combinations to try. He will love to try these wraps. although he will change up the ingredients, I am sure.
Tracey
For lunches I make my own peanut free trail mix with dry cereal, pretzels, hemp hearts, sunflower seeds, craisins and a few chocolate chips to keep it interesting. Also love Squoosh organic apple/veggie sauce, sugar free in pouches (and when I have time I make my own and put it in reusable Little Green Pouches. Also for a treat now and then I put cold cereal (Cheerios or Shreddies) with some brown sugar in a Ziploc, add a thermos of milk and they have cold cereal for lunch and are the envy of all their classmates.
Valerie Re
My favorite thing to put in my son’s lunch box is fresh fruits. He’s ALWAYS eaten fresh fruits and his absolute favorites are rasberries.
Hope I win the lunch box! I could definitely use it! 🙂
Kory Beavers
Pickles! My children go crazy for different kinds of pickles.
Holly Kotler
My kids loved lunchables…so we made our own. We got round cookie cutters and cut the turkey and the cheese. Then we put in whole wheat crackers and a sweet treat! Non processed lunchables. I’m thinking the bento lunch box might make it even more like the “store” lunchables.
Laura
Sandwich cutters are important to me. My daughter (5) will eat almost anything if it is in a fun shape or looks like Elmo or Mickey Mouse. She is on a cucumber wave atm and wants cucumber with every meal and snack.
Christy
I love stuffing our lunchboxes with hard boiled eggs, pickles, a sandwich of some sort (our recent fave is your egg salad) and veggies &/or fruit. I try to adhere to at least one item from each of the old-school food groups and then making sure to give a variety of textures, too. Too much crunch makes a huge mess with my 5 yo son who nibbles like a raccoon, but too much mushy stuff makes my 4 yo daughter turn her nose up. Makes sense to me. I can’t wait to add these crunchy turkey wrap pinwheels to the list, but I’d love to showcase them in your lunchboxes — our old butter and yogurt and cottage cheese containers just aren’t cutting it anymore.
Teri Murphy
I love to pack fruits and veg in mine. The girls like PB and J
Carin
My favorite thing to do is to add surprise notes!
catherine
I love to fill lunchboxes with chopped veggies and cut up fruit. I also like to add crackers or pretzel sticks to go along with it. Juice boxes, cheese sticks. Those are just a few of my favorite things to put in my boys lunches.
Wendy
Egg salad, hard boiled eggs, wrap with guacamole, black beans, salsa,and field greens, wrap with romaine lettuce hummus and sprinkled with shredded carrots, cucumber and julienned peppers
grace
I packed sandwiches with different snacks and yogurt. But our favorite is: nitrite free pepperoni with cheese and crackers. Plus some fruits. I am trying to add green but my son is very picky about that green color! Thanks for the chance to win this cool lunch box!
Maria Lopez
For lunch today my girls i gave them a turkey wrap, a ham wrap some carrots and tamatoes with some ranch dipping sauce. They love fruits and vegetables but my daughter is fructose intolarent and cant have many fruits so using small bowls or containers with how much she can have works great. Both my girls like all the meats seperate so sometimes I just put them in containers all seperate and let them create there own wraps. They love making faces with the vegetables another great way to get them to eat it make it fun.
Jamie Taylor
I found individual hummus packets at Costco last year. My 6 year old daugther loves these! I like to fill her lunch with yummy stuff like this to give her a great start.
Tracie Dugdell
I’m going to have to print some of these new ideas to show my kids! We try to do little silicon muffin containers with each piece of a sandwich, (and this means a lot less bread if any at all). Basically we’re still packing same things, just in pieces and somehow they like it better, they feel like they are sampling foods!
Lindsey
I am new to packing lunches since my child just started kindergarten. I am trying to get past just sandwiches! So far the biggest favorites are string cheese and fruit cups.
Carrie Vessels
Our school doesn’t have a lunch program so I always have to pack a lunch and I almost always make a wrap for lunch. My 8 year old’s current favorite lunch is a veggie pepperoni wrap. I wrap veggie pepperoni, a slice of cheese and spinach then give her my homemade pizza sauce to dip it in. I pair it with a fruit and spinach smoothie.
Karie
I have a picky eater…so I like this type of system so none of his food is touching! Because we can’t have that happen….we use them for lunches and on the weekends when we have football games, sandwiches, chips and fruit/veges are a perfect fit.
Mindy
I load up lunch boxes with lots of fruits and veggies and always a Gogo Squeeze! I try to do all my slicing and dicing on Sunday, so that everything is ready to go. If things can be pre-portioned out, I like to do that on Sunday too. If ranch or source cream are needed I put into small containers and freeze. We are big on leftovers for lunch which makes it easy to pack while cleaning up from dinner
kristi vibbert
leftovers are the keys to our lunches and ability to make them ahead of time the night before to make morning rush smoother
Dena
My husband usually fixes our kids lunches but I like to give him lot’s of ideas. We love cheese and veggies and much as possible. I have also spent the last week making things for the freezer that can be put into lunches like burritos, muffins and muffin corn dogs. I plan on making more this week. Thanks for the tips
Medora Koenig
As a mom of a teen age son with Type 1 Diabetes, I am always looking for a variety of high protein snacks to add to his lunch as a food that he doesn’t have to count in his carb total for the day. He loves all types of cheese, roast beef and turkey . His carb on most days will be a peanut butter sandwich with extra thin whole grain and a banana or apple. Managing diabetes for a starving 16 year old boy is tough but taking lunch from home sure beats the cafeteria options.
Melissa W.
I like to make smoothies and freeze them. By lunch time they’re more of a slushie that can be eaten with a spoon. Packed full of healthy fruits and veggies and good calcium! I also like to make mini muffins and freeze those. Throw a couple of those in and you get a tasty treat that is also full of good, healthy ingredients. 🙂
Emily C
My kids love it when I make hand-pies (pasties) or main courses baked in muffin tins! Both are quick to do ahead of time and make great replacements for sandwiches.
Emily
Cheese quesadillas are a favorite for my kids, as well as homemade “lunchables” using those brightly-colored silicone baking cups as mini compartments!
Cristina
I like to pack popcorn that I pop in coconut oil. I add a bit of salt and nutritional yeast to top it off.
Sofia Skounaki
My daughter does not eat sandwiches or wraps. I pack diced chicken with broccoli or peas and carrots, pasta salads, rolls of ham or ham-and-provolone with sliced cucumber. Also, omelet and lots of fruit. I use divided containers and silicone muffin cups to keep the different items separate and also toothpicks to keep them in place.
Erin Krueger
We just moved here from Spain, so first year I’ll be packing lunch boxes! Looking forward to reading what others post.
Brandi Mc
My kids love salad, but not anything on them. It is quite frustrating to me, because I love veggies. One tip I do, is add the veggies on the side for my kids, so that maybe they will enjoy them separate, and not all together. They seem to like this better.
Jennifer
Diy lunchables
Ruth
We eat leftovers for lunch or sandwiches. But grownups get bored with lunches too! I try to include a different fruit each day, and I use different kinds of breads for the sandwiches, some homemade. Homemade flatbread is easy to make on a cookie sheet and is a nice change of pace.
Angelena
I would love to win one of these bento lunch boxes. I would use it for my daughters lunch. She loves our pizza lunch able ;-). I use a biscuit cutter to cut circles from a tortilla. I add pepperoni, sauce and cheese. She also loves turkey and cheese roll ups.
Lisa Fisher
Mini muffins work great in my 5 year old’s lunch.
Brittany S
I love to add fruits to my lunches as well as cucumbers, carrots, and celery. It’s just me right now but I am currently eating for two so I love knowing that I can pack all of this healthy food to help promote my baby’s development.
