4 Back to School Lunchbox Heroes

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com

Back to school has always been a challenge for me.  Admittedly it’s mostly because I like the lazy days of summer and I am NOT a morning person.  Days and evenings become so much busier when the fall routines start back up again, which means I need some quick fixes to streamline those everyday chores.  Chores like making lunches!  Getting back into a lunchbox-packing routine can be daunting.

I’ve decided to leverage leftovers, buy healthy pre-packaged snacks and make use of time saving services to make lunch packing a breeze this year.  Check out these 4 Lunchbox Heroes that are changing the way I pack lunch!

Leverage Leftovers

Taco Tuesdays can be held over to Wednesday lunches, and the kids will LOVE it!  Having the ingredients all prepped for dinner the night before, simply means portioning extra into reusable containers for lunch the next day.

The star of these tiny tacos is EAT PRE 95% lean Ground Beef.  The 95% lean ground beef is perfect for tacos as there is little to no fat left once fried.  

You can feel confident serving Eat Pre to your family as all of their products are sourced from grass fed beef.  The beef is raised with no added antibiotics or hormones.  In addition to the 95% lean ground beef, Pre Brands also has 85% lean ground beef, chuck roasts, top sirloin steaks, ribeye steaks and other beef products.  Oh and while this tip is about leveraging leftovers, you can buy grass fed beef online and then have it delivered!  So it’s also a time saving service 🙂 

To make the little tortillas, just take a larger one and use a cookie cutter to cut out smaller rounds.  Add some shredded lettuce, cheese and diced tomatoes, and of course the Pre ground beef.  Voila a super fun lunch for the kids that was all prepped the night before!  Win/win.  (Make sure you have an ice pack in the lunchbox to keep the food at a safe temperature.) 

If you’re interested in online meat delivery use code BTS40 at www.eatpre.com for 40% off 85% and 80% lean ground beef.  Code expires 9/21.  If you miss that deal or want to order other beef options or order again 😉 the code: 3DIFFERENT will get you 10% off your order now through October 31st.

Leveraging leftovers is not just for the kids though.  You can repurpose dinner into lunch for grownups too.  I did just that with Lundberg Family Farms Roesemary & Olive Oil Quinoa Blend.  

Y’all this was amazingly easy to prepare and so convenient to whip up for dinner.  It was as easy as mixing the package contents with water and olive oil, bringing it to a boil and waiting 18 minutes until it was done!  You can’t beat that for a busy weeknight side dish. 

While it was simmering on the stove top, I was prepping the ingredients for the leftovers so my daughter could take it to work for her ‘lunch-dinner’ the next day (she works the swing shift).

All you need to make this delicious cold Mediterranean Quinoa Blend Salad is some Greek vinaigrette dressing, diced cucumbers and grape tomatoes, and feta cheese.

Add 1/4 cup of Greek vinaigrette salad dressing to a cup of prepared Lundberg Quinoa Blend.  Mix together with the cucumbers and tomatoes, sprinkle some feta cheese on top, chill and you’re done!  An international flavored lunch that you will want to make again and again.  I have that on good authority as my daughter right away asked me to buy this Quinoa Blend again after having it for her lunch twice! 

We also received a Rice Pilaf variety that was just as simple to make and as tasty.  These White Rice and Quinoa Blends are made with quality organic ingredients, are vegan, non-GMO and gluten-free verified.

You can find out more about these mixes as well as other Lundberg Family Farm products at http://www.lundberg.com/products/entrees-sides.

Buy Healthy Pre-Packaged Snacks

I gave up being supermom a long time ago.  The homemade fruit leather was never going to happen around here.  When it comes to packing snacks in lunches, I don’t apologize for using pre-packaged ones.  I have however, started to read ingredient labels and that has been a big eye-opener to me.  If I don’t make them myself, I’d like to ensure that the snacks I pack are healthy and delicious.  

MadeGood snacks fulfill not only those two requirements but they are also school safe and allergy free. 

Their line up of organic snacks includes granola bars, granola minis, crispy squares and soft baked cookies.

I have to say I was impressed before I even took a bite out of the Apple Cinnamon Granola Bar.  You can even see the cinnamon in it!  The flavor was really good and it was just the right amount for an afternoon snack.

We’re really enjoying the use of Bento Boxes for lunches because of the flexibility they provide us.  An easy dessert that you can prepare the night before and have ready for the lunch box the next day is a Granola Topped Yogurt Parfait.  We just layered vanilla yogurt with frozen bananas and strawberries, and then tossed in a package of the MadeGood Granola Minis to put on top. (This would be another lunchbox idea that would require an ice pack to be included).

Just a bit of sweetness to finish off lunch time, with enough protein and energy to get through the rest of the school day!

To learn more about MadeGood products you can visit http://bit.ly/2M5usJc.

Time Saving Services

The end of August was a crazy week for us.  We unfortunately had a death in the family and had to fly out of town for the funeral.  While we were away I acquired an awful toothache only to come home to having to have an emergency root canal!  Between all of that somehow we had to get to some food in the fridge and on the pantry shelves. You can imagine the last thing I wanted to do was walk up and down the grocery aisles pushing a cart.

Oh how thankful I was for Shipt. 

What’s Shipt you ask?  It’s an incredibly convenient same-day shopping service.   With an annual membership you have access to free*, unlimited delivery on orders of more than $35.

I truly never thought I’d use a shopping delivery service but now that I have a taste of it… oh the amount of time it will save me!!  

Once you sign up for an account, you’ll be given a choice of stores in your area that you can shop from.  In our location that meant Kroger or Target.  I shop at Kroger anyway so that worked for me.  

Finding what I wanted to order was as simple as typing in what I wanted.  I did find there were a few brands that I typically purchase that were not available through the service, but nothing I wasn’t willing to find another brand for or leave off my list for this order.  You can choose to allow the shopper to substitute items if they aren’t available in store, to ask you if you’d like a substitute or request they don’t substitute at all.  My husband is quite picky with his brands so I chose to not have substitutes. 

Once you’re ready to check out they will give you a list of delivery times that are available.  I was shopping later in the evening (in my pajamas! Score one for me!), so I chose to do next morning grocery delivery although I still could have had it delivered that evening. 

 

My personal shopper Laura texted me when she arrived at the store, asked if I wanted a substitute since the organic grape tomatoes weren’t available, (I thought that was nice even though she could have just moved on since I chose no substitutes) and let me know when she was on her way to my home.  She even carried the groceries into my kitchen when she arrived!  All the produce and dairy we ordered was chosen carefully, which honestly was my main concern of having someone else do my shopping.

Do you know everything besides the featured items in this post I ordered, purchased and had delivered through Shipt?!  That’s right even the Bento Lunch Box!  Talk about convenient 🙂

Shipt does have an annual membership fee that costs $99 (remember that gives you free delivery on orders over $35), but here is a link that if you sign up using it, you can get the annual membership for just $49: https://signup.shipt.com/?membership_code=true&gift_code=K6BB92C54A1  If you use it just once per week that’s less than $1 an order!  

*deliveries are 100% free with your order of $35+, tips are not required but are appreciated.

So now you know why the products featured in this blog post are Lunchbox Heroes for me!  Leveraging Leftovers, Healthy Pre-Packaged Snacks and Time Saving Services just make my life easier, and if this Mama is happy… the whole family is happy 😉