Our life is a little hectic right now, and that’s putting it mildly. In 2 days we move, temporarily, then in 5 weeks we move again. Between that, and work and school and tumbling and Daisies and fundraisers and work (yes I mentioned that twice) it’s easy for some things to fall by the wayside. You return to old habits. One of those is lunch. Not me lunch, but mini-me lunch. We could always just let her buy lunch at school, but somehow the thought of paying $3 for pretzels and cheese for lunch (yes, that is a real school lunch) makes me want to claw my eyes out, so we fall back to our staple lunches.
The problem is that those can get boring and repetitive, especially since we only have three. Sooo yeah, we need to make an effort. But here’s the thing, making an effort, doesn’t always need to be an effort. Sometimes it can be easy. Maybe we should come up with a fun name for it…something like “lazy creative” or “simple hectic.” Maybe I’ll trademark those. But either way the conundrum remains, how to make a fun tasty lunch that my daughter won’t get bored with every day.
So I may have mentioned this trick (and I use that term loosely) before, but one thing I try to do is make her lunch in the evening. Not the sandwich, because that would be gross by the next day, but I try to get everything else ready in her lunchbox so I’m not looking all over the place in the morning. Then the morning routine is just putting together her sandwich and sending her out the door. Well and getting her dressed. And driving her to school. And feeding her breakfast. And brushing her hair. But those are all things that it’s kind of impossible to do the night before.
What kind of things do I put in her lunchbox the night before? If it was up to her it would be cookies and chips, but it’s not up to her so its cheese and fruit. In keeping with “simple hectic” the cheese is usually a Babybel® and the fruit is some Del Monte® Diced Peaches or Pears. But she is a kid after all so she also gets a treat in her lunch in the form of an Entenmann’s® Little Bites™.
But frankly, those are the easy parts. As I said, we only have three staple lunches, so we occasionally need to kick it up a notch and do something new. And today we are going to share our something new with you, our roasted chicken, apple and Gouda sandwich, it’s super simple to make and my daughter loves it!
Toast a couple pieces of Nature’s Harvest® bread. While that is toasting, slice up a granny smith apple into thin slices (about one eighth of an inch thick) and some Gouda cheese (or brie or whatever cheese your little one happens to like). When the toast is ready layer on some roasted chicken (from the deli is fine), the apple slices and some cheese. If your child is up for it, throw on some fresh baby spinach (our little one loves eating fresh spinach). And here’s a twist. This sandwich works great at dinner time as well. Instead of toasting the bread, throw it in a skillet and make it grilled cheese style. It is soooo yummy.
Ingredients
- 2 slices Nature’s Harvest bread
- 3 slides Roasted Chicken
- ¼ Granny Smith Apple
- Gouda
Instructions
- Toast a couple pieces of Nature's Harvest bread
- Slice up granny smith apple into thin slices (about one eighth of an inch thick)
- Cut Gouda cheese (or brie or whatever cheese your little one happens to like)
- Grab toast from toaster
- Layer on roasted chicken (from the deli is fine)
- Add apple slides
- Add cheese
The next time you need to spice things up in the…lunch box, don’t be afraid to go a little crazy on the sandwich and go a little lazy in the morning!
But wait, there is more! Did I mention COUPONS? Right now, Del Monte is hosting a themed “Think Outside the Lunchbox” booklet on 1 million packages of it’s Fruit Cups at WALMART, with $4.80 in instant coupon savings from these great lunchbox brands: The Laughing Cow® Cheese Dippers, Sara Lee® Snack Cakes, Juicy Juice®, Nature’s Harvest® bread, Wet Ones® Hand Wipes, Mini Babybel® and Entenmann’s® Little Bites™! Head to your local Walmart to get in on the saves and then think up some fun lunch items that show your enthusiasm to #thinkoutsidethebox
Disclaimer: This post is written in collaboration with Del Monte® and Activate. Regardless, all opinions are my own.
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