Outside the Lunch Box - The Cubed Lunch and Yummy Snack Dip

So I did not forget about my summer lunch series. My mother-in-law sent me this cute book of lunch ideas for kids and I finally got around to trying some today.

 

The original idea for what we had for lunch was cubed mozarella, cherry tomatoes and basil on skewers. My kids are a little too young for pointy objects so we did it on the plate.

Everything is chopped in little cubed pieces, which makes it easy to eat.

 The fruit of the day was white nectarines. These are so delish!

I served these with..yes...hot dogs (free of nitrates and preservatives). They each got half a slice of pita bread.

 I try to eat something similar to what the kids are eating. It gives them confidence to try something new if you are eating it too. I added some olives to the mix and got some basil from the garden and drizzled it with some EVOO. And yes, I had a hot dog too :)

 You almost always have some leftovers with little ones. This meal packs up easily in a little container to be used at snacktime. This is where our dip comes in.

Ingredients

1 carrot, sliced

2 tbsp. EVOO

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp. cumin

1/4 ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground coriander

2 pinches chili powder

1 can of lima beans, drained and rinsed

juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Start by steaming the carrot until tender. I just did this in the microwave in some water. Heat up the oil in a saucepan and saute the garlic and spices. Add the beans, lemon juice, and 2-3 tbsp of water. Stir until heated through.

Put the carrot and bean mixture in the blender or food processor and process until smooth, adding a bit of water if you need to.

This stuff came out amazing. I was totally impressed. I didn't have any coriander and it still came out terrific. It's kind of like hummus.  We will have it with our leftovers and some more pita, maybe even some celery or carrots.

This literally took 10 minutes and I whipped it up between loads of laundry while the kids were napping. My kids like a snack after naps so this will be perfect. Hopefully mommy won't eat it all before the kids wake up ;)

Enjoy :)

Outside the Lunch Box - Tuna Tortilla Rolls

So today when I went into the kitchen to make the kid's lunch I realized that I am definitely in a lunch rut.

So I thought a little outside our usual lunch box and try something a little different. Then I had an idea! So now that it is almost summer many moms will have all their kids at home, so how about we all share some fun new lunch ideas to jazz things up :) 

I use the guidelines that childcare centers are required to use.  It is based on the new food pyramid.  It makes it easy to figure out your meals because you basically just fill in the blanks.  What you use to fill it in is up to you. You can print out the guidelines HERE

Now I would really like for this to be a collaborative effort.  I want ideas!  I'm no expert in this area, but we can learn from each other :)  So here is what you can do:

#1 Email me at erinmarie83@gmail.com  and send me your recipes there.

#2 If you have your own blog, post the link to your own "Outside the Lunch Box" post.

#3 Or you can just leave your yummy lunch idea in the comments area.

Here is what we did today: Tuna Tortilla Rolls

You will need:

1 whole wheat tortilla

1 can of tuna prepared however you like it

1/2 cup of any veggie, 1/2 cup of any fruit

 Spread the tuna on in a nice, even layer

 Roll like a fruit roll-up and slice with a serrated knife into little pinwheels

 Slice up your fruit and veggies, I threw a couple pieces of cheese with the zucchini because it's sort of new to them. They tried the zucchini, but not fans quite yet.  Remember to keep trying, it may take up to THIRTY tries for a child to take to a new food.

 Give your kids utensils! Mine love them even if they don't always use them, but you would be surprised at how much they will use them if you offer them.

The pinwheels were a HIT! Not a single one left.  Only some chewed on pieces of zucchini remained :)

Try the pinwheel idea with all kinds of things.  PB&J, cream cheese and spinach, bananas, Nutella.  If it can be spread, it will work! Enjoy and please contribute! I would love to try to keep this going :)