Five New School Lunch Ideas

There is a good chance the grocery store was crowded this weekend with moms and dads preparing for school lunch packing time for this week.

This year, we provide you with five ideas to make school lunch the most exciting time of the day for your young ones!

1. Kid-Friendly Sushi 
Make kid-friendly sushi roll-ups, wrapping up julienned carrots, cucumber, hummus, and turkey and slicing it like a sushi roll. You could also include a thinly sliced apple to take the place of ginger!

2. Pack a Bento Box
Forget the prepackaged Lunchable-style meals. Purchase a bento box from Pottery Barn Kids, which has several small compartments that you can fill with fruit, carrot sticks, kidney beans, lunchmeat, cheese, raisins, crackers and other less processed options.

3. Pasta Salad
Add frozen peas with a pasta salad. The peas will gradually defrost and keep things cold in the process. 

4. Sandwich on a Stick
Make a sandwich skewer! Cut up cubes of bread, cheese and lunch meat. Slide the cubes on a skewer with other foods such as a grape tomato, an olive, a pickle or a piece of lettuce. Add a little container of mustard for dipping.

5. Chiquita Smashers
Chiquita Smashers is a new item for sale exclusively in the refrigerated sections of Pittsburgh-area Giant Eagles, including .

Available in four flavors—bananas smashed together with mango, mixed berries, orange or strawberry—Chiquita Smashers are a slurpable fruit snack in a resealable, no-mess pouch.  

“Parents know it can be tough to get kids to eat enough real fruit, especially at school or when they’re on the go,” said Heath Osburn, general manager of emerging business at Chiquita. “Smashers are an easy solution. Moms and dads love that they’re packed with vitamin C from real fruit, while kids enjoy the tasty, smashed-together flavors. Plus, the squeezable, screw-top pouch gives kids an engaging way to enjoy fruit—anytime, anywhere.”

Smashers contain real fruit, no added sugar—and added vitamin C—all at 60 calories.