MOMables Monday: Elephant Cracker Stackers!

When I saw the elephant shaped Boon Trunk snack box, I had to have it! So I made an elephant-y MOMables Cracker Stackers lunch to go in it! 

Elephants for Kindergarten

Dye-free gummy hearts, GF crackers, salami, goat cheese and basil leaf, organic apricot and green beans

 

5/12/14 - My kids love cracker stackers... anything with crackers really. Or cheese. Or meat. I don't serve a lot of dairy (even though none of us react to goat milk,) and even less meat. There were a lot of happy dances this day!
I used my mini elephant cutter on some sliced goat cheese to make a fun version of the classic MOMables Cracker Stackers, but left the salami round. 
I found the perfect elephant joke on a Lunchbox Love note! I send them in special playing card protector sleeves so that they don't get soggy or dirty, and then I can reuse them!

Toddler Scraps

Organic green beans, apples, grapes, raspberries; GF crackers, goat cheese, salami

The toddler doesn't like salami as much as her Big Sis, so I only packed one slice for her. She got most of Z's cheese scraps too (Mama ate some...) and one elephant, for fun!

To help fill the space, I used a cheery silicone flower muffin cup to hold E's green beans.

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A Week of Lunchbox Love

School hasn't started here yet, but we got a little "trial run" with a week of all-day camp at Z's new school. So I made sure to send her with lots of love... and some fun riddles, thanks to the new Lunchbox Love Riddles cards! 

I used durable plastic playing card covers to protect the Lunchbox Love notes in her lunches, so they wouldn't get damp or messy. I like being able to re-use them!

I already featured the first three lunches in a previous post, so I'll start with the last two from that week!

[Disclaimer: I was sent several packs of the new Lunchbox Love sets]

GF waffle sticks w/Sunbutter and Enjoy Life chocolate chips; organic rainbow carrots, apples, blueberries

Thursday, 7/31/14 - Since Z's new school has a pool, they offer swim classes as part of their Summer program. So this riddle was perfect! ("What doesn't get any wetter, no matter how much rain falls on it?" Water!) 

I got an awesome deal on a waffle stick maker in the hopes that it would be easy to make lunchbox-friendly gluten-free waffles. And I was right! Win! To try and make some leftover waffle sticks into a healthy(er) lunch, I added some Sunbutter for protein. And Enjoy Life chocolate chips on top because they taste ah-mazing with Sunbutter, but also because they're less messy than syrup!

Organic apricot, dye-free Canadian Smarties, goat milk Gouda, olives, tomato sauce, toasted GF roll w/garlic salt

Friday, 8/1/14 - I'm usually too lazy to make a MOMables Pizzable, but as always, they're a big hit! This time I used a gluten-free roll and cut it into thirds to make perfect thin little pizza rounds. I toasted them up (because toasty is better!) and added a little garlic salt on the tops (also makes gluten-free bread taste better!)

I packed her sauce in a Mini Dipper, but then totally forgot to pack a utensil for spreading. Doh!

Since I try to pack a special treat every Friday, I included some chocolate Smarties that my friend Candy Girl sent from Canada. Our Smarties are some kind of pressed candy powder. But theirs are candy-coated chocolates. Plus they're made with natural flavors and colors up there! Someday, America... Some day.

Organic raspberries w/Enjoy Life chips, organic yellow carrots, Glutino crackers, organic pickles, tuna w/mayo 

 

Monday, 7/28/14 - Simple but classic - a deconstructed tuna fish sandwich! Tuna (with mayo) in a silicone heart cup and crackers, plus pickles. Because that's how Dadda makes her tuna sandwiches! Yum!
In addition to the pickles, I added some carrots cut with a tiny heart cutter.

Coconut Peanut Spread, Glutino crackers, cinnamon sugar pretzels, organic sugar snap peas and strawberries

Tuesday, 7/29/14 - Another popular lunch is the MOMables PB Cracker Stackers. While it takes more of her precious lunch time, Z really enjoys the more "interactive" lunches, where she assembles part of her meal.

Organic champagne grapes, homegrown green and purple beans, GF Sunbutter-jelly sandwich,
chocolate-covered blueberries, plus Chiquita Bites apples with grapes for snack

 

Wednesday, 7/30/14 - Back to basics with a (nut-free) PBJ. I kept it fun with the cupcake Lunch Punch though! 

