this was our first week back as school and it was bittersweet. i have been waiting for school to start all summer so i could get that much needed break, but now that is has, i am reminded that my daughter is another year older and that time is going by too fast. with back to school comes picking out new school clothes, organizing extracurricular activities and packing lunches. here is a little on how i get ready for back to school lunches…

first off, you need a good lunch box. if your kid is like mine, they like their food separated. thankfully, i found PlanetBox stainless steel lunch boxes that have dividers and extra containers for more liquid foods, i.e.. pasta sauce, hummus, ketchup. i chose PlanetBox because they are “non-toxic, non-leaching, safe from BPA, phthalates, and lead.” i know they are a bit on the pricey side, but they are built to last and are warrantied for 5 years. they are also dishwasher safe and make packing a lunch very easy. for water bottles i choose Klean Kanteen for the whole family.  they are very durable and are made out of 18/8 (food grade) stainless steel.

now, what to put in those nifty little sections? we try to eat organic, gluten free and dairy free (my daughter has a milk allergy). i have also started shopping at costco more to save money, and i have been pleasantly surprised by what costco has to offer. all for their organic items have a green label price tag so they are much easier to spot. a couple of my favorite finds for lunches and easy on the go snacks are their organic guacamole and hummus cups which go great with crackers or veggies. below is my daughters lunch for today, and as you can see it includes gluten free pasta with turkey meatballs, veggies and guacamole, strawberries and as a treat, homemade fruit roll ups (berries and spinach- gotta sneak the veggies in every way possible).

now, we like to limit our grain intake, and for those lunches i found Siete Foods organic and grain free tortillas and tortilla chips. they offer three different versions of tortillas and all are amazing. our school is nut free, so we choose the cassava and coconut or cassava and chia options. these tortillas are great for quesadillas or roll ups. i combine various foods, but some of our favorites include black bean and guacamole or turkey and hummus.  an easy cheat brand of beans i found at whole foods are Better Bean.  their beans are presoaked to make them easier to digest so your body can absorb all the wonderful nutrients beans have to offer.

another great snack idea for my dairy free daughter are  chia pods. they are made with coconut milk or almond milk and are gluten free and vegan. other snacks and brands i choose are organic died fruit such as mango, seaweed sticks, Go Raw sprouted cookies,   Jacksons Honest potato chips, and grass fed meat sticks. sandwiches are also easy to make, but we try to limit the amount of bread we eat. but, when we do choose bread, i found Bread SRSLY. their sourdough bread is made using traditional fermentation and is gluten free, allergen-free and vegan, and they will ship it to you!!

i follow many blogs to get ideas on how to live healthy and to cook healthy for my family. one of my favorites that i love to follow is Danielle Walker at Against All Grain. most of the food i make at home is from one of her many cookbooks. she has many great kid friendly foods that are great for lunches as well!!

i hope you all had a great first week back at school and that this gives you a few ideas for packing those lunches every day!!