#Kindergarten: A look into the lunchbox, a new series!

The last time I posted about what I pack in Emily's lunchbox, I received several emails, mainly requests that I post more often about what I pack for her. It seems other moms struggle as I do to come up with a variety of food items my very picky Kindergartner likes and will actually eat lunch at school every day.

I think I'll test out a new series on my blog called: "A look into the lunchbox".

I'll work on a static page over this next month to see what kinds of things I can come up with to include and I'd love to hear your ideas! 

And now, moving on to one of the actual lunches I packed last week that Emily liked so much she asked for the very same lunch the following day:

Morning snack: a Go-gurt (not pictured) and three mini blueberries muffins


Lunch: Peanut butter on Saltine crackers and baked snap peas plus grapes & oranges

So, how did this lunch come to be?
There was a garden docent lesson all about bees and honey earlier in the month and the children got to sample honey on Saltine crackers. Emily talked non-stop about how good those Saltine crackers were and actually asked me one afternoon if she could have some peanut butter on Saltines for snack. That snack inspired me to start packing her three Saltine and peanut butter sandwiches in her lunch. She hates sandwich bread and I was coming up short on ideas for a protein-packed lunches. Emily doesn't like hard-boiled eggs, tuna, or hummus and unfortunately, since she had the stomach flu and threw up the cottage cheese she had eaten earlier that day, she won't eat cottage cheese anymore. I often pack nuts and dried fruit and I always include yogurt and cheese but I also make an effort to make her lunch as exciting and new as she'll allow. :)

The baked snap peas are a brand new addition to her lunchbox this month. Emily tasted these at their classroom St. Patty's day party and declared they were her favorite thing of the party and that she wanted me to buy some for her lunch. I found them in the produce department of our grocery store, near the croutons and other salad toppers, for only $1.99 and one bag easily lasts the month.

And lastly, the mini muffins she goes ga-ga over. About once a quarter, I'll bake a double batch of muffins in mini muffin tins, freezing them once they are cool. The mini muffins are really great because they are one- or two-bite snacks that make very little mess! If on sale, I like to buy the FiberOne muffins mixes.

What do you pack in your child's lunch? Any hits? What have been misses?