I know, I know! Don’t fall out of your seats, because this is three posts in three days. On Saturday no less. But I feel like I’m getting my mojo back, and I suspect I’ll have plenty to blog about in the days to come.
A few weeks ago, as I assembled a lunch for Abigail, it occurred to me that I could share these again. Lunchbox? Abigail? I thought you homeschooled? Ah yes, we do, and plan to do for as long as God permits. But one night a week, we drop Abigail off for three hours of dance and tumbling classes. It’s too early for her to eat before she goes, and too long of a night for her to wait until she gets back home. So I send her a lunch that she can pick at in between class times. It’s been kind of fun to pull out that Laptop Lunchbox and think of different ways to fill it up. That lunch has also become a bit of a conversation piece for Abigail. All her friends crowd around to see what she brought, and often times the moms can also be found asking what’s in her lunch. I’ve had moms later on stop me and ask about something specific, because my daughter shared with her daughter, and it’s all she can talk about, so she wants to know exactly what I packed. Abigail’s having fun with it.
When I pack her lunch each week I’m looking for a few things. One, I need a source of protein. She needs energy to give her enough pep to get through the night. Her full hour of tumbling can wear her out, so I need to pack something so that she can get through her two dance classes as well. Hard boiled eggs in one form or another are a popular one to pack. I also pack light. Veggies and dip, fruit, a small sweet, all things that will not stuff her and make her uncomfortable. In tumbling she is concentrating on working on back walkovers and turning that round-off into a hand-spring, so a full belly is not recommended either. But every week I manage to keep it varied and different, and she’s really enjoying them.
So here’s this week’s lunch. In the front green container you see a cup full of tuna salad next to some whole wheat crackers for her to make little cracker sandwiches. This was very popular this week, and I don’t think she ate much of it herself. To the right of that, some simple sliced cucumber with ranch dip. Then above that we have a creme-filled cupcake, and finally, to the left of the cupcake, there is some red grapes and pineapple. She always has a small bottle of juice to drink, and then once she drinks all that, she refills it with water and probably goes through a bottle and a half of water as well.
This was more than enough food. She has twenty minutes between each class, so she snacks on a bit while visiting with her friends. There’s almost always still food left when she brings it home, but she never is hungry and never wants anything else to eat that night. These lunchboxes, while the containers may look small, really do hold enough food for a normal adult. Going on five years old, our lunchbox is holding up very well. I did have to replace the lids on the smaller containers, but for four lids I paid seven bucks including shipping, and now they’re as good as new. I still recommend the Laptop Lunchbox as the way to go for packed lunches for kids.