the red foods keep on coming!

Van's whole grain frozen waffle topped with homemade strawberry cream cheese + Applegate Farms chicken-apple sausages + organic raspberries and banana + Red Jacket Orchards Strawberry Apple Cider

Yep, I'm kind of smitten with myself. I'm pretty much knocking the socks off of my 6-year-old, who challenged me to make "red meals" from February 4th until Valentine's Day...

(leftover) ravioli with Rao's marinara sauce + chicken from the night before's batch of bone broth + watermelon + cherry tomatoes + Earthbound Farms frozen cherries (which thawed by lunchtime)

(leftover) red pizza + an organic strawberry + organic red pepper spears + a beef and bulgur meatball in homemade orange-basil tomato sauce

day 2 of red meals? check!

continuing my 6-year-old's challenge to serve something red at every meal between now and Valentine's Day...

construction meeting on-the-go breakfast: strawberry yogurt cup + homemade strawberry-filled scone + "hug" cereal + half a banana

lunch: heart-shaped roasted red pepper goat cheese spread/cheddar sandwiches + red pepper spears + Kefir + cinnamon apple sauce + frozen strawberries (that will thaw by lunchtime)

dinner: cheese ravioli with Rao's marinara sauce + pears

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

(nut-free) snack ideas for school, camp, hikes and road trips!

Whether you're packing snacks for day camp, day care, school or the day's adventure, I don't think you can ever have too much packable snack-time inspiration. So, here's a round-up of  hearty + healthy snack ideas! (All are nut-free too, in case that's a contingency in your family/camp/school/daycare.)

Before we launch into my photos of kid snacks, I just have to quickly share my latest food crush. These Beanfield's Bean and Rice Chips are soooo good. To add some veggies to this snack, I serve them along with my pea dip, spinach dip, or an edamame hummus. At the party above, I brought them along with my go-to yogurt dip. 

Here's what the packing looks like, when you're standing there in the chip aisle, looking at a dizzying away of choices! And here are a bunch of other recent snacks to inspire you...

Above: cucumber "coins" + red peppers "swords" + one child wanted some of last night's shredded chicken and the other wanted apples (sprinkle with a bit on lemon juice/water mixture to prevent browning) + organic strawberries

Back to Nature Crispy Wheat crackers + Earthbound Farm's carrots + ranch dip (can you tell this is a day when I was short on time and hadn't prepped my own fruits and veggies?...)

apple slices and puffed corn cereal (again, i hadn't taken the time to prep, so store-bought it was that day... costs more, but at least they're still getting their fruits and/or veggies)

chive cream cheese (make your own by mixing chopped chives (or any other herb/shredded veggie) with organic whipped cream cheese... or buy) on celery + cucumber "coins" + one of my kids wanted yellow pepper "swords", the other wanted as many celery sticks as would fit in his tin...

last night's (leftover) spinach pizza + a kefir smoothie

carrots + organic berries + a handful of Beanfield's (bean and rice) chips

this day, I forgot our snack and we picked these "Buddy Fruits" up at our park snack bar

mini pitas (or multigrain "slider buns" like we found at the market) filled with hummus

and you can never go wrong with good old raw veggies... with or without dip!

more lunchbox ideas!

carrot pinwheels (whole wheat tortilla + cream cheese + shredded carrots rolled up and then sliced) + organic pepper spears + 100% organic apple sauce + Divvies cookies as a special treat

yogurt tube + cream cheese and jam sandwiches + organic berries + organic grapes

mozzarella balls + Applegate maple sausage (leftover from breakfast) + organic blueberries + a yogurt tube + pretzels

smashed avocado and shredded veggie sandwich on multi-grain bread + organic raspberries + a Danimals smoothie (as a special treat... ah, the power of TV advertising....) + cheddar cheese (that my little one cut into shapes as I was packing lunch)

organic strawberries + my go-to meatballs + pasta and tomato sauce (from the night before) + carrots

more lunchbox inspiration

A bunch of you have asked me to share more lunchbox ideas to help propel you through the next few weeks of summer camp packing. I'm in LA this week, but lucky for you, I snapped some lunchbox photos before flying out. So, here goes....

special treat from the bakery + Applegate ham and cheese on whole wheat + organic strawberries + corn (from last night's dinner) + cucumber slices

frozen Yo Kids yogurt tube + Back to Nature Crazy Bugs macaroni + cucumber spears + chunks of watermelon

maple scone + Applegate salami + organic blueberries + steamed edamame + organic strawberries

breakfast for lunch! (aka: "mom hasn't gone to the supermarket in a few days so let's see what she can come up with from the fridge/freezer/pantry...."): Van's flax waffle + pretzels + a frozen yogurt tube + a mixture of 100% fruit jam and local maple syrup (for dipping) + a cup of 100% organic apple sauce

Greek yogurt cup + organic blueberries + cheese tortellini and turkey meatballs (leftover from dinner) + pretzels + Andean dream quinoa-coconut cookie

That ought to provide some inspiration to get you through these next few days of lunch boxes! Want even more? Here are a bunch!

