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.
Def I mix it up every day. Today is left over pasta in a thermos, yogurt and fruit, white milk to drink.. I donโt have a formula except I know protein is necessary each snack and lunch.
My sons fav is leftovers or soup. He accepts sandwiches, wraps etc too but would easily get bored!
I think that is totally cute and perfect for my little onesโ lunches. Thereโs a formula for their lunches too: Cream cheese & jelly/ham/just CC sandwich cut into quarters (must be quarters!) + something crunchy (goldfish/pretzels/veggie straws) + something fresh (broccoli/carrots)+ something fruity (apples/grapes/orange) + a special treat like a Hershey Kiss (DO NOT FORGET the treat!)=happy lunch for the 3-5 crowd ๐
i have 4 in school and we do a main (sandwich or make your own lunchable), a fruit, a veggie, something crunchy and something sweet. It has to be enough for snack time and lunch time and two of them are almost teenagers so lots of whatever it is!
I do a main item (sandwich / wrap / 2 muffins/ pancakes of substance / pizza / stir fry noodles) + fruit + 2 snacks (usually one sweet + one savoury), then decide based on their day ahead + any comments / signs from last lunchbox whether to top up with a filler snack (like mini rice cakes / crackers)
Love that lunchbox!
I love this post! Guilty on all counts of the controlling the controllable disorder!
Lunches for us consist of dinner leftovers, string cheese, fruit, and sometimes chips. Always looking for inspiring ideas ๐
My daughter is enamored with those horrible โlunchablesโ (so many chemicals!), so I make her homemade versions:
Crackers or toast bits
Squares of sliced quality cheese and/or lunch meat (or sometimes I use cookie cutters and make special shapes of both)
Little slices of tomato
A tiny squeeze bottle of mustard and/or ketchup
Matchstick apples (tossed with a little lemon to retard browning) or orange wedges
A couple of olives
A cookie or candy
Just like the store bought versions, but with a much shorter ingredients list.
During the winter I sometimes pack a small sip bottle of water and a pack of Emergen-C โ like Koolaid but with vitamins.
ummโฆummโฆyea, I got nothing-
(but, would LOVE to win the lunch box)
If your children are tired of leftovers, try pureeing them and using it as a dip or spread. Itโs a whole new meal! Thanks for the giveaway.
Oooh! My formula is one protein (usually plain yogurt, sometimes chicken, sometimes beans), one-two veg (frequently spinach or celery), one-two fruit (usually an orange or an apple), and a grain (frequently brown rice or Wheat Thins). I might also include nuts/seeds or some other snacky thing as a snack. I pack my lunch every day; each item goes into a one-cup container, so everything is already measured out. That lunchbox brings joy to my heart.
I wish had inspiring lunch ideas! Between a super picky child and a nut-free school, I often struggle with coming up with a well rounded lunch, particularly when it comes to protein. Recently my (meat-hating) son tried (and liked!) turkey at Thanksgiving and I feel like a whole new world is opening up to me. ๐
Not inspired, but, I let my 7 year old tell me what sheโd like to eat for the week. We made a master list at the start of school and she gets to pick each week what sheโll have. She doesnโt require different meals each day so its a pretty simple proccess. This week its blueberry bagels with cream cheese, fuji apples and a snack/crackers. Since we started this sheโs eaten all of her lunch without complaint.
My sonโs favorite is โlunch snackโ which I made up one day I was tired. Itโs base is usually yogurt and a banana or orange and then itโs off from there: toast, crackers, nuts, cheese, whatever. Itโs his absolute favorite type of lunch.
string cheese + fruit + leftovers. not very inspired but is quick to throw together when you are running late!
love these!!! I feel good if my monkeys get something sweet, something salty, and a sandwichโฆ.
I totally suffer from controlling the controllable (except that the spreadsheet is in my head), and I love these boxes! We send our son with little containers and one of those fancy reusable plastic and cloth sandwich wrappers that my mom made him. He loves crackers and cheese, with carrots (better yet cukes or snap peas) and fruit. He doesnโt go for meat, so itโs that or a pb&j (on a TJs whole wheat tortilla if he has anything to say about it).
Always looking for inspired lunch ideas for my nearly vegetarian girl (scorns all but salty preserved meat) who is tired of PB and J. Love these boxes and will need to go ahead and buy one if I donโt win:).
Oh dearโฆI guess my hubby is right. I am controllingโฆI do all those things! The timing for this post is so perfect! Iโve been searching for divided lunch boxes for my 9 month old who will start daycare at age 1. They provide food but with his allergies Iโd rather be in โcontrolโ of what he eats while out of my sight.
I make 3 lunches each morning for 3 daughters each with slightly difference preferences/dislikes. Sandwich + fruit + snack + crunchy + napkin note.
My daughter is a very adept practitioner of controlling the uncontrollable and this lunch box would absolutely delight her โ she does a sort of organization in her own box every morning after I pack it. My best lunch trick is a thermos full of brown rice with soy sauce (or Braggโs liquid aminos) and nutritional yeast โ because sheโll always eat it.
I donโt have anything earth shattering for lunch. I am a left over dinner kind of galโbut we didnโt have ANY left overs on Monday but I did have some tortillasโblue flax tortillas actuallyโand smeared some peanut butter on there and wrapped around a banana. It was awesome! Sweetโฆcarbyโฆfruityโฆkind of nutty! Next time I am trying it with yogurt and granola ala pinterest.com
So cute! I think I would use it for myself more than the kiddos though. I also employ the something crunchy, fresh and leftovers formula to most lunches. Iโve started making little muffin egg cups whenever I turn the oven on and these work great with salad or some bread for easy lunches.
I want one!! Lunch ideas: If thereโs a microwave, I like mini pot pies (made in jumbo cupcake tins)โ usually filled with potatoes, zucchini, squash, and cream/flour/black pepper sauce. Those are very filling. And healthyโat least if you focus on the veggies and forget the rest. Swiss-arugula-avacado-black pepper wraps (in Trader Joeโs Lavash bread) are also nummy, and are great when there is either no microwave or no clean microwave in the vicinity. And cinnamon-sugar apple slices count for three of the variables in your formula!
I love this post and the lunchbox! My formula is veg+ fruit+ protein+ carb= lunch. This gets me through the evenings as my 11 year old packs his own lunch. Quesadillas are a favorite (carb + protein), salad with dressing on the side is a regular, but his gold standard is homemade empanadas โ veg, carb and protein in one happy package! Also, half a grapefruit with a pink plastic grapefruit spoon is currently very popular.
There are days when the lunch formula comes down to this:
Something brown/tan
Something green or orange
Something brightly colored
And thatโs all folks!
I have been drooling over those fantastic lunchboxes but am unable to pony up the $$! My kids have been using and loving their Goodbyns for a couple of years now, but next year my oldest is going to middle school and I think it might get rejected as too babyish.
Somehow having smaller compartments to fill is way easier than just one big empty lunchbox staring at me at 6:30am.
AND I have totally written something on my to do list after Iโve done it just to check it off!!
Ideas: hummus or some healthy spread, with pita triangles and other things to dip into it (cukes, carrots). Also SEAWEED! Itโs super healthy, you can cut it into any size, and wonโt matter if it gets slightly banged around en route.