The Lunch Idea:

Sometimes on a Friday I will use lunch packing as an opportunity to clean out the fridge a bit. This is the only kind of scenario in which you will see me pack a totally different lunch for each kid. I've got a little bit of this and a little bit of that, so each box looks a little different. 

What's in the lunch:

• Lunch #1 (top left): Salami, strawberries, cheese, apples, applesauce, oranges, and grapes.
• Lunch #2 (top right): Tomatoes, cheese, ham, strawberries, apples
• Lunch #3 (bottom left): cheese, crackers, tomatoes, almonds, strawberries, apples
• Lunch #4 (bottom right): strawberries, grapes, almonds, cheese, pretzels, applesauce

Lunches #1 and #2 are gluten free and nut free.

Tips and questions:

• School lunches are a great way to use up leftovers, or when you have just a little bit left in the package.  I find that kids love having just a few little bites of a bunch of different stuff. They like variety and choices.
•  The way I placed the apples and oranges in the first lunch is such a simple and fun way to make it look a little nicer.  This is literally just slices of each fruit, alternated in the container.  And a bonus - the citrus juice will help keep the apple fresh.
• As for the rest of the apples - people always ask how I keep them from turning brown.  I don't do anything and really never have a problem.  The one thing I have found that makes big difference is to use a very sharp knife when cutting.  Most of the immediate browning seems to be from bruising that is caused by a dull knife. 

Products I used:

• The pink cups are from Ikea
• The lunches are packed in EasyLunchboxes
• I love the square silicone baking cups for keeping items separate and tidy
• I used a bamboo skewer for the ham.
• The applesauce is in an EasyLunchboxes Mini Dipper

Here's a little something new I'm trying - I made a little video tour of these lunches.  Check it out and tell me what you think - if you would like to see more of these!