Do you know this phrase? Controlling the Controllable. Or should I say, have you heard of this condition? Symptoms include:
-Adding tasks to your to-do list even after youโve completed them, just so you can experience the satisfaction of crossing that task off the list.
-Having a sudden irrepressible urge to rearrange your sock drawer or color-code your bookshelf or clean the living room blinds with a toothbrush after reading a terrible story in the newspaper.
-Recording what will be for dinner or what has been for dinner every night for going onย fourteen straight years, even when those dinners consist of a pasta-potato-buttered-biscuit starchfest (picky toddlers) or a microwaved Boca Burger, which was as imaginative as it was going to get after a long day at the office ย (picky bosses).
-Organizing your grocery list by supermarket aisle.
-Mentally spreadsheeting the time your children spend with you versus the time they spend in childcare or with a babysitter or nanny. (And hoping you will come out ahead.)
-Having the fleeting thought If I could make all corners of my life look and feel as orderly as this compartmentalized lunchbox byย PlanetBox, then I can accomplish anything.
A little more about this PlanetBox, which is the first in a series of DALS holiday giveaways. The above photo is the lunch my daughter took with her to school this morning, and when I packed it last night after dinner (it was my turn) I employed the same lunch-packing formula I always employ when itโs the end of the day and thereโs been some Pinot Noir and not one more brain cell is available for functioning. It goes like this:
Something Crunchy (crackers) + Something Fresh (edamame, clementines)ย + Something Leftover From Dinner (crazy delicious Trader Joeโs buttermilk biscuit โ stuffed with ham and cheese)ย + Something Sweet (iced gingerbread cookie) = Lunch!
And yes, in case you are wondering. Employing formulas to complete basic everyday household tasks? Another grave symptom of The Condition.
Your kid can customize the PlanetBox with his or her choice of magnet decals. This one is โModern Artโฆ.โ
โฆAnd this one is โUnder the Sea,โ but they have over a dozen more to choose from. PlanetBoxes are made from non-toxic stainless steel and come with a carrying case (with thermos pocket) and two smaller steel containers. FREE PlanetBox goes to a DALS commenter chosen at random, with special consideration going to those who have inspired lunch ideas. Winner announced on Monday.
Update: The winner of the PlanetBox goes to Ingrid. Thanks to everyone for playing and especially for the fantastic ideas.
PS: The next giveaway will be announced very soon and will be for newsletter subscribers only.
No kids, but for my husband (and future kids, I hope): prosciutto/sliced meat and or cheese wrapped around veggies (asparagus in the summer, broccoli these days, avocado if heโs lucky) + piece oโ fruit + piece of veg (carrot sticks) + a sweet treat (usually a square of chocolate). If dinner leftovers make it past breakfast, they knock out the meat/cheese rollup.
Iโm not as accomplished as you are at lunches (partially because I have no kids and so can throw leftovers into a microwaveable mug with a good tight lid, put a piece of fruit next to it, and call it lunch), but one of my Symptoms is Controlling Breakfast: something crunchy/sweet (diced apples) + something vegetably (chopped spinach) + a protein or two (scrambled egg and crumbled feta) = all wrapped in dough, baked on the weekend, and ready to grab on the way out the door.
During (grad school) final exams, Iโm pretty sure that getting up at 2am and bleaching the bathroom because I canโt sleep is a symptom of the same disorderโฆ
my daughter has the same thing for lunch everyday. Actually, she eats it as soon as she gets home because sheโs too busy socializing at lunch to eat. peanut butter on crackers, trader joes yogurt, trader joes fig bar, sliced apple, chedder cheese and milk. every. single. day.
Our school is nut free, and my daughter adds to that a long and ever-changing list of banned items (she didnโt eat sandwiches of any kind for years). I try to keep on hand a big bag of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds (one salted, another not) and a half bag of chocolate chips โ all from Trader Joes, of course. That mix serves both the sweet and the salty and is pretty healthy (except on those days when she picks out the chocolate and leaves the rest). I also find a lunch box with individual compartments/containers is essential, as I canโt bring myself to leave one empty, even with a near-empty fridge, and even on nights when the thought of making lunches is unbearable.
My son is also a โsame lunch every dayโ sort of kid, which wouldnโt be so bad if his demands didnโt include cold mini-corndogs. Blech!!!
What a great lunchbox โ I need something fun and envy-worthy like this to help me to remember to pack my lunch every day.
I am a leftovers-for-lunch kind of girl. I just need reminders to actually bring those leftovers with me in the morning! Iโm on a roll this week, and today I have roasted veggie enchilada stack.
The lunch box is adorable!! Cooking and serving meals is one of the only ways I can have any semblance of control in my house. A lunchbox like that for my kids would probably hold homemade chicken nuggets, peas for the boy, broccoli and hummus for the girl, whatever fresh fruit I had on hand, and maybe a juice box (no cookies, though- we try not to do that in our house).
Then again, cold leftover risotto is always such a treat; especially when momโs comes with one of those mini-single-serving wine bottles!
Gah, Iโm having such a struggle with lunchboxes. Itโs like a disappointing present when I open their lunchboxes and see what they HAVENโT eaten every day. Perhaps itโs time for them to pack their own!