Kristen
Favorite things to fill up a lunch box: Cheese in every shape & form, mini frittatas or quiches, cheese & crackers, raisins, craisins, dried cherries, pretzel stix, mini fish crackers, sandwich roll-ups, tons of fruit, hummus & veggie stix, and much much more!
Favorite tip: Use mini cookie cutters to turn anything into fun shapes (just about any fruit, some vegetables, sandwiches, bread, cheese, eggs/omelets, etc.)
I’m going to try this recipe tonight!
Jennifer Ayres
My girls love the silicone cupcake molds to divide foods in their lunchbox. We really love the steel vegetable (flower or other shape) to create fun shapes with vegetables or sandwiches. The vegetable cutters help my daughter try cucumbers, which they now love to eat! Thanks Laura!
Shirin
My toddler loves fruits and veggies, so I am enjoying adding a few fun tools to make it easier for me to prep his snacks and for him to pop the fruits into his mouth. Silicone cups are also awesome in separating foods and keeping it all looking great when packing our lunches for work and daycare/ a day out.
My new favorite tools are a Chef’n strawberry huller
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/chef-n-strawberry-huller/
and a grape/tomato zip slicer
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/tomato-zip-slicer/?pkey=e%7Cgrape%2Bslicer%7C31%7Cbest%7C4294967249%7C2%7C24%7C%252Fgrape-slicer%252Fcooks-tools%7C2&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH
I would love to receive a bento box! It would make my life easier and more fun to prepare lunches!
Katie
I like to use my Pampered Chef veggie peelers and slicers to cut things for my daughter’s lunch. Also the silicon baking cups are good to divide food.
Amanda Robertson
Great giveaway! I’m still a work in progress… but when I have time I like to do the following:
– I like to wash all of my fruits/veggies before they get into the fridge. It helps speed up dinner/lunch prep and allows the kids to easily get snacks on their own.
– also remove yogurt/applesauce single serve containers from boxes before putting in the fridge to save the wrestling match.
– When storing leftovers from dinner they go right into one or more work/microwave friendly glass containers in lunch size portions.
– On good nights (soon to be every night hopefully…) I fill the kettle, get my tea bag/sugar in my thermos and all set for the morning with non-refrigerated snacks.
Steff
My two daughters pack the bulk of their lunches on Sunday. They each have a gallon sized ziploc bag with the name of the week on it. They are to pack 2 snacks from their snack cabinet that does not need to be refrigerated. I have printed and laminated names of fruit or other refrigerated items they may want me to add each day of the week in the morning before we head off to school. They put that slip of paper in the baggie as well. This is my way of ensuring that they will not say to me at the end of the day that they didn’t like what was packed. They are accountable for eating the lunch they packed with the healthy choices I made available to them.
Jerie
I like to use an egg slicer to easily slice strawberries.
Laura Fuentes
Genius!
ashli m.
In my house the kids favorite is either a tortilla wrap or sandwhich cut up into shapes with yogurt and fruit cut up in shapes too..
Jess
Love all the lunch ideas on this blog! Thanks Laura for sharing! I have 2 boys. One of which will eat anything and the other who is more typical and if allowed would just eat sweets and junk w/the occasional fruit. He loves taking hard boiled eggs and chicken legs to school. Lol the healthier one prefers dinner leftovers or tons of beans and rice with a side of a homemade type of salsa(diced onions tomatoes cilantro and garlic r with olive oil lemon juice salt and pepper).
Love to use anything that will help separate food. I sometimes wrap sandwiches that have funny faces made of fruit leather in serran wrap so it stays put.
Kyna
My kids favorite is a traditional peanut butter sandwich. One son enjoys jams I make with his peanut butter and my other son enjoys honey with his. 🙂
Diana
I like to pack dinner leftovers since my son doesn’t mind eating cold food. Some other easy ideas: cheese and tomato “pizza” on a gluten free slice of bread, seaweed snack, olives, homemade spring rolls (with whatever i have in the fridge;), pistachios, edamame.
Sue
I swear by the silicone muffin cups as well! I fill them with trail mix, grapes or baby carrots, they are the perfect size! Can’t wait to try this recipe…
lisa franklin
love to fill lunchboxes with raw fruit and veggies, a protein and sometimes cheese sticks
Adrienne
Fruit, yogurt, and wraps are some of our favorites for lunch.
Krystal Watson
Fruit is always a must and is easy!
keri
My boys love “milkshakes” we use spinach and mint from the garden mixed with chocolate milk. I really love the idea of using a peeler to make veggies a bit more fun.
Ginni
We have been working on healthy lunches since we have discovered that my daughter’s elementary school does not make the children get vegetables with their lunch. My daughter likes fruits and veggies but if she can, she will only eat the junk food. She loves all kinds of meat so we have no problem with protein. We are having to find a happy medium between what is healthy and what my daughter finds tasty. We do a lot of homemade lunchables and any sandwiches cut with cute cutters. She says it makes her smile when she opens her lunch. What is better than having your kid smile?
I have been trying to find a good lunchbox/ container solution. I absolutely adore these and I hope that we win!
Melissa Jensen
Pinwheels are the best of all the worlds, especially in trying to get my kiddo-bean to eat veggies. I love adding popcorn to her lunchbox, though, as it’s fun and she’ll eat that rather than sweets!
Kristy Krehnovi
We love to put in chips & hummus, french toast sticks with yogurt, leftovers…
Gary
I always like to pack one whole grain item such as wrap or a sandwich or a burger packed with a protein item and loads of veggies. That way I know that as long as he eats that one central item of the meal, my son is getting enough to keep him full and energetic.
The side items are usually fresh fruit, crunchy baked chips and a drink such a Whole fruit juice box or a smoothie or kefir .
Laura B
Our go to is a home-made lunchable with healthier meat and cheese options, fresh fruits and veggies
Melissa
My son will be starting Kindergarten in a few weeks, so I will just be starting my lunch-box packing practice! Hopefully he will eat what I put in it. I need all the ideas I can get because he is picky!
Jennifer
My son loves to take zucchini muffins in his lunch.
Evelyn Lau
Other than silicon muffin cups, I also will add in paper liners sometimes as they comes with cute design and colorful! I will also try to use my kid favorite cartoon character container.
Diana
My girls love strawberries, turkey, cheese and crackers in their bento lunch box.
Licia Robertson
My daughters both love celery filled with peanut butter! It’s so yummy! I would love to try this new lunch box out for my girls.
Jill
Like a lot of th eother moms, I am working to make my kid’s lunches healthier and full of things they will eat. They love little mini pizzas on pitas.
Natalie
My daughter loves lunchboxes with separated compartments. I like sending fruit and veggies in her lunch such as cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes, blueberries.
Esmeralda
I love to use the small Easy Lunch Boxes to store fruit dips for my son’s fruit. They have seal tight lids that prevent spilling inside is lunch container. I fill his lunch container (like the one’s you are giving away) with one meal and two fruit sides. He loves it!
Kaila Davidson
Our favorite lunch box accessories are the silicone cups, and I also have an addiction to cute skewers! For food, my son doesnt like sandwiches so a lot of the time I am sending meat and cheese cubes (cue cute skewers!). He also loves those pepperoni sticks. I also found that hot dogs pack pretty well even on a bun! I just send individual packets of ketchup and relish (I keep them from takeout restaurants) so the bun doesnt get soggy.
Jenni M.
Dates!!!! They are sweet like candy but natural
Sarah
I love doing bento lunches for my children. Since I started following you in instagram, I got a lot of ideas and tried some of your recipe which my kids love. I like making burrito for my son. With my daughter I packed her fruits and a sandwich.
