Biting The Hand That Feeds You: Easy and Fun Lunches for School!

This year I seem to be allll about the quick and easy for lunches. And apparently my ability to plan in advance has been surgically removed. So last-minute slap-it-together lunches it is!

Monday, 1/6/14 - Leftover Pizza for the Toddler

E's lunch: Dinosaur puffs, leftover GF pizza; organic grapes, tomatoes, sugar snap peas

The toddler got some leftover gluten-free Pizza Dippers. Domino's offers a gluten-free crust, which is a great option for when we need pizza delivered somewhere, like at a party, or when I am just feeling too lazy to do anything (I can order it via an app on my phone! Barely have to lift a finger!) So I order half of it without cheese for E, since they don't have any other non-dairy options. This time I ordered it with spinach in addition to her olives, to see if she'd go for it, and to help hide the lack of cheese. For the leftovers, I sprinkled on some vegan cheese shreds and broiled for a few minutes before cutting into thinner slices for her lunchbox.

I had packed Pizza Dippers for both girls the night before, but I packed them early enough the toddler caught me taking photos and wanted to eat hers right away. She ended up just eating the fruits and veggies, so I repacked the pizza into this lunch. You can see Big Sister's lunch here.

Tuesday, 1/7/14 - PB Cracker Stackers

Z's lunch: PB pouch, GF crackers, DF Ranch, organic strawberries and sugar snap peas

Z enjoys putting the peanut butter on her own crackers, so it's a great quick and easy lunch solution for me when I'm stumped for ideas or in a hurry! The Ranch was left over from Z's Pizza Dipper lunch the day before; otherwise I wouldn't normally pack any just for sugar snap peas.

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E's lunch: Organic tomatoes, sugar snap peas, grapes; PB with GF crackers

E had seen me stringing grapes onto tinsel fringed skewers for Z's classroom snack Sunday night and had gone ape over them. Since I had already packed Monday's lunch at that point, I saved some for Tuesday's lunch for her! She also got crackers with peanut butter, but I assembled hers for her. She can't be trusted.

Wednesday, 1/8/14 - Mini Lunches

E's lunch: Organic sugar snap peas and tomatoes, GF PB sandwich bites, organic strawberries, mini Greek yogurt

Since I decided to pack a Chobani Bite for each girl this day, they didn't need such big lunch boxes, so I got to trot out some of the smaller ones I don't use very often. E got the Bella Butterfly snack box which I thought she'd enjoy.
She did like all the nibble-sized food, but the yogurt was a huge mistake. Chobani is very runny, and she got it all over herself. "It ah erver me Mama! WAAAAAAH!"

Z's lunch: Organic sugar snap peas, carrots, and strawberries; GF PB sandwich bites, mini Greek yogurt

Z looooves the Chobani Bites, since the three flavors I have bought (coffee with chocolate chip, raspberry with chocolate chip, and mint with chocolate chip) are all amazeballs. But since I can't eat them anymore, now that I know I'm intolerant to the casein in milk as well, I only buy them when they're on clearance or super sale. These were short-dated, so I tossed two in the freezer and two in their lunches!

This box was a Target exclusive from Paperchase, in their Alice in Wonderland line. It's no longer available.

Thursday, 1/9/14 - Watermelon Skewers

Z's lunch: Watermelon, GF Dark Chocolate Dreams PB sandwich, kale chips

I had bought some watermelon spears to incorporate into one of the snacks for Z's snack week at the private Kindergarten, but didn't end up using them. Which left a lot of watermelon for me to use up fast! My girls don't seem to like melon, so I don't get it much, even though without gluten bread and sliced cheese, there's nothing else left for me to use my cute imprint cutters on very easily. Jerks.