It’s back-to-school time and my kids keep reminding me that brown-bagging can get a little boring! Turkey sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs have been overdone at our house. OVER. DONE. Not only are my guys getting older and more adventurous in their tastes, I personally prefer my mid-day meal to be something anticipate with excitement rather than aversion
I have three quick and easy ways to give your lunch a lift plus a giveaway for a stash of a yummy and healthy snack food to take on the go – Harvest Snaps. Read on!
Leftover #Lunchspiration: While some detest a repeated, reheated performance of last night’s dinner, I live for leftovers – in fact, I often plan to make extra, just so I’ll have an encore! Sometimes, I repurpose dinner leftovers into new creations such as transforming fajita beef strips into baked sweet potato toppings, putting pasta, rice or grain remnants into a soup or chopping up leftover veggies to eat cold in a salad. But, not trying to brag, some of my dinners are so yummy (like this broccolini and tenderloin) that the second showing is just as wonderful as the first!
Salad #Lunchspiration: I may single-handedly eat more salad than anyone on the planet. It’s not because I’m trying to diet — I’m just a lettuce lover! The kids always want me to buy Iceberg or Romaine lettuce, but I’m a huge fan of the Baby Spring Mix which features an assortment of darker greens – those darker lettuces are much more nutrient rich. But, eating a pile of lettuce day-in and day-out can get dull as a doorknob so I mix it up with a variety of unexpected toppings including any type of fresh or dried fruit (apples, oranges, blueberries, strawberries peaches or bananas). I dare you to put a banana on your salad – do it! Other creative ideas are leftover proteins (even scrambled eggs!), crushed up chips or Harvest Snaps in lieu of croutons, pan grilled or crisped cheese, and out-of-the-box dressings such as Sriracha mixed in plain yogurt, peanut butter mixed in orange juice or even cold spaghetti sauce. Seriously.
Yogurt #Lunchspiration: Some might think that yogurt is only for breakfast or maybe a healthy dessert. But, I think it also makes a great start to any lunch – I use Greek yogurt because it’s packed with so much protein. The richness and creaminess of Greek yogurt is something I don’t tire of quickly, especially when flavored with a few healthy toppings from a nearly endless array of options. Here are a few of my healthy yogurt toppings:
So, every lunch needs a little “crunch” for munching and Harvest Snaps is a favorite brand I like to feed my family. Harvest Snaps are gluten-free, baked (not fried), high in protein because they are made from lentils and peas, and have 40 percent less fat than a traditional potato chips. Oh, and did I mention that every one of the six flavors is delicious?! My current favorite flavor is a tie between the subtle Lightly Salted Snapea Crisps and bam-pow Wasabi Snapea Crisps. The other four and also yummy flavors are Black Pepper Snapeas, Caesar Snapeas, Tomato Basil Lentil Crisps, and Onion Thyme Lentil Crisps.
I have two ways for you to win – first you can win a BIG PRIZE directly from Harvest Snaps. How? Well, right now, head over to Harvest Snaps and play the really fun mix and match game where you “make” a bento box – then share your creation on Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter for a chance to win one of three prizes for school valued at up to $1,000!
Second, you can enter my giveaway below to win one of three 6-pack assortments of Harvest Snap snacks that will come in really handy for packing those back-to-school or work-day lunches. Enter my giveaway in the Rafflecopter app below:
Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Calibee Harvest Snaps, however all opinions are my own.
i love to pack plain greek yogurt with fruit!
I like to put in water chestnuts and and carrots both thin sliced with almonds!
Carrots and hummus and Quest bars are my faves right now!
I love to pack carrots & grapes
Greek Yogurt, I eat one everyday as I don’t drink milk
Orange juice and peanut butter? Sounds interesting! Going to try it!
put a splash of soy sauce in there too
Always fruits and crunchy veggies!
This all looks so wonderful. I never used to combine sweet and savory tastes, but I’m really enjoying it lately! Crazy how our taste buds change/evolve!
Thanks Emily! I know it IS crazy how we change . . . as a kid, hated my now much loved sweet potatoes, avocados. brussels sprouts . . . even pizza!
We pack a lot of fruit, yogurt, carrots, cheese, etc. My son loves to pack a lunch and go on a picnic.
I pack apples and peanut butter, veggies and hummus, and yogurt.
Omg I loveeeee Harvest Snaps! And what great lunch ideas!
can you pack my lunch? all these look awesome!
I like to pack cucumbers and hummus in lunches.
Greek yogurt, veggies and hummus, wasabi peas, and dry-roasted edamame are my go-to healthy snacks!
apples, nuts, & yogurt!
Almonds are my “in a hurry” snack. My favorite snack is an apple w/ almond butter.
I love apple slices and peanut butter and often pack those
I like pretzels for a snack.
vmkids3 at msn dot com
I pack strawberries, greek yogurt and grapes.
I’m a fan of apple sauce
Grapes & watermelon
i always pack a piece of fruit or yogurt
i would put broccoli celery and ranch!
STRING CHEESE AND CRACKERS
I pack carrot sticks for a healthy snack in the lunches.
Always fruit
I pack almonds, hummus, vegetables and fruits for healthy snacks.
I usually pack a banana or peach, and maybe carrot sticks.
I like to pack seasonal fresh fruit and produce in lunches.
I pack alot of fresh and dried fruit in lunchboxes for my kids. They eat it well and it gives them good energy. I would love to find more vegetable options that they enjoy.
We don’t really pack healthy stuff in our kids lunchboxes, at least not specifically. We pack a sandwich, either pb&j or ham and cheese, a bag of chips, a snack cake and a can of coke.
Fruit like apples, clementines and cherries. Also veggies like celery, baby carrots and edamame.
I pack carrot sticks, celery sticks and apple or orange slices.
Fresh fruit and veggies.
I pack fruit and carrot slices
Hummus and pita crisps!
I always pack fruit. It’s healthy and so easy to eat on the go.
I pack cut up fruits and veggies.
APPLE SLICES AND PEANUT BUTTER!
ive been packing greek yogurt
We have fresh fruit & raw veggie lovers so we always include that in packed lunches.
I usually have low fat string cheese and fresh fruit in my lunch.
We love to send carrots and dip!
Celery and peanut butter!
i normally pack almonds and fruit in my lunches.
carrots and celery
craisins, my son loves them
I like o pack carrots, hummus, peaches, grapes, strawberries, and almonds.
For lunch snacks I like to pack peanut butter on crackers, fruits, veggies, seeds, nuts, and yogurt.
fresh veggies
I pack cut up fresh fruit, raisins, rice crackers and yogurt cups.
janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com
I pack carrot sticks and fruit squeezers.
I like fresh fruit
I pack fruits and veggies.
I love to pack dried apple, water or skim milk!
Thank You for the chance
I pack baby carrots with ranch dressing!
I pack fruit, veggies, almonds, sweet potato chips.
I love raisins. Thank you
I love packing apples, bananas, and crackers.
One of my favorite snacks is humus & carrots. I also love frozen grapes 🙂
Almonds, raw milk cheese (1 ounce), homemade kale chips and an apple are my favorites!
Apples or almonds
fruit or hummus (with veggies to dip in it) are my favorite lunch packing snacks!!
I love to pack carrots & grapes
I pack fruits and nuts as snacks.