Christi
Not food related, but i love adding a daily note in my son’s lunch. I use Lunchbox Love. It makes me feel special b/c all the kids want to read the fun fact or joke on the back of the card.
Laura Fuentes
Love Lunchbox Love notes!
TC
Anything finger-friendly: blueberries when in season, cheese and crackers, mini-muffins, etc.
debbie
Our favorite tool is also silicone baking cups. hummus is a big hit in our house and a go to add-in to many lunches.
Marga
I use small baby size snack cups to put fresh fruit and veggies for snack and lunch. I am lucky my school encourages a healthy snack.
Polly
Last spring, my 13 yr old GF son saw me eating a store bought wrap and asked for one. I found GF wraps and designed one using spinach, am. cheese, lunchmeat, and mustard. He LOVED it! Especially when I cut it like sushi rolls! I was shocked he was eating spinach! SO your lunchbox will make these very tidy for me as placing them in a sandwich bag is calling for a messy lunch! Unfortunately, your recipe would be rejected because of the crunchiness! Maybe he’d eat the carrots separately??
Vanessa Gutierrez
I would love the chance to win this new lunch box! It is absolutely true that you can never have too many! My boys love when I put cheese and ham/ turkey cubes, veggies, or fruit on mini skewers (with the pointy tip cut off of course 🙂 ) Makes lunch different and fun to eat!
Mihaela
Lunchboxes are the best! I usually fill ours with a protein “main course” (3 bean, avocado, tuna salad on whole wheat wrap, or turkey wraps) and add a fruit and a cut up “finger veggie” (carrots, celery, cucumbers) in the little containers.
Judee A.
Homemade subs made with freshly baked hot dog buns. Then something crunchy (i.e. pretzels), then some fresh produce, then maaaaaybe a sweet treat – just for fun!
Sheila B
Love the banana pancake idea I just saw above- I will do that for my kiddos – yummo!
I use a spiraler to do the same thing with veggies makes it more fun
Heather Hooper
My daughter loves when I add sushi rolls to her lunch! My son loves fruit and finger food such as crackers and cheese.
Andrea Snyder
This school year will be my first time packing lunches…so…no favorite yet. Although, I am very excited to use all the suggestions and tips to pack a healthy lunch for my little girl. Thanks!
Zina
Kitchen sink muffins are a regular lunch box item around here. I’m making them a few times a week. Blueberry, strawberry, pumpkin all sorts of combinations.
Sara P
My go-to is leftovers. My little one’s favorite is “taco wednesday” when the leftovers go to his lunchbox.
Laura Fuentes
Mine too!
Kim Pieplow
Although the protein changes (sandwich, pizza, etc), I always like to have strawberries, cheese, and veggies (carrots and cucumbers with ranch or hummus)! Love the compartments of the bentology lunchboxes!
Amanda
My favourite lunch is actually leftovers, but there isn’t always enough for everyone’s lunch, this is where my mystery lunch cakes come into play.
I will always cook too much rice or potato and freeze it or use it for lunches. I’ll use some with whatever meat and veg was left form dinner and crack an egg in to help amalgamate the mixture together. If the meat and veg was spiced or flavoured, I leave them; if not I add a bit of seasoning (tex mex, curry powder etc).
I use an ice cream scoop to portion the patties out and fry or bake them, depending on how lazy I am feeling.
Even if we had a meatless monday night, I will add a tin of salmon into the mix.
The thought process behind this is basically bubble and squeak (this may be an Australian/British thing but to us it is just left over veggies (usually mashed potato the majority) that is fried in patties the next morning for breakfast.
Cooking too much dinner for repurposed lunches is always great, cook and clean once, and get two meals.
I also will cook spaghetti and meat balls (with lots of veg hidden in the sauce AND the meatballs) then I will make meatball subs for lunch, the meatballs and sauce on some arugula topped with parmesan cheese.
And risottos make great arancini balls the next day.
I guess my basic tip is always cook extra, freeze some, repurpose some.
Laura Fuentes
super practical Amanda!
Faith Faatz
I love making banana pancakes, 2eggs & 1 banana mashed with dash of vanilla, then roll it around a breakfast sausage! My boys go crazy for it! And so easy for them to eat at school.
Hannah
My family loves cucumbers. So that is a must in lunches. I also like making granola power balls. The mix includes rolled oats, flaxseed, peanut butter, coconut flakes, choc chips & honey. Both my kids (1 & 10years old) love them!
Joann N
We like to use a egg slicer to slice fruit when making a fruit salad.
Kerry
I make a different soup, stew or chili recipe every weekend and then freeze in individual serving containers. In the evening, we put a frozen soup portion in the refrigerator to defrost and pack a variety of fruits and veggies bento style. My children love the variety and I love how easy it is to heat and pack everything up in the mornings.
Kasey Bailey
Love that lunch box! It would keep things so organized for my child at school. We love to make homemade lunchables with fresh sliced deli meat, cheese, and crackers.
CharmingT
I love to add muffins to their lunch boxes. While the kids watch cartoons on Sunday morning, I spend about an hour cooking muffins and snacks for the week. This hour is for me and I love that I get the kids primary and snack items complete ahead of time. It is a bit of a win-win for all of us.
kelia
My son takes the same thing everyday and has for the past 3 years. turkey/ham/chicken sandwich pretzels apple slices and 2 squares of dark chocolate with a juice box.
Athena R
Pasta salad (non-mayonnaise based) is always a big hit in the lunchbox.
Kristie M.
One of my favorite lunchbox ideas is putting little hidden messages or a little silly drawing for my daughter to find at school. I also love using cookie cutters to cut out shapes in sandwiches, cheese slices, cucumber slices.
Vanessa
My daughter is into crunchy things. Crackers, carrots, peppers and cucumber cut into different shapes using mini cookie cutters. This summer, she discovered Cornish hen hard boiled eggs, she devoures them cause she can eat them in one bite and they don’t smell like hen’s eggs.
I would really love to win these containers
Sarah
I like to add in low carb tortillas for wraps or Joseph’s pitas (low carb) for dips.
Danielle
my kids favorite lunchbox food is the homemade lunchables with crackers, cheese and meat
Kellie
My children love PBJ and apple slices in their lunch. We also like to do a fruit mix sometimes.
T. Doyle
Look at all the people making healthy lunches!
My favorite thing to put in lunches are homemade kale chips or homemade cheese crackers.
Mindy Savage
My kiddos love the homemade lunchables! We do the cheese and crackers, but their favorite is the lunchables pizzas. I make lots of little pizza crusts and freeze them ahead of time. It’s easy to pull out in the morning!
Jamie
I don’t have any great lunchbox ideas (that’s why I come here!) My daughter loves leftovers from dinner in her lunch in a thermos.
Kalee
Muffins of any kind are always easy and delicious!
Kathy C
Lately I have been making chicken bacon ranch quesadillas, cooling, them, cutting into wedges and taking cold in my lunch with additional ranch dressing for dipping. I like to make these when I have leftover chicken or bacon. I store the quesadillas whole and then cut them with kitchen shears when I’m packing my lunch.
Debbie
Hard boiled eggs are a quick and nutritious lunch idea for my very picky and very slow eater.
Mariah W
My got-to lunch staple is muffins, add a few chocolate chips and I can hide anything in the base recipe and my youngest will love it. He is crazy picky about what he eats and hates trying new food, so this is often how I make sure he gets his veggies!