My kidsโ favorite packed lunch is a โtaco kitโ โ baked Tostitos scoops, leftover taco meat (yes, they eat it cold), grated cheese and thin sliced lettuce. Itโs all in the marketingโฆ
after refusing to eat sandwiches for my entire childhood (saran-wrapped turkey and cheese rolls, please!), ive come to appreciate the complexity and nuanced genius of the pb&j. maybe having a toaster oven at work helps.
lunch for me tends to be all over the place โ typically Iโll bring about 5 different shaped glass and plastic containers, some reinforced with duct tape so i dont spill any homemade squash soup on my daily bike ride to work. i prefer glass, but thereโs only so many jars one can wrap in workout clothes and smush into their bag. what i need is something space efficient and durable (more like rugged!), with lots of appropriately sized containers for my mango slaw, berry compote, farro salad and side of buttermilk dressing!
My daughter is on a soup kick right now. But other things we have done are dried cranberries, celery with pb, fruit (of course), applesauce, cheese and crackers, cucumber slices etc. that looks like such a cute lunchbox.
Challah roll w/genoa salami + Colby jack cheese is my daughterโs favorite ๐
Grandmaโs zucchini muffins are well loved lunch box treatsโฆ
The PlanetBox is gorgeous! I just watched the video. I would pack grape tomatoes in the top long compartment, sugar snap peas and hummus in the side compartment and leftover orange-ginger-sesame noodles with edamame in the big compartment. TJโs chocolate-covered cherries in the tiny compartment and some aged Vermont cheddar cheese in the bottom left corner. My 3-year old would eat every bite between snack and lunch!
what a fun giveaway! The type A part of me is sqealing inside ๐ haha
A typical lunch in our house is leftovers if we have any left over. If not I will toast bread and make a sammy, or a veggie burger with sprouts and hummus. We typically always have cooked brown rice and roasted veggies in the fridge as well that I can throw on top of a simple salad. On the side is always a piece of fruit and a small snack like granola or crackers. Yum!
Great giveaway! My husband took over the lunch packing 3 weeks ago (GLORIOUS!). Before he took over it was yogurt, sandwich OR dinner leftovers, fruit and something crunchy. Heโs much more imaginative, though, so the kids have been getting wraps, burritos, breakfast foodsโฆ etc. Things kids are happy with the variety, PLUS now my husband is packing lunch for me too!
Seeing cool lunchboxes like this one always remind me of the lunchbox description in Girl of a Limberlost (if only I could find a similar one at an antique shop!!) โฆ and I love them. They are organized and neat and pretty and just as importantly, filled with possibilities! Swoon.
Since my kids are still little, I rarely have to pack a lunch, but here are the hits so far: carrots or cucumbers with dip (riata, ranch, hummus), muffins (savory or sweet), breakfast burrito or anything rolled up in a tortilla, various hand pies.
My personnal recipe is: a main, a yogourt, a fruit, something to drink and a โsideโ โ cheese sticks, fruit โn go, etc.
Anything goes, I favor the leftovers for time saving, but my daughter says she will only eat ham or pork sandwiches. The thing is she is strangly inapt at regognizing what kind of meat sheโs eating โ frequently misidentifying fish for chicken. So as long as she thinks its pork or ham, sheโll eat it with delight โ even the โdreadedโ chicken sandwich.
We are an international family and try to incorporate foods from differen countries in our kidsโ lunch boxes. Something Indian (naan), something Asian (from vegetarian sushi rolls, to rice sprinkeled with sesame, seaweed salad to edamame etc), something European (big, baked pretzels or pretzel rolls)โฆ You get the idea. Not only do they get interesting foods to eat, but we also talk about what different things people eat in different countries, and how that makes each country unique.
Nothing inspired over here for lunchboxesโฆ Though I have found that my kids (1st graders) donโt need a huge lunch, as they still have 2 snacks a day that are taken to school. So we usually do the โmainโ course: a small sandwich, cheese/pepperoni & crackers, or a lentil chili (or other soup leftovers); a fruit and a veggie. They also just get water for lunch, most days, though sometimes weโll surprise them with a milk of some sort. A small treat and/or a love note may also find their way into the box occasionally. ๐
When we need an extra quick โthingโ for lunch boxes, we stick in a small container of chickpeas. Nothing fancy, just rinsed from the can and then (depending on which kid) quick sprinkled with salt, cumin and lemon) or completely plain. Maybe theyโre weirdos, but they LOVE chickpeas in their lunches ๐
Iโve been wanting to get one of those boxes. I send my sonโs lunch and dinner and snacks with him to daycare, so I try to come up with good ideas. We have a couple staples, things he loves to eat that I always include. Beyond that, I am for a fruit, a vegetable, and two mini entrees. Heโs pretty open to food, so Iโm trying to come up with new ideas!
We share your formula! I do try to switch up the sandwich โbreadingโ โ my kids love wraps, TJ wheat mini bagels and pretzel buns. They are also big fans of โmixesโ as snacks or in their lunch boxes โ which is a great way to use up small portions of dried cereal, crackers, seeds and dried fruit. Plus, they will usually try new things when they are in the mix.
My kids are not sandwich eaters which makes packing lunches especially fun. I do a lot of โhomemadeโ lunchables โ salami, wheat thins, fruit item and a small treat or leftovers in a thermos. They especially like chinese food, pasta and chili in the thermos.
Those lunch boxes are rad!
I put their vitamins in their lunch because it is so hectic at home. They love those Omega-3 gummies!
Funny, I do the same thing, only itโs usually Something Crunchy (tortilla chips, pretzels, etc) + Something Sweet (banana with yogurt for dipping) + Something I Can Hide Veggies In (sandwiches, salad, etc).