Lunch Box Ideas + Give Away

School is in full swing here in my part of the world and I’ve already got a full week of lunch packing under my belt this school year!  I wanted to share some of my lunch box favorites and some tips too!  Plus there’s a few give aways and discounts  in store for you too!

First, I am working part time so I pack a lunch about three days a week for both myself and my little boy (who goes to stay with my dad while I’m at work).  I pack both lunches at night because I am NOT a morning person!  I put everything that is refrigerated in the lunchboxes and put the whole lunchbox in the fridge.  Then, I put all the items that don’t need refrigeration on the counter.  In the morning I take out the lunchboxes and add the bags/containers from the counter to the lunchboxes and out the door we go!

I have lots of tools I love to use!  I have a planetbox that I love to take to work with me.  It has lots of compartments where I can pack soup, sandwiches, salad, fruits and veggies, and dip too!  It is made of stainless steel so you can’t heat in it but it is wonderful for cold or room temp lunches.  I love it because of it’s sleek design and I carry it plain but you can also order magnets to fancy it up for the kids!  You can also order an insulated lunch bag to keep things warm or cool while it is sitting in a cubby at school.  Since we have a fridge at work I just pop the whole thing in the refrigerator.

When I am not carrying the planetbox I use a BUILT neoprene (the wetsuit material)  lunchbox like the one on the BUILT website here.  Judah has one too, it is just plain black, but I would love to get him this one, from the Dabba Walla bags line.  Or this monkey one from Skiphop which is a steal at just $13 bucks!

We use SnackTaxi’s reusable bags and Lunchskins.  Both come in super cute fabrics suitable for boys or girls (or women like me!) and have velcro closures.  Not only are they fabulous looking and great for the environment, they are a HUGE moneysaver for me since they eliminate the need for plastic lunchbags.  We also have items from the Kids Konserve line – I love their stainless steel thermos for carrying Judah’s milk.  It would also be good for hot soups, though.

If you want to get some of these items for yourself or your kiddos, right now you can get 10% off the Kids Konserve line (through August) with the coupon code “BTS.”  You can also get 10% off SnackTaxi’s with the coupon code “GREENIT.”  It’s being offered through this cool project called Green My Lunchbox in an effort to eliminate 1 million pounds of lunch waste!

What’s IN the lunchbox?

I often pack leftovers for lunch along with some snacks for myself and Judah.  When I don’t have leftovers (which isn’t too often) I’ll pack a sandwich with nitrite free turkey and some chips or some creamy tomato soup (I LURVE Pacific brand’s organic creamy tomato soup).

Other items that find space in my lunchbox are apples with Peanut Butter and Co’s Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter to spread over each delicious bite (can you tell I am addicted to this?).  I also like to add Earth Fare’s organic animal cookies or Late July cheese crackers for the ride home to ward off those fast food stops.

For Judah, I usually throw in Stonyfield Farms yo-baby yogurt and animal cookies for a snack. (I actually like this yogurt and eat it too!  There aren’t any ingredients that make it any less good – or delicious – for adults – just less sugar than most yogurts and it is made from whole milk!).   I love that Yo-baby comes in 4 packs now instead of six packs.  They are the exact same price per cup as the old 6 packs it is just that the four packs are of one single flavor rather than the old six packs which were a combination of two flavors.  I like the new single flavor 4 packs because I can pick just the flavors I want – which is usually vanilla, banana, or blueberry. Sometimes I pack vanilla yogurt with fresh blueberries for Judah if I have them.  He loves to drop the berries in the yogurt and then fish them out!

Stretch Island Fruit Strips are a big hit with Judah too.  These are like fruit roll ups but are made of all natural fruit  and are equal to a half serving of fruit each.  If you have school aged kids these would be a great addition to the lunchbox and your kiddos would think you are supermom!  They will have their very own coveted “fruit roll-up” but you’ll rest easy knowing it is healthy for them and not just blobs of high fructose corn syrup.

I always try to make sure I pack at least one serving of fresh fruit for Judah and myself.  In the winter this gets a little trickier than right now when fresh fruit is abundant.  However, bananas are a “clean” fruit (low pestisides) and they are available year round.  If fresh is just way to expensive or unavailable I buy frozen.  It isn’t as tasty to eat it but it is great in things like smoothies in the mornings.

What about you… what are you’re favorite little treats or additions to the lunchbox?  I’d love to hear your ideas!

Want to Win Some Grub for Your Lunchbox?
1 lucky Wholesome Mommy will win a YoBaby totebag and five free four pack coupons!

Enter to Win HERE

For extra entries:

• Tweet about this give away (up to once per day!). Grab this and post it on Twitter: @CentsibleSawyer will pick one winner for (5) free four pack coupons of YoBaby Yogurt at WholesomeMommy.com
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This give away will end August 21st at 11:59 EST and the winner will be chosen via random.org and then announced on this blog and notified shortly there after.