Stefanie
My daughter is so not picky but variety is everything from homemade granola to protein balls. She loves when I give her cut up chicken breast from the night before mix it with walnuts grapes and a bit of veggie mayo and put the homemade chicken salad on top of chopped lettuce
Lori
My daughter doesn’t go to school full day yet, but she loves it when I pack a lunchbox for her at home. Her favorite lunch would be a sandwich and fruits. She gets a kick out of finding a small treat, like a few chocolate chips, in the container too.
Melissa
My son is 11 and he loves to eat food from home at school. I always like to give him something special in his box, to remind him of home (like leftovers). He also eats veggies a lot more when they are in his lunch box for some reason.
Kimberly
Anything fun on a skewer stick – ham, turkey, chicken, cheese, fruit. It’s more fun to eat!
Christine S
Our favorite things to pack in lunches are nut butters (if allowed) with apples, hummus with all different types of veggies, and yogurt with all different types of fruit. These lunch boxes are a perfect fit for us! 🙂
Araceli Kimberlin
I fill my lunchbox with turkey and lots of momables ideas, turkey and cheese pinwheels, tuna, whatever I have left in the fridge and more. I love the lunchbox!
Rachel
Homemade lunchables are the favorite packed lunch in our house!
Jody Fogel
We like to fill our lunches with lots of fresh fruit and sliced veggies. We work around our food allergies and make sure we have healthy and safe foods.
Erin
Cheese, crackers, wraps, sandwiches, fruit, veggies, leftovers are usually found in our lunch boxes!
Maria
I make sure there’s always fruit and yogurt in their lunch box. That and a note from me so they know I’m thinking of them.
Kristina
We love smoothies. They don’t always thaw all the way before lunch, and the kids think they are getting ice cream for lunch 🙂
TaniaM
my favourite is fruits and cheese!
Virginia N
our favorite items to go in the lunchbox is grapes and ham or pepperoni
DT
I like to grind vegetables a lot over cooked pasta, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and parmesan
sheri
I like to pack leftovers or make the lunch the night before. For my pinwheels, I use thinly sliced meats as the wrap,as we are wheat free.
Eileen
I love having different containers for my kids lunches!! I have five so keeping them all happy is a challenge. They all love ham rolled up with cream cheese inside. Also string cheese and crackers is always a big hit!! Thanks for this giveaway!!
Eileen
I love having different containers for my kids lunches!! I have five so keeping them all happy is tricky!! One thing they all like is ham rolled up with cream cheese inside. I made these as a low carb snack for me and they always finish them!! String cheese is always a big hit along with crackers!! Thanks for this giveaway!! 🙂
Helen
If I win this lunchbox I can fill them with kale chips, pesto pasta, slices of fruits, noodles, hard boil egg, sweet potatoes, potsticker, etc.
The idea can go on forever if I win it!
My tip is to freeze ice cube milk and frozen fruits to make home made healthy ice cream.
Liz
We love filling lunches with pizza rolls, carrots and ranch and grapes!
Candy
I love fruit/veggies with cheese,turkey and rice crackers.
Annie
We love to make frozen smoothie pops for their lunch boxes. And the smoothies always include a big handful of greens 🙂
Nancy C.
A favorite at our home is rolled up deli meat, mixed berries, string cheese and sliced up avocado. What an amazing giveaway!
Claudia Ortega
We like pretzels, blueberries, broccoli, cucumbers, dried fruits and nuts. Cheese and crackers, hummus. Hope we win!! I can sure use these containers.
monique
It depends on leftovers and our mood. =P Crackers, cheese, granola bars, fruit, sandwiches, etc
Caren W.
My son enjoys homemade summer sausage, homemade mozzarella chunks and fresh picked raspberries.
kim
My daughter thinks it’s fun when stuff is cut into shapes so I’ll often do that and sometimes add mini marshmallows and chocolate chips as a surprise.
mari
we use a lunchbot container, bento style, featuring silicon muffin cups to divide more when needed. my kids actually like homemade sauerkraut in their lunch. olives, cut veggies like whole cucumbers (or sometimes cut in half with kelp sprinkles on them) or pepper strips or even raw green beans, fruit like little oranges or halves of apple or asian pear, homemade fruit roll ups or dried summer fruit, and nuts & seeds are all big hits. but sometimes the lunchbot just isn’t the right size! having other lunch boxes to choose from would be fun.
Cheryl
My fav lunch box go to items are momables chicken nuggets and individually frozen homemade soups! I love things that I can stock my freezer with.
Tina Peterson
Hi! I dont do the fancy bento meals but I do use your lunchboxes to create the kids lunches every day. They are just the right size for their main dish fruit & veggie. Once there full I know Ive met their needs. The kids seem to like them to – everything is individual and not combined. 🙂
Jacqueline
I love to make big Mexican salads with black beans, salsa, corn and tomatoes! Also fruit, veggies and hummus and eggs or tofu! 🙂 being dairy and gf is a little rough so I’m always looking to find new recipes and cool ways to carry them! 🙂 thanks in advance for this awesome giveaway!
ellen m
My daughter used to love ‘roll-up’ sandwiches when she was a kid. I would make some pb&j roll-ups, in honor of her and add in some fruit and maybe something crunchy like some healthy chips and of course something sweet like a power ball or homemade granola bar.
johbeak
Cherry tomatoes are an easy and often used lunch box staple at our house.
Kim. E
A Whole grain muffin with whipped avacado and banana whith honey for sweetness I try and make it look like a cup cake ..
Jessica
DS LOVES hardboiled eggs, so I make sure he has one or two packed in his lunches. On Fridays, I’ll make popcorn in the morning and put some into 2 snack bags-one for him and the other he always shares with his teacher!
I’m planning on trying out wraps as a weekend lunch item to see if it’s something he might want to add to his lunch rotation!
Tamara Augustine
I like to add chia seeds to apple sauce just to give some extra nutrition. When I first started doing it my oldest would complain but I would just tell her they were good for her and she needed to eat it. Just today I served them applesauce with no chia seeds and my oldest asked for them and was actually bummed that we had run out!! Haha score! 🙂
Laura Fuentes
Score! for sure!!
michele
my kids are simple eaters…fruit, veggie, cheese, protein and a homemade choco ball
Judi
I like to make ham rollups that include some cooked sliced ham with lettuce and cheese. My daughter loves this and will have it everyday if I let her.
Janice R.
My mom packed our school lunches the majority of the time. She did a good job with variety. Because of her, I like bringing my own food to work. Some of my favorites include, mini bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon, caprese salad, star fruit, Ritz cracker sandwiches (filled with peanut butter or nutella), taco salad.
LILI YEN
i pack dumplings at least once a week
Kristin C.
Oh my gosh, I love all these ideas! My daughter likes cottage cheese and crackers.
sydney85
I like to add a variety of fruits and vegetables for lunch. Jicama is a great vegetable cut into sticks and carrot sticks to dip into hummus . Clementines, blueberries or strawberries. Also a small container of edamame. Add a bottle of frozen water which keeps food cold and nice and cold to drink by lunchtime.
Michelle
My favorite lunch box item is the old fashioned PB&J. I do also love ants-on-a-log (celery sticks, peanut butter, raisins), and the mini quiches. Also frozen yogurts and veggies! Anything healthy!
Thanks!
Tanya
I would so love to win one of your lunch boxes!
My twin girls enjoy a little bit of this and that in their lunch boxes. String cheese, grape tomatoes, orange segments and sliced turkey are the favorites.
Thank you for all your wonderful ideas and guidance.
Leigh
A lunch packing trick I use is to involve my children in the planning. I have 3 kids, ages 12, 9, and 6. I ask one to write a menu and one to write the grocery list. They take turns with these tasks. Then we go to the grocery store where they each help me choose and weigh the produce. Sometimes I am very pleasantly surprised at the choices they make when given the chance. My little one went through a phase of asking for parsnips!