5 lunchbox ideas

cream cheese & jam sandwiches + organic apple sauce (100% apples + h2o) + Beanfield's sea salt + pepper chips + carrots

organic apple sauce (100% apples + h2o) + organic strawberries + steamed edamame, dumplings and dipping sauce (leftover from dinner the night before)

homemade strawberry pinwheels (whole wheat tortilla + organic cream cheese and strawberry slices rolled up and then sliced) + carrots and bell peppers + a Divvies cookie as a treat + organic blueberries

frozen grapes + organic peppers "swords" and cucumber "coins" + pepitas + Annie's gummies as a special treat + rice crackers

fruit salad + cheese tortellini pasta salad and grilled chicken-apple sausages (leftover from the BBQ the night before) + carrots + mustard and ketchup to dip

a new batch of lunchbox ideas

Last night, I attempted to make a colonial-esque ruffle to go on the front of a white button down shirt, transforming it into part of a 3rd grade Benjamin Franklin costume....it came out looking more like "a crumpled white napkin", according to my husband. Thankfully, my lunch boxes receive more rave reviews. Here's the latest batch to give you some ideas these last few days of the school year...

Above: cucumber "swords", baby carrots, cheese quesadillas on spinach tortillas + fruit salad

steamed carrots + green beans and cherry tomatoes + cream cheese and jelly sandwich on sourdough + peas + two different kinds of cheese (cheddar and mozzarella) + Kashi Heart to Heart cereal (as a sweet treat)

chunks of melon (watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew) + roasted curry cauliflower + a yogurt smoothie + raisins + roasted sweet potatoes and new potatoes

smoothie + carrots + freeze-dried strawberries + whole wheat spaghetti with fresh tomatoes, basil and Parmesan

(more) lunchbox inspiration

It's mid-week, and you've hit a lunch-packing slump. Have no fear....more colorful lunchbox ideas are here!

lots of fruit (honeydew, cantaloupe, strawberries) + cheese pizza on whole wheat crust + a carrot stick + puffed rice cereal + cucumber "coins"

dried fruit + Animal crackers as a special treat + cucumbers and carrots + cream cheese and jam on whole wheat pitas

Bell and Evans gluten-free chicken nuggets + yogurt + bell pepper "swords" + ketchup + fruit salad

carrot sticks + Chobani Greek yogurt + quesadilla (whole wheat tortilla + black beans + cheddar) + apples two ways (slices and sauce)

carrot "coins" + honeydew melon + strawberries + bell pepper "swords" + grilled chicken

squeeze applesauce + cheese ravioli (without sauce-- easy to pick up and munch) + cucumber "coins" + carrots + melon (again...we seem to eat a lot of melon, don't we?!!)

Valentine's lunchbox

Definitely nominating myself for mom-of-the-day with this lunchbox... Happy Valentine's Day sweet boys!

Cool-Cups jello hearts (note: this looks super cute but I made it with a regular cup of jello, not finger jello, carefully sliced horizontally and then cut with a cookie cutter...sooooo, they might fall apart, hence the inclusion of a spork!...) + a cream cheese and strawberry jam sandwich + mozzarella ball and marinated tomatoes + homemade cookie + strawberries + red pepper hearts and arrows (how Martha am I?!)

(more) lunchbox ideas

You can always tell what we had for dinner, or what fruit/veggies I have prepped, and how late I slept by what makes it into the lunchbox that morning...

fresh pineapple + red pepper spears + avocado hummus (from Trader Joe's) + baked blue corn chips + a mozzarella stick + a cup of yogurt for a treat

yogurt smoothie + shredded carrots (leftover from a recipe the night before) + freeze-dried berries + a few gingersnaps + cream cheese and jelly on whole wheat bread (made exciting with cookie cutters)

a cup of yogurt + fresh berries + a slice of cornbread from dinner the night before + a bunch of veggies + a fruit leather

a fruit leather (can you tell I stocked up that week?) + a cinnamon-raisin bagel with cream cheese + cucumbers + blueberries + peas (fun to pick up apparently..)