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.
โOrganizing your grocery list by supermarket aisle.โ I laughed out loud about this because my grocery list is planned this way and I didnโt even realize it was anal until I emailed the list I created to friends and they didnโt use itโฆand made fun of me for having one!
The best thing I ever did for lunches was to buy a Cut-N-Seal tool to make PB & J sandwiches look like the popular version found in the grocery store freezer aisle. My 7 y/o refused sandwiches until I did this and now he eats one almost every day! I also think around a system for lunch: protein/veggie/fruit/treat/crunchy thing
Such great comments. Must now recalculate and adapt to these fantastic formulas. Thus far, mine has been:
protein + fruit + crunchy + napkin
For my daughter, it ends up as a snack bar of sorts.
My son, on the other hand, is most likely to eat his lunch if thereโs a huge bowl of plain pasta and some small-ish, bite-size fruit. Which explains the ravenous qualities of the boy I pick up from child care each day.
Following the Japanese theory of packing bento boxes, I try to keep my kidsโ lunches colorful, aiming for 4-5 colors per lunch to maximize nutrition and visual appeal. For example: baby carrots (orange); grapes (green and purple); leftover sweet potato (yellow); ham (pink) and leftover pasta (white).
We donโt start the lunch routine until next year but I was thinking today that our lunch would have been perfect. Kid #1 has a cheese and apple sandwich with clementine and some steamed veggies (leftovers) and Kid #2 would have all the same things but with the sandwich dissected. It rarely works this well. We are more of a leftovers kind of family. But this box looks like it would work great for that!
Oh my gosh itโs great to know thereโs more than one of us out thereโฆadding things Iโve already done to my to-do lists and organizing the grocery list by aisle is me to a t!
My formula is usually a soup or salad + a main course (a sandwich or leftovers) plus a salty snack. In fact most of my lunches fall under your formula if you switch out sweet for salty. My favorite place for inspired lunch ideas has always been this blog: http://www.vegetarianlunchbox.blogspot.com/ She hasnโt updated in quite awhile but thereโs still a mega stockpile of great old posts:-)
That lunch box looks amazing!!
If I include something sweet with my sonโs lunch, thatโs the only thing he eats. So I pack lunch and include a joke on a slip of paper as a treat.
I have a very picky eater. He does not eat sandwiches, period. He will not eat food items that touch each other. He has issues with leftovers โ usually, theyโre not hot enough, despite very expensive lunch box inserts and therma-lunch boxes. As a result, weโve come up with the โsnackโ lunch which usually includes crackers, fruit slices, carrots / edamame, yogurt etc. Thatโs why the Planet Box would be perfect for us โ a compartment for each item. Brilliant.
I always try to make my kids lunches balanced. Thatโs my biggest concern. Most days its a square of cheese cut into a fun shape (dairy), a fresh fruit of some sort, great sandwich- wheat bread (grains), ham, turkey or roast beef (meat) and veggies with humus (cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, green pepper slices, or broccoli). They love it and its all healthy so I do too. If we had this lunch box it would make things so organized (and its nice onthe eyes too ๐
English muffin pizzas, dal with veggie sticks and pita wedges and leftovers + minced vegetables bundled in ricepaper springroll wrappers are all lunchtime hits at our house.
My daughter has one of these and we love it. Worth every penny. Iโve been putting off buying another for my son, so I would love to win one!
My daughterโs favorite lunch items are turkey and cream cheese rolls, leftover steak, and leftover refried beans or straight tuna fish (both of which I put in the big dipper). She also loves fresh fruits and will eat carrots and celery if I put hummus or ranch in the little dipper.
I pack my kids lunch bento-style. By using a smaller box, Iโm less intimidated @ 6 am! Iโm still mystified by what comes home-there seems to be no rhyme or reason to what he eats on a daily basis at lunch.