With 3 children we use lots of containers – I would love to win a new one!
Mariana B
My kids favorite are “shaped eggs” we got some egg shape thingys at a daiso store years ago, after I peel the egg, I stuff it in the container and it takes that shape, we have a boy, a girl, a piggy and a teddy bear!!
Felicia E
My kids really enjoy fruits. My son really loves veggies. So I try to pack him his favorites. Which include broccoli,carrots and bell peppers to name a few. If I were to win the lunchboxes it would be a great blessing. As I have to fix lunch for my husband and two kids. Some days I can’t seem to have enough containers
Jessika
My girls love the fruit and energy bites I pack them. This would be a great addition to our meal prep! I’d love to try it out. Thanks for the chance!
Shannon Nelson
We love to make our own trail mix with different kinds of nuts and dried cranberries for sweetness…maybe dark choc chips for extra sweetness. Oh we also love muffins: banana choc chip or pumpkin choc chip. Can you tell we love chocolate?
Cathy
I bake mini muffins and freeze them, then pack them for lunch – they defrost by lunchtime, even with an ice pack in the lunchbox 🙂 Thank you for the giveaway!
Sha
For tomorrow (first day of school) I packed, carrots, tomatoes, grapes, cheese stick, turkey roll ups and crackers.
Tammy walters
I just received 2 of your cookbooks as a gift and I can’t wait to use them. I honestly have no good ideas for healthy lunches, that is why I am following you! I can’t wait to share with my kids. That great lunchbox would be perfect! Thank you for all you do!
Laura Fuentes
thank you so much for buying my cookbooks Tammy!
Szkent
I make mini muffins and sneak veggies into them: sweet potato & oatmeal, carrot cake and chocolate zucchini ones are the family favorites right now. They are easy to make in large batches and easy to freeze. I pull out what I need for the week and keep them in the fridge. They are the perfect size for lunch boxes and I know they will always get eaten.
Brenda
I like to cut up melons ahead of time, while they’re still in season, and then my kids and I bring them in our lunch in a small container.
Heidi
My oldest son loves peanut butter balls made with coconut flour and ground flax seed and a little honey. He is a big eater, so it’s tricky to pack enough calories into just one lunchbox.
Sue
That lunchbox is GREAT!!!!! Crackers and cheese, with blueberries and strawberries. Green peppers and carrots with hummus. This seems to be the favorite!
Nancy Humpage
Perfect compartment sizes for baby carrots, colorful pepper slices and hummus; grapes; grahm crackers with cream cheese and fruit spread.
Malorie Scott
Our favorite lunch item is a cheese sandwich. Yes, we need a lot of help here which is why I joined Momables. We need a lot of help here. (a new lunchbox would be awesome 😉 )
Angie
We love to use Vanilla Greek yogurt to dip all our fruits, so any fruit and yogurt for dipping. We also love any veggie dipped in ranch:) I love bagel thins as another low carb sandwich option, or English muffins. Hard boiled eggs are another huge must for snacks and lunches. PB is a good dip for apples, carrots, bananas…So many options!
Lisa
I like to make mini chicken pot pies and a spinach salad for my daughter.
Also some fruit: usually strawberries and blueberries.
JennaG
I like to make a veggie cream cheese spread to sneak in bits of veggies that aren’t as noticeable.
Shannon Nelson
Great idea!
thuy n.
Hard boiled eggs and fresh veggies always work.
Linette
I fill my daughters 9&13 with leftovers from dinner. My girls love their hot lunches. I also give them lunch meat, cheese and fruit.
Ambery
We love to pack a sweet potato sliced into circles. She likes to add cinnamon, which we put a tsp-tbsp in an old salt shaker, so she can add it herself. Other days we mix shredded cheese and bacon bits for her to add at lunch time. (Realistically, she probably eats the cheese and bacon separate from the sweet potato some days. )
Kristin
I have a very picky water but she loves edemame. Filled with lots of protein and fiber.
Kristin
Very picky eater not water lol
Robyn
Hi! Not sure if this is where we comment to enter to win one of the bentology lunch boxes? I hope so! 🙂 my daughter just turned 12 and when I pack her lunches she loves tacos with avocado & sour cream. She also loves crackers with cheese & turkey, strawberries, raseberries(all the berries) with yogurt. 🙂
Erin Naylor
I love to fill the lunch box with frozen yogurt, muffins, granola, apple slices or grapes.
Lisa
One kitchen tip I’ve learned is if you want more juice from your lemon, pop it in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds as this method weakens the membranes that trap the juice inside the lemon’s flesh creating more juice.
Allison Zarkos
I love the pinwheel idea! I try to leave a message on my sons sandwhich with food coloring markers. Super fun! My fav go to for my daughter is cheese, Turkey rolled up, carrots, applesauce & a treat! Love the boxes!!
Michelle
I’ve found one son really likes hummus. He likes when I send hummus & pretzel thins, fruit, and a cheese stick.
Christy Simonds
My daughter loves to try new tastes. I think I got pretty lucky in that department. I think letting kids watch food network shows, especially the new child challenges, broadens their view of what can taste good. My lunch box faves for my 9 year old-chicken Ceasar salad, lunch meat and cheese roll-ups, and deviled eggs.
Carol
One of my kitchen tips is using a straw to remove the seed inside cherries. My daughter loves them but is only 3 yrs old so I try not to leave the seed inside by removing it and leaving the shape.
Regards
Ashley
My family loves grilled chicken and laughing cow cheese wrapped up in a tortilla or flat out wraps!
Angie B
What a great giveaway as I have a 9 year old that is in need of a new lunch box. Her favorite things to eat are soups, chilis, veggies / pretzels with hummus, salami and crackers and salad.
Anne F.
I wish I had more tips on what to fill in a lunchbox! Right now my 3 y/o is crazy about carrots, so I always try to fill part of her Yumbox with carrots. Sometimes she’ll eat cherry tomatoes, but I don’t think she likes them as much when they’re mixed w/ the cold foods ( I don’t like them cold as well!) Luckily she loves all types of fruit, so I like to make a mixed fruit cocktail of whatever we happen to have in the house.
January
My favorite way to fill a lunchbox is to do somewhat of a homemade lunchable: any lunch meat (or even left over chicken/steak), some type of cheese, some type of cracker, and a fruit and/or veggie. Occasionally, I’ll throw in some Annie’s fruit snacks for a special treat 🙂
Amanda M.
Our favorite healthy lunch is to pack organic lunch meat, sliced cheese and gluten free crackers with a side of fruit. Who needs an overpriced, overprocessed lunchable?
Lynn
My daughter is hooked on just peanut butter sandwiches, this year I am trying new things.
Melody
I love packing bento-type lunchbox because I love a smorgasbord! It’s fun to pack lots of little bites of different foods. My favorite things to pack include grape tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella balls, grapes, olives, mini-muffins, both savory and sweet, mini-ravioli, and mini-pinwheels.
Allison C
My favorite things to put in the lunch boxes are some type of sandwich or wrap, a fruit/veg and a salty snack. I need to look on your website more, but I find my boys (14, 11, 9, 4) are picky eaters, except for the 4yo! My oldest is the pickiest.
keri
I like to add lots of little nibbles like nuts, fruit, cheese cubes, muffin, hummus and veggies. I find my boys eat more this way. I also pack a morning snack. For this I find a single item in a container is best – hot oatmeal, mashed sweet potatoes, refried beans with melted cheese. I love to use the divided lunch containers – this makes packing so easy!
beth c
i love hummus & veggies- this would be perfect for that with plenty of room for more! i don’t even know how i would fill one of these, but it would be a great way to explore & expand our lunch repertoire! 🙂
Missy Thompson
Pizza kits to go in the freezer are a great lunch option. Small pita or naan rounds, sauce in a little container, shredded cheese in a little container and some turkey pepperoni in yet another. By lunchtime it’s all defrosted and ready to be assembled by the lunch eater!
