I was jealous when I heard about the school system in California that decided to feed it’s students only organic, non-GMO lunches.

Happy for them, naturally, but sorry it was such a groundbreaking initiative; this should be on the table, literally, of all school systems.

So it’s back to the daily grind of figuring out healthy, kid-pleasing lunch ideas so they can take their own lunches from home. I’m terrible at this because I get so burned out. My kids have started making their own lunches in despair after the 99th peanut butter sandwich in a row, which isn’t a bad thing, (the making-their-own part, not the 99 in-a-row part) but I want at least to help them with ideas, recipes, and of course ingredients.

I’ve ordered this book to help:

cover-830x1024I can let the kids leaf through it, pick out their favorites, make menu plans, shopping lists, and help them get their lunches together.

We have this style of lunchboxes:

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We used them all last year and they’re still in good condition. They have a removable silicone gasket/seal thing to prevent leaks. Since it’s removable it’s easy to clean all the nooks and crannies–just be sure it doesn’t get lost. I’ve had to go looking in the bottom of the dishwasher a couple of times because I didn’t secure it!

We also use these colorful, handy-sized thermoses for soups or pastas and the like. Really like these, and the kids loved picking out their favorite colors.

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They received these insulated lunch bags as a gift last year from my BFF. They love the monograms and think they are so stylish. So cute and they are carrying them again this year. Love.

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I also found a lunch idea list on Dr. Axe. I don’t know much about him or his site, but I like his compilation of food bloggers’ back-to-school recipes.

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And this looks very cool. Taking the organic/local school cafeteria menu to a whole new level, Grow Your Lunch is a service that provides consulting to schools developing a garden-to-cafeteria program.

They provide customized planting and harvesting calendars for volunteers, school personnel and food service providers to assist in the establishment and maintenance of edible school gardens. They have a blog with helpful ideas, too.

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Wishing you luck with your school (or work) lunch plans as we head into a new school year. May you never get bored of eating or preparing your meals and may no one leave their lunch on the kitchen counter.

At least not the first week.