I'm not 100% clear on how they do lunch at this new school, but from what I gather, the kids are allowed to snack on their lunch and/or snack throughout their free choice time. So I made sure to send healthy snacks every day as well. Some days I needed easy ones, so the Chiquita Bites packs were perfect! [Disclaimer: Chiquita sent me an assortment of Bites for free.]

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Back to School Blog Hop and Giveaway

 

We're looking at a new private school for my 6-year-old for 1st grade this Fall, so she's doing a week of all-day Summer camp there to try it out (and so they can see if she'd be a good fit there too!) So this has been like a dry-run for me for September, having lunch made (and photographed... *cough*) and everyone up and out the door to get to school by 9am.

You can read about the first few lunches, and the tools and products I use to help me pack them healthy but still fun - and always full of love! Then stick around for the Back-to-School giveaway and blog hop down below!

Deconstructed Tuna Sandwich

Glutino crackers, organic raspberries w/Enjoy Life chocolate chips, organic yellow carrots, dye-free pickles, tuna w/mayo

 

Hubby had made some tuna over the weekend (I'm not sure what to call it... "tuna salad" doesn't seem right, when it's just a can of tuna mixed with a small blob of mayo...) for sandwiches, which must include sliced pickles too. So I built a DIY version, but with gluten-free crackers instead of bread.

Because I wanted this week to be extra successful, I made sure to pack a Lunchbox Love note each day - one of the new Riddle ones that they sent me (I vaguely recall agreeing to do a feature post with them a while ago, timed for the back-to-school season. And I warned her that I would totally forget. And surprise surprise, I opened the package and had no clue why they were sending me new cards!)
These each have a positive message on one side (except the two blanks per pack) and a riddle (with answer) on the other. My girl loves puns and word jokes, so I picked ones I thought she would be able to "get" once she read the answer. The riddle on this one was "The more of them you take, the more you leave behind." (Footsteps)

Since I was going with a "Love you!" theme, I used a silicone heart cup and mini heart cutter from All Things For Sale as well. And included a pink reusable spork in case she needed it to scoop her tuna. (My girl likes to experience her food, so often eats with her fingers, one morsel at a time...)

 [This post contains affiliate links.] 

MOMables PB Cracker Stackers

Earth Balance coconut PB sample, Glutino crackers, GF cinnamon pretzels, organic snap peas and strawberries

 

While I'm usually too lazy to even follow the weekly lunch menu plan with recipes and shopping lists provided (seriously, it's just that easy!) I always read my MOMables subscription ideas for inspiration. Then settle for something easy I can make with stuff I already have on-hand. (Did I mention that I'm too lazy to make my life that much easier by following the MOMables lunch menu plan? Being lazy is hard work, man!)

I had some sample packets of Earth Balance coconut and peanut spread, which was the perfect size to send with some gluten-free crackers for a DIY version of the MOMables PBJ Cracker Stackers! (She likes these without the jelly, and likes building them herself, so I'm happy to do less of the prep work and oblige!)

Nut-Free "PBJ"

Organic champagne grapes, sugar snap peas, long beans; GF Sunbutter-jelly sandwich, dark chocolate blueberries

Even though this school doesn't require a nut-free peanut butter alternative, thanks to letting her build her own during a lunch packing event I did at her school, Z prefers Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) with jelly when I use the Udi's gluten-free bread. No problem!

Sadly, most of my sandwich cutters no longer fit the smaller gluten-free breads, but I was just able to squeeze on the cupcake from the Lunch Punch Sweets set to help make her lunch fun! I also sent a Lunchbox Love note telling her how proud I was, after a fun riddle about Darkness ("The more you have of it, the less you see.")

I mention most of them here, but here is a list of my Top 5 Lunch Packing Essentials - talking about some of my favorite gear, brands, ideas, and more!
While we aren't ready to start school quite yet, here are lunches featuring back to school apples, general apples, the first day of Pre-K, and the first day of Kindergarten if you're looking for some lunch-spiration!

Don't be late for your next class with Organized Bites! Be sure to click through all the posts in the hop and take notes so you can pass the test at the end! Here's your homework from me (note the letter and number - once you've gone through the entire loop, arrange them numerically to spell out the codeword needed to enter the giveaway!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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