Stacie adel
My kids love pizza lunchables. Being able to make our own homemade version makes me feel sooooo much better as a mom!! Bento containers make it way easy to keep ingredients seperated.
Shana Horner
I love the Yumboxes I got for myb2 youngest! One of my favorite things to put in them is greek yogurt because it’s leakproof if your pack correctly. I can buy the bigger container of yogurt and have less trash at the end of it. This recipe looks wonderful though! I love the hummus because my oldest teen doesn’t like mayo!
Brenda
One of our family favorites is mini meat loaves. I make the meat loaf in a muffin tin and freeze individually, then pack as many as needed, depending on whose lunch it is.
A. Torn
I like to make vegan, gluten-free oatmeal/peanut butter/chocolate cookies and load up the mix with hemp seeds, canned organic pumpkin, and I use maple syrup in lieu of sugar. The recipe, which I’ve adapted, is available in the cookbook “Vegan With A Vengeance.”
I really enjoy your website and your podcast. Thanks for all that you do!
Julie
I like to fill lunchbox with cucumbers or celery with peanut butter. Also a favorite is homemade trail mix -but obviously there is not veggies just tried fruit and nuts.
Rehana khan
A kitchen tip I’ve recently implemented (& is working) is to add a few grain of raw rice to a salt / pepper shaker… This allows the salt and pepper to sprinkle smoothly without needing to bang the shakers on the table. 😉 works great and no additional flavor to the actual salt and pepper!
Valerie Z
Thankfully, my kids love fruit. So school lunches are usuallya sandwich and 3-4 servings of fruit.
Tami
Your mini quiches, fresh fruit, and sushi!
Jessi K
I believe this is where I post my favorite lunch ideas to win the lunchbox…
First, I LOVE Gogurts for lunches; I freeze them and when my little one opens his lunch he has a nice cold yogurt waiting for him without any mess. AND when he’s at home he thinks he’s getting dessert since its “frozen yogurt”.
Second, I’ve been dabbling in homemade hummus. Super easy, fast, and you know exactly what is in it (no additives). Some recipes call for fresh chickpeas but I use canned and rinse them off with water and you’d never know the difference except that it didn’t take you forever to prepare the chickpeas.
That’s all I’ve got for now, I’ll add more if I think of it 🙂
Rhiannon
I like the make pb and j “sushi” put pb and j on one slice after you cut the crust off and cut into smaller pieces so it looks like sushi. This turns a classic into something new and fun. 🙂
N bux
This is for a chance to win a lunch container. My kitchen tip: I have two kids, one in second grade & the other not in school yet. So For their lunch, when I buy fruit I chop it up & store it in the sistema container that has a double section. Having seven containers with double sections, 2 kids, 7 days of lunch equals 14 servings of fruit. 1 per child, per day of the week for lunch. This makes it easy to prepare lunch through out the week & with the surety that they have their fruit serving each day for lunch.
Julie Gosselin
Love making fruit/veggie/cheese kabobs!!
Carmen
Some of my kids favorite things are homemade power bars. My kids are very active specially my teenagers , it helps get some extra protein for all does calories they burn . They are also big fans of pin wheels any kind I make works for them 🙂
CJ
My girls live pizza which is usually homemade with whole wheat crust but even putting that in my oldest’s lunch last year was a drag. So this summer I experimented with cauliflower pizza crust. She loved it and has already REQUESTED it for lunch! Score one for mom!
Lee
I always make my own trail and nut mixes from the bulk bins at stores and bring them in my lunch. I also make sure I have some kind of vegetable or salad to go with my lunch to help keep me full and add fiber to my diet. By prepping all the veggies as soon as you get home they are readily available for a snack or salad.
Claire
Entry to win the easy lunch boxes. I like to add almonds, sliced apples and the pb&j classic 🙂
LaShae
My kids love when I make pizza wraps with croissants and pizza toppings to put in their lunch boxes.
Allison
I like carrot sticks and a homade ranch dip to go with it. Some banana and a wrap
Charlene Downey
I love to fill my boys lunch box with a ‘deli plate’. Usually includes their fav veggie with dip, a fruit, spcheese cubes and meat rolls (usually Turkey)… My oldest loves them and my youngest (who is just goin to need to take a lunch) can’t wait to take his!!! I’ve even gotten them each their own Yumbox!!! Thanks for putting me on to them Laura!
Shanell
I love this recipe! For snacks I love to pack baby carrots with peanut butter 🙂
Robin Brannigan
Use a crinkle cutter to jazz up the fruit and veggies, sometimes the sandwiches too. Not the most creative, but it’s a start. 😉
Lee Anne Boyd
My favorite thing to put in a lunchbox is chopped up fruits or veggies. I make sure to include food picks. My son will eat more and try more things if he has fun picks to eat his food with.
Kerri Bennight
I love filling my daughter’s lunchbox (and mine!) with finger foods, like grapes, berries, cucumber slices abdt cherry tomatoes. I do crackers with ham and cheese, quesadillas, grilled cheese sandwiches or chicken salad. This is a great way to add more veggies! I get bored easily with veggies, so any help works! Your cookbooks have added much variety to my kitchen.
Jennifer C
I love to fill my lunchboxes with a simple combo of protein, fruits, veggies, and a fun surprise. Basically, my plan for filling lunchboxes is to keep it simple!
Curie
My kids loooove any type of berry in their lunches: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries! Thanks for the awesome idea to use a veggie peeler to add more veggies to wraps. I’m definitely going to use that idea this coming school year.
Tamara
Love this idea!! I forgot all about my veggie peeler. What a great idea. I also use cupcake liners snacks!
Stefanie
I love bell pepper strips..cucumbers..carrots..all things crunchy! My daughter’s love to add hummus to.their lunches as well! These would be an AWESOME win for them
annalynn
My favorite food tip is to use an ice cream scoop to get all of the seeds out melons and squashes!
Gwendolyn
I fill my boxes with yogurt topped with chopped up strawberries, cheese cut into small cubes or disks, thinly sliced Salami or pepperoni, some crackers or small toasts, and m&m’s (I’d love to add nuts, but our school is nut free)
Vicky S.
Hi Laura! My 3-year-old will be starting a pre-school program in two weeks. I would fill his lunchbox with Empanadas filled with beef, diced carrots and diced potatoes; add some cauliflower and ranch dressing; and some blueberries. Thank you so much for your hard work and awesome ideas.
Paula
We love this wrap idea. One of the most unusual things we eat that tastes divine is a crunchy peanut butter and salsa wrap. It sounds awful, I know, but it really is yummy! For snacks we often include slices of English cucumbers sprinkled with Tahin. We love the cool and the spicy!
Melissa J
My kids love pb&j “sushi” wraps, also hummus with turkey or chicken and spinach is delicious too!
Kara Percy
Some of my favourite things that I put in my sons lunch box are quesadillas, chicken nuggets, mini pizzas, wraps and he LOVES strawberries! He usually gets a hot lunch from school 1x a week and I think I love it more…one day without out having to come up with an idea! LOL!! I took a look at your lunch recipe book and am going to purchase it! Looks amazing and has a ton of new ideas!!!
Heather A
My kids love fruit kabobs in their lunches.
