the first batch of this year's lunchboxes

If you saw my post over on the full plate blog's Facebook page, you know that I pulled a total dingbat move last night, starting to make lentil soup at 6:00pm... even though dinner should have been ready by 6:30 at the latest for the (hopeful) 7:00pm bedtime. Or maybe it was subliminal, and I really wanted grilled cheeses for dinner, and to not have to make dinner tonight? Either way, we had grilled cheese last night... and the lentil soup finished cooking mid-evening, and I packaged it up so we could enjoy it tonight. But first, I popped a small portion into today's lunchbox.

apple cider as a (super special, he picked it himself) treat + a small portion of lentil soup in the thermos + half a grilled Applegate ham and cheese (which he'd be enjoying cold, good thing he's not picky) + organic strawberries + English cucumber slices

As you guys know, I try to keep our meals colorful. That's the easiest way for me to know our meal is healthful, and to ensure that my children are getting a bunch of fruits and/or veggies throughout the day. No matter what I am planning for dinner/the next day's lunchbox, I try to stay ahead of the curve by having some prepped (washed + cut) fruits and veggies at the ready. This makes assembling my children's meals super easy. Here are a few more lunch boxes from last week to provide some packing inspiration.... and remind you to set aside some of tonight's dinner if you can, so your packing is simple!

organic raspberries + "rainbow" tomatoes and cucumber slices + organic strawberries + baby carrots + cream cheese and jam sandwich + Greek yogurt (don't forget to include a spoon!)

organic dried cranberries + a slice of pumpkin bread + some of the homemade "mac and cheese" (remember the re-purposing post from last week!) + steam broccoli (again, from dinner the night before) + chicken-apple sausages (yes, you guessed it-- from dinner the night before)

turkey-vegetable Bolognese (again from that week when I was re-purposing the extra cheese from the Feta-Fig appetizers... this sauce was studded with lots of cauliflower, broccoli and carrots so I didn't include an additional veggie in his lunch today) + a bit of fruit salad + a fruit smoothie