New Series! School Lunch Bites

I've always been a lover of food and have long hoped to foster a healthy appreciation for good fare in that of my children—but little did I know prior to becoming pregnant with the quads that I'd be prepping far more meals then I thought when we set out to become parents! Thankfully, the kids have fairly well developed palates and favorite foods range from typical tot stuff like peanut butter sandwiches and chicken nuggets to oven roasted salmon, olives and hummus.

You may have previously been a fan of my Tyke Bites posts, which will still continue periodically and cover a random day of meals in our household. For now, though, I'm introducing my School Lunch Bites series that'll feature simply that—the latest school lunches that have been packed into my crew's lunch boxes for their day at school. They currently only go to pre-school twice a week and the other days we eat similar style meals at home. I take photos of the lunch box food as I remember, so not all posts will feature the actual meals made that week and some may be in random order!

I also get a lot of good ideas from mama blogger Lisa of What Lisa Cooks who, ironically, has two sets of twins! So she comes up with plenty of ways to reinvent boring lunch box combos that are perfect for when I need inspiration.

Because I've been asked so many times on Instagram and Facebook, here are sources for all the packing items I use!

Lunch containers: I love these plastic bento-style containers from Amazon. They even come in a set of four so it's meant to be! I use them so often I'll likely purchase a second set soon, especially when we bump up to three days of school a week for pre-K starting this fall. The containers a great size for accommodating various food shapes and amounts, just beware that they aren't spill proof! I don't pack liquids in these (like soup, applesauce or yogurt) unless I've got it pre-packaged in a plastic ramekin or something.

Liquid containers: I have Goodbyn containers I use for when I'm packing liquids or things that can leak.

Baking cups: When packing small pieces of cheese, turkey, nuts or other such items, I'll often use silicone baking cups to help separate and contain them.

Lunch boxes: All of these came from Ross and TJ Maxx and are some of the kids favorite characters.

With that, here we go...School Lunch Bites post numero uno!

THE DISH: Cheese quesadillas, whole grain chips with salsa, apples, strawberries, fig newtons, yogurt squeeze pouch, juice box.

THE DISH: Grilled cheese (cut into "sticks"), veggie chips, strawberries, yogurt, juice box. 

THE DISH: Turkey, cheese, veggie straws, blueberries, cantaloupe, whole grain crackers, fig newton.

THE DISH: Tortilla roll-ups with turkey, cheese and mustard, bananas, grapes, strawberries, frosted cheerios, yogurt squeeze pouch, juice box.

THE DISH: Hawaiian bread roll, leftover barbecue chicken, Doritos, pickles, apples, strawberries, Chobani yogurt tube, juice box.

Thanks for stopping by and happy eating!