Bonnie N
I often fill a small container with homemade Greek yogurt with a few sprinkles on top. It’s funny how a few sprinkles make yogurt super fun!
alana sherman
My kids love chicken and cheese kabobs. usually strawberries, cumbers and pretzels. They usually get so much variety for dinner that I keep their lunches simple so I know they will be nourished though out the school day.
Robin
I love to use silicone muffin cups in the lunch box to hold nuts or fruit or other small items.
Julie
Definitely going to try this recipe in my kids’ lunches! Looks like something they would actually eat at school. They love to take sandwiches and I always try to mix up the bread, so a tortilla would be a great change of pace. Right now we are on a rotation of whole wheat, pretzel bread, and tortas.
Lyndsey H
Leftovers are the greatest lunch of all time! Cook once, eat twice. Seems logical to me. Cooking for one can be frustrating so making a little more and using for lunch helps motivate me to eat better. The lunchbox in the picture looks very useful. I find the hardest part of packing lunch is keeping it inside the container and not all over the inside of my lunchbox.
Sarah
I would use the bentolology box for work. I am a teacher, and eat lunch really early,somI like to take a lot of little snacks to nibble on thought the day. I like to take berries, nuts, quinoa, and some veggies. it would be very easy to store all these treats in one box and not in a million ziplock baggies.
Donna B
love the pinwheel recipe. I think my kids might actually like it.
I make a batch of pudding and put it into single-serving containers — it’s easier to pack for snacks/lunches in a hurry or they can pack their own. I do the same with jello.
Kristin
What a great lunchbox. I like to put fruit, wraps, and anything with dips in my children’s lunches.
Veancha
This is a great recipe. My daughter is anti-PBJ so this will work great for the new year!
One of my favorite things to add to lunches is a frozen string cheese, so by the time she eats it, it’s still cold but not warm and mushy/slimy.
Michelle D.
Fresh fruit is my favorite to pack in a lunch.
Claire
I love to use muffins from the freezer to fill a lunch box, part nutritious, part treat!
Shea
I am a big fan of roll ups. My kids also your pancakes made into peanut butter sandwiches:)
Laurel Houck
I like to add baby food carrots, squash, or sweet potatoes to French toast mixture and muffins for extra veggies.
Kerry
I love bento style lunches. My son’s favorite thing to have in his lunch box is homemade hummus with veggies or pineapple with cinnamon!
Dorothy Williams
With a very picky eater grandchild I’ve started shredding a few like color veggies to hide in the food item. Example: include some shredded zucchini and/or carrot in a cheese quesadillas when using Colby jack cheese. Here’s to hoping the increased veggie content continues with him enjoying the food more. 🙂
Nancy
When I pack my 6yo daughter’s lunch I always include 2 Hershey’s kisses. It is a sweet treat to remind her she is loved.
Amanda
We love berries, yogurt and pistachios in our lunch boxes.
Sheri Hoffman
Some snacks that my daughter likes me to pack in her lunch box are mini pretzels with cheddar cheese cubes and apple slices with almond butter.
We carry these kinds of snacks around not just for lunch, but when we are running errands or extra curricular activities. Keeps us from buying food out, so it saves us money and is healthier. We always have our water bottles too. 🙂
Martha Alford
Leftovers, muffins. quiches, yogurt and granola
Rachael S
I like turkey avacado wraps, hummus with carrots, cut up cheese, and apples with peanut butter for lunches.
Jenn miller
My fav things to fill a lunchbox with r fruits, veggies, nuts, cheese, and yogurt : ) yummy yummy !!
Stacey
My favorite things to fill lunch boxes with are 1) fresh veggies with healthy dips such as hummus 2) plain, organic Greek yogurt with fruit and a squirt of real maple syrup 3) and most important to my 6 year old daughter homemade meatloaf sandwiches!
Abigail Newman
I find that pre-making and freezing items for school lunches is the best time saver. Meatballs, muffins, etc.
I would love to win a Bentology lunch box!!
Theresa Flynn
We love to add fresh veggies and hummus dip to lunch boxes. Carrots, cucumbers and celery are favorites. Occasionally we add cherry tomatoes and green peppers. These lunch boxes would be perfect for us!!
Jessi
My daughters favorite right now is everything bagel pretzel thins and ham slices rolled up with a piece of cheese.
Paula
My daughter takes Greek Yogurt and also Celery and Peanut Butter. What ever else she takes, she almost always takes this. She especially likes Honey Greek Yogurt.
Kelly T
My kids live having their lunch boxes filled with turkey & cheese on doulbe fiber bread with strawberries and raspberries. I hope to win since I need new lunch containers!
Sarah G
Hi Laura! One of our favorite things to make for lunch is home made hummus with veggies (carrots, peppers, and cucumbers) and pretzels on the side to dip.
Stephanie Wagner
A new lunch we are doing this year is home made waffle sticks (using a pan from a craft store) with fresh fruit and sausage. I have one that is allergic to eggs and chicken/turkey so being creative can be tough.
Heidi Sprouse
I am definitely going to try these! I am trying to pack lunches for my kids as well as myself (back to college adult) and my husband! He would love these wraps!
My new found thing that I am loving for lunches is Salmon Salad with crackers and veggies. My kids love anything that’s small and can be grabbed (toddler and preschooler) so I make our own lunchables and snackables and my husband likes anything that satisfies his hunger so he’s our leftover king!
Julie
I like to buy the gogurt yogurt tubes because they’re easy to pack in a lunchbox and kids can eat them quickly since lunch periods at schools aren’t very long
Megan Chandler
I like to mix it up and to do breakfast for lunch. I make whole wheat pancakes (I like Grizzly Cakes mix because you can customize with just water, or use milk, and/or add an egg) which if you add an egg and milk provides a good amount of protein. Then I include a berry mix, and scrambled eggs with bell peppers.
Joanne cash
P&js and grapes
Michele mckie
We love these lunch containers! I have been using them since my son was about 3 years old. They are easy to use for a toddler and allow me to seperate his food. Now that he is a bit older I can send foods that he can reheat in the microwave at school. He likes hamburger steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. These boxes are perfect for such a meal!
Stacy Marquez
Hope this is where I respond for the lunchbox give away!
Love your tip on peeling veggies for our wraps!
Here’s a little something I do…
Use an apple corer then fill the apple with PB or cream cheese. When my 7 yr old had no front teeth (he,he) is I’d slice the apple after filling it.
Emma Leigh
We love to fill our lunch boxes with veggies and hummus or fruit and dip every once in awhile. I also think my favorite *lunch gadget* is the egg mold.
Pattie in Vermont
My favorite lunchbox items are hummus, finely sliced vidalia onions, sliced plum donators, and tiny pitas. With a shaker if creole seasoning….
terra
I plan to use fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season throughout the school year for myself and my husband. My goal this school year is to be healthy!!!
Tricia
Love this cute lunchbox. We love to take wraps, burritos, momables, and soups for lunch….and some tortilla española if and when I get around to making it.
Jessica
Fruits and Veggies
Kristin
I love to make an avocado smear to make my alfalfa sprouts stick with a layer of turkey, cucumber, tomato, and onion!
Erin
Well, my kiddo isn’t old enough for me to need to pack his lunch yet – but my favorite things to pack in my own lunch box to make them healthier are SALADS! Yum. And of course fruit and some yogurt. Keeps me nice and filled up.
Kate
My kiddo loves cucumbers! So until we started homeschooling at the end of last year, I would often include cakes with her lunch. I can definitely still use the lunchbox though, for field trips and Hubby’s lunches!
