Halloween Lunchboxes

So it's the night before Halloween and I'm just spent. My husband is out of town on business this week so it's me + 3 kids. I LOVE Halloween so I'm doing my best to muster the energy. My kids are eagerly awaiting the Candy Fairy. Do you have anything like this at your house? The kids have to write a letter to the Candy Fairy asking about her favorite candy. She lets them know - usually with a print out of the label - and then on Halloween night, they place a few of those items under their pillow and get a little toy in exchange!  

And isn't it funny? The Candy Fairy likes Peppermint Patties just like I do!  

 :D Here's what the kiddos are taking for lunch tomorrow: 

homemade mac and cheese with a hint of Polly Pocket + monster-eyed banana. (not shown: pretzels and seaweed)

sunbutter and jam pumpkin sandwich, monster-eyed banana, clementine, monster-eyed fresh mozzarella

The No-Hassle Lunch

Today's lunch took all of 4 minutes to pack. Um, hello happy Monday! 

My daughter has been in a bit of a tzatziki craze lately, and everything is getting dipped - rolled up sandwich included.  I'm experimenting with tzatziki recipes and am trying to find the balance of ingredients (recipe to come if it's awesome). In the meantime, the Applegate ham and cheese roll up took all of three minutes - including the time to slightly melt the cheese. I've said it before, I love that I can rely on Applegate products to be both tasty and high quality and my kids are all about that Black Forest Ham. 

Ham and Cheese Roll-Up with Applegate

Minute four of this super easy lunchbox was spent placing baby carrots, clementines, tzatziki and our new snack discovery: Mountain Rise Granola. We eat these chunks like cookies and they are a nut-free and not produced in a factory that processes nuts so they are also safe for me to pack in my son's lunchbox. 

The no-hassle, 4 minute lunch!

Voila! Colorful, balanced, healthy and 4 minutes of time. Packed neatly and stored separately thanks to our EasyLunchboxes! For some new ideas to liven up your New Years breakfast and lunch routines, be sure to visit our Resolution Foods post for recipes and downloadable images to add to your LaLa Lunchbox food Library. 

note: these opinions are my own. I am not paid to like these products! 

Cabbage Vase!

I sure do love the smell of eucalyptus.  So when I walked by a flower stand today and spotted a bunch, I  couldn't resist. And then I remembered something I came across as my daughter and I were browsing Pinterest the other day - a vase made with cabbage. I asked the florist for a block of floral foam, bought a red cabbage and ran home. 

This is my first test run of this concept but I look forward to making improvements with each iteration. And it was so easy! Here's how I did it: 

Red cabbage vase! 

I removed the outside cabbage leaves and cut the bottom to make a flat surface. Using a paring knife, I cut a square and dug out the cabbage bits with my fingers. It was not an elegant job and I felt kind of like vegetarian Fred Flintstone in the process but once it was done, I had a perfect space for floral foam. I wet the foam and placed it inside and then arranged the eucalyptus. Easy peasy! 

Halloween Garden

Pinterest seems to bring out everyone's inner Martha Stewart, don't you think?  

My daughter and I were browsing Pinterest the other day looking for Halloween crafts and found one particularly popular food-related craft with clementine and celery "pumpkins" and banana-chocolate chip "ghosts." You know the one I'm talking about. 

I guess my daughter got inspired. She disappeared into the kitchen, shut the door and demanded absolute privacy. (Is 7 the new 12?) Anyway, here's the awesome Halloween Garden that emerged! 

Halloween Garden

LaLa Lunchbox Teams Up with Applegate!

We are so excited to feature Applegate on the newest version of LaLa Lunchbox!

Applegate products now available in the LaLa Lunchbox Food Library!

As a person with life threatening food allergies, I've always been a label reader. My mom is a cookbook author and food writer so food played an enormous part of my childhood. While I would never call myself a picky eater (I have enough restrictions because of my allergies!), I learned early about being picky when it comes to certain ingredients and meat was one of them.  
At some point in my adult life, the food world opened up to me in a whole new, magical way. I became more aware of what grows where, which nutrients help the body and in what way, what's potentially harmful and how to pay attention to my body's signals and pursue the foods that made me feel good. As they say, knowledge is power. I like to know about what I'm eating and now as a mom, I'm deeply invested in what I'm feeding my children. 

Along the way, I made the conscious decision to choose meats that are high quality, organic and humanely raised whenever possible. I believe in sound, safe, hygienic farming practices, respect for animals and the earth. For us, these choices are not a diet or a fad. These are issues that we have prioritized in our family. I reserve no judgement for the choices of others on this matter. But because of the choices that we've made for our family, we have long been fans of Applegate products. 

Applegate produces delicious, high quality natural and organic meats, sausages and cheeses that are free of antibiotics, artificial ingredients and chemical nitrates. I support this wholeheartedly. This is why I'm so excited to team up with Applegate and feature their meats and cheeses by name in our LaLa Lunchbox Food Library. Now you and your hungry little monsters have Applegate's delicious products available right at your fingertips and they can be easily added to your grocery list!

For those of you who already have LaLa Lunchbox, simply update the app and the items will appear in your Food Library - along with the 12 new adorable LaLa Monsters! For those of you who are new to the LaLa family, welcome!