Whether or not your kids are back in school summer is quickly coming to a close for 2017. The school lunch menu plan for week 4 includes some dishes that use up summer produce.
Do your kids love salad? My son does. From the moment he tasted this strawberry salad with candied almonds he was hooked. That was a couple of years ago and he still loves it. Unfortunately, since he has braces, I leave off the almonds at this point but he’s declared he wants this salad as one of his first meals when he gets them off.
When I include salads in the lunch box I often include a bread. If the zucchini in your garden has gone crazy try these zucchini chocolate chip muffins from Jolene’s Recipe Journal. The addition of chocolate chips adds a touch of sweetness to this classic muffin. I would also be great as a lunch box snack or dessert muffin.
If sandwiches are more your child’s thing this Italian pressed sandwich from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures is perfect. No grilling or panini maker necessary. You just need to plan so you have enough time to press before you pack it up. What’s really great about this sandwich is you can customize it to the deli meats and cheeses your child enjoys. Plus, mixing it up keeps your kids guessing and doesn’t allow boredom to set in.
If you’re trying to get more veggies in your kids these parsnip chips from Feeding Big would be a good way. They would also pair well with the Italian pressed sandwich above. Because if you have a sandwich, you need chips, right?! This chips are doubly healthy because they are baked and not fried.
This weeks treat comes from Books and Cooks. Chocolatey pretzel treats are easy enough for kids to help make, under supervision, of course. I would caution to keep them chilled which would be easy with cold packs in the lunch box. A fun idea would be to use seasonal M&M, autumn mix for fall, red/ green for the holidays, Valentine mix…you get the idea. You could also use the various M&M flavors like peanut butter, caramel, etc.
Welcome to the inaugural post of my weekly School Lunch Box Menu Plan. Where I live school starts in August. I know many places start after Labor Day (lucky you) so some of you may think it’s far too early to start thinking about back to school. But, really, it’s not. If you send your child to school with a homemade lunch every day, by mid year you are probably running out of ideas. You and your child are more than likely bored with the choices and there’s still half a year left. The idea behind my new weekly School Lunch Box Menu Plan is to give you and your child lots and lots of options for everything from snacks to sandwiches to soups (for cooler weather) and sweets. I plan to post the weekly ideas over the weekend so you can shop and plan. As more and more weeks are added there will be more opportunity to mix and match. The plan is a minimum of 5 recipes a week. My hope is to offer variety for all tastes but also include at least one sweet treat, maybe more. Most of all I want to share recipes kids will actually eat. Be sure to subscribe to emails so you don’t miss one weekly post.
In all my years of making lunches for my boys, I’ve found that if the food was fun, they would eat it. This leads to my two next features. The first is 
The next fun feature is for fruit and comes from my blog. I can’t even begin to tell you what a hit these 
The Savory Tooth has a 
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a lunch box staple for many kids. To be totally honest, I was never a PB&J fan but I did love just a peanut butter sandwich. I think I had one just about every day in my childhood lunch box. It was funny when, a few years ago, I reconnected with my childhood best friend on Facebook. One of the first things she asked me was if I still ate peanut butter sandwiches with out the crust. I do! But I leave the crust on now. Because PB&J’s are near and dear to many I love this cookie from Jolene’s Recipe Journal for 
I love picnics. When I was a child growing up in Florida my Mom used to make her famous fried chicken along with potato salad, coleslaw, chips and drinks. Oh…can’t forget dessert. Usually cookies or brownies. No matter what the menu was easy to transport to our favorite picnic place – Ft. DeSoto Park. While those were wonderful times of my childhood, my most favorite picnic with my family was at Glacier National Park. There was a small grocer as you entered the park where we stopped. We bought some amazing potato buns, a variety of deli meats and cheeses, some pasta salad and chips and headed into the park. By the time we got to Logan’s Pass, which was closed, we were hungry and decided to picnic on some big rocks with the most beautiful view.