Christine
The pinwheels look great, but I need to pack parve lunches for my son, so I’d just leave out the turkey and add more veggies. Thankfully, my picky eater loves veggies, so I know he’ll actually eat it.
Brooke
Those berries in the lunchbox look delish! One of my favorite things to do for lunches is to make a bean salad on Sunday and then have it for lunch for a few days during the week. It’s great with a few whole grain crackers and some fruit.
Janeth Paez
I love how these containers work to hold different items and right bite sizes. I need one of these now that school starts in two weeks for us. I’d place their lunch snacks in this box.
Melinda
I like to include a note telling my daughter that I hope she has a great day and that I love her. One thing my daughter loves more than anything is a freshly peeled orange or corn on the cob, so I bought a ton of corn on the cob “handles” and orange peelers to keep in her lunchbox for when she needs them. I’ve tried pre-peeling her oranges but she is always telling me she likes to do it herself.
Carolina Mitchell
I need those lunch boxes. My daughter loves fruit and cheese for lunch.
Brittney
I make my own hummus so many usually sneak in carrots and occasionally small pieces of zucchini and squash. My kids love hummus and can’t tell the difference at all!!
Kristina Hamilton
So excited for school to start! One go to lunch for my kids 9 and 7 are frozen organic peas, organic celery with raw nut butter (usually peanut or almond). I mix raw cocoa and a tad maple syrup in to make dipping fun. Kind of like a healthy Nutella. Top it off with homemade soup and water in a stainless cup. A Healthy snack and lunch keeps them going throughout the day.
Elizabeth
My daughter loves red pepper spears in her lunchbox. She eats them before anything else. My son will eat just about any fruit or veggie that I put in his lunchbox, but his favorites are black olives (they are so fun) and pickles!
Emily
Believe it or not, my almost-ten-year old would love those “grown-up” lunches, minus the sushi. 🙂 Love the lunchboxes!
Elissa
This is one of my favorite kitchen tips that I picked up in one of the gourmet cooking magazines: when a tiny piece of egg shell accidentally falls into your egg, use one of the big pieces of eggshell you’re holding to scoop it out instead of your finger tip. It works like magic!
Jessica
Pinwheels are always fun!
Vickie Boggio
I tend to get lazy with packing lunches as the school year marches on. But I do pack fresh fruits and veggies when they’re in season and applesauce or frozen veggies during the Winter.
Liz Yost
I love all of your ideas! Thanks for sharing! I find that packing the night before is super important for me too! I use a similar box with separate containers and it makes all the difference in packing healthy lunches with a choice of fruits and veggies as long as carbs and proteins. My kids love when I make healthy zuchinni banana muffins with carrots, flax seed, greek yogurt and applesauce. They also love my version of homemade lunchables.
Annie S
My son’s favorite is when I make “sushi” which is what he calls a tortilla spread with hummus or cream cheese and filled with veggies and some shredded chicken rolled up and the cut into rolls. For my own lunch I like poached eggs, like a hardboiled egg without the peeling.
Pam Dean
I love to fill my daughter’s lunchbox with fun things! Like apple and cheese kabobs; pbj pinwheels; ham and cheese rollups! I’d love to win the lunchbox and try some of MomAbles fun ideas!
Arlis P.
I use cookie cutters to cut up different fruits/veggies for the lunches.
LaTanya
My son enjoys apple slices and turkey sandwiches
Erica
I like to fill my pun boxes with sliced veggies- cucumbers, bell peppers, etc. I’ve taught my kids to pack their own lunches. I do give them requirements of what food groups they should put in there.
Leslie
I love these containers because my son has oral aversion and don’t like things getting mushy. So I can keep his cheese in one container and bread in another. I can’t wait until he mixes food together like this recipe.
Angie Vail
My oldest son loves carrots and hummus! We like to put those in our lunch boxes. School starts in 3 more days!
Caroline
i use vegetable/julienne peeler for carrots & zucchini to use as sushi filling or make zucchini slice/quiche. squeeze the water out of the zucchini when making a quiche so it won’t be soggy. no one likes a soggy quiche 🙂
Sarah Hair
I like to add baked zucchini chips! Kids love them!
Robyn Owens-Miille
We plan lunches together. I purchase the healthy options and determine portion size and then they choose a protein, a carbohydrate, a fruit, a veggie and a drink. I find that laying out the options for each and giving them control over what they choose and how they combine it, really gets them on board.
A
My kids love “lunchable” style lunches so we often use ham and cheese slices with grain crackers along with a fruit usually fruit salad and vegestables with dip their Yumbox. And of course a small bite size sweet treat.
Melissa Kling
I think this is the eighth place to leave my comment about what I do to make packing lunches easy! We make big batches of all kinds of things and freeze them for quick and easy lunches! Pizza buns, muffins, waffles, etc! :-). I would love to win the new Bentology clear lunch box!!!!
Isabelle
Yayyy! I love this idea! I really hope I win the lunchbox giveaeay
Isabelle
I really hope I win the giveaway for the lunchbox! If I win I would pack some fresh veggies using mini cookie cutters and a “healthy lunchable” type of spread, with cheese slices, whole wheat crackers and some low sodium lunch meats!
Gayla
I use lots of leftovers! Just the two of us so with me cooking alot we usually have leftovers.
Susan
I like to add pureed veggies into sauces and recipes that kids would not expect. That way, there is no resistance and better nutrition.
Jessica Shepard
I pack bento lunches for my hubby and our daughter every weekday. We do salads, cheeses, small wraps, crackers, sliced fruits, trail mix. and more! We need to get a new box and I’d love to try this style! Thanks.
Debbie
We are working hard to eat healthier meals, especially for lunch. So these bento lunch containers would be perfect for my son’s pita slices and hummus, which we recently discovered we love.
Selena
Hoping this is the bentology giveaway mentioned in the email! If so…cheese and crackers are the favorite lunch item at my house.
Lara Cohen
My favorite lunchbox tool is silicon muffin cups. I can squish them into rectangle containers and add a few cucumbers or berries, pieces of cheese, carrots, etc to a sandwich. Or an ACTUAL muffin!
Rachel
That’s my favorite too! I love how they add an extra pop of color and make a large lunch box section a little smaller. Sometimes I even stack them in order to keep something dry that needs a cover from not spreading all over the lunch box before lunch.
Jen
Hi, what kind of lunch container is this?
Laura Fuentes
This is a Bentology lunch container. Can be found here.
Pam
My kids love the pinwheels and any type of kabob I put on a stick, veggies, fruits, meat and cheese. You put it on sticks and they will eat it.
Thank you for the idea!
Pam
Pamela
My daughter loves it all. I pack lunches for the week and she now eats better and tells me how much she enjoyed her lunch. I would love to try this with her and for my older daughter. Wraps and dips are a must in my house!
Kami Joy
I am a mom of 5 kiddo’s ages 8 to 13. Our fav’s for tools are silicone baking cups (to keep things seperate) & food pics to hold things together or just look cute. A major staple regarding food is definitely tortilla wraps… even my picky eaters will eat it if it’s in a wrap! Dips are sometimes necessary to encourage veggies get eaten. I also allow them to pack their own lunch if they want to & give them leftovers from dinner if they request it. I have mostly eliminated taking the time to make “cute” lunches, but still like to do some “themed” lunches, especially around the Holidays.
Maggi Allred
I love to pack yogurt parfaits with granola. They tast amazing and my son loves them and is always asking for them.
Sue Hanmann
With two boys with an autoimmune disease cold lunch is a must for school. Keeping lunch interesting is challenging. Nuts, wraps, hot thermos is a great idea.
Kitchen tip: hashbrown using waffle iron.