Lunchโฆ must be kosher styleโฆ must look like snacksโฆ I am thankful for Trader Joes ever day! applesauce squirters, yogurt (drinks or tubes), cheese sticks, hummus & pretzels, fruit snacks and (maybe) carrotsโฆ not really a meal but good enough for pre-school!!! And I LOVE the BOX!
Okay, here is my favorite: plain yogurt (european style) in one container and cut up mango and kiwi in another for dipping in the yogurt. He loves it and eats it! Protein, probiotics, and fruit!
My 3rd grader is a โrestrictive eaterโโlots of foods on the No-list. I am confident he will outgrow it as one of his brothers was the same and is now a fabulous eater. There is always hope people! I do pack mac and cheese in a thermos and lots of crunch + fruit. The small dessert is his favorite hands down(no matter what it is).
I totally organize my list around the grocery store set-up. We have a new store and it has messed up my list mo-jo! Oh well, another excuse to impose order on something.
I use a similar lunch box. The one featured is VERY nice. My son doesnโt like sandwichesโฆfor inspired I wrap turkey on picks and stick a cherry tomato on the end.
I am definitely one of those โadd it to the to-do list so I can totally check that off!โ kind of gals.
We employ the โRainbow Strategyโ at our house. We try and incorporate each color of the rainbow in the lunch box. Red and Orange (apple and orange slices), Yellow and Green (Mustard and lettuce on the olโ turkey sandwich), and Blue and Purple (blueberry mini-sconeโฆwell, itโs sort of blue and purple, right?) Itโs fun to find ways to make the rainbow with what we have in the fridge and has introduced our family to loads of new foods!
My son wants to eat a PB&J sandwich every day. I try to vary the โmain courseโ of his lunch some, but most of the time his request wins. So I at least try and make the sandwich with different types of bread. I only use whole wheat, and get regular sandwich bread, thin buns, bagel thins and tortillas. This way it doesnโt seem like heโs eating the same thing every day, even tho I pack different sides if possible.
Today is my daughterโs first day of preschool! School lunch packing here I come!!! LOVE Planet Boxes but donโt have one to call our own yetโฆ.
I have loved this lunchbox for a long time. Lunches largely consist of a fruit, sandwich and snack item (pretzels) but the favorite is a combo of dried cherries and cashews in an old Grey Poupon jar.
I have been trying to adopt the zero waste lifestyle and have been eyeing these lunch boxes but have held off due to the fact that I am trying to purge the house of stuff not bring more stuff in. But I want to discontinue the use of all the little plastic containers that currently go into my daughterโs lunchbox and I think this would be a great way to do just that. Fingers crossed!
Even if I donโt winโฆI think Iโll have to purchase these lunchboxes. Weโre starting the hunt for a preschool and Iโll have to begin packaging my sonโs lunch very soon!
I usually make lunch with colors in mind. If red bell peppers are the veggie for the day, then kiwi is the fruit. I find an assortment of colors makes things fun to look at and eat. Even when your selections are limited to the tastebuds of a 5 year old. And always, a couple Trader Joes Powerberries for a treat.
I am going to start creating a lunch plan now that will last the entire 13 years of school lunches that I have ahead of me when my child turns five. Thatโs about 2500 lunches. I figure that if I start now (heโs 3) I could accomplish thisโฆ along with the corresponding shopping lists. ๐
my kids love Japanese bento-style lunches with rice/ onigiri, some meat and veggies and fruit. Normally I do not put in sweet treats.
great lunchbox! iโld love to win this for my husbandโs lunch.
hmmโฆ my tip is to pre-prepare most or all of the snacks he will take in his lunch that week and dump them into a giant bowl on the counter (baggies of chips/crackers, mini tupperwares of nuts, etc) and fridge (containers of washed grapes, cheese chunks, other fruit) so that in the morning it is grab and go.
my other time-saving tip is that when i come home from the grocery store i peanut butter and jam a whole loaf (or 2) of sliced bread, slide it back in the bag and store in the freezer! just grab a sandwich and go!