6 Upgrades to Your Lunchbox Game

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Are you sick of salami and bored of bologna? Is your PB and J no longer okay? Does ham & cheese no longer please?

I could go on and on with this rift but I'm sure you get my drift.

It's time to shake up the lunchbox routine for the lunches that you pack for you and your family!

1. Upgrade Your Carrier

I'm not talking cellphone carrier, here. With the multitude of lunch carriers that are on the market your lunch does not have to be boring or brown bagged. Get your family into something simply stunning by parking their lunch in a super shiny new bento box! I mean like have you seen these marvels of lunchtime perfection?

I took a good long peek at the bento lunch boxes available from Casabento. Wow!

Cute little Kawaii bento boxes and shiny, stacked bento boxes coming in all sizes and shapes vie for your attention. Tupperware has even upgraded to bento boxes for lunches. You'll be inspired to add just the right snack to each lovely lidded compartment or small pot.

Choose your favorite shapes and colors and let's get packing!

2. Replace the Sandwich

Have you noticed that many popular sandwich breads these days smell like chemicals? I swear I can taste the preservatives! It's not always easy, what with hard selling advertising, to know which foods are good and which are bad. There are some basics that I can stick to, such as limiting the amount of highly processed foods that I put in lunches. Here are some options to consider to replace the traditional sandwich;

Consider making your own "rustic" bread at home. You'll know exactly what went into the recipe. For an easy to make rustic bread check out this simple recipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe!

Buy some pizza dough and get creative making your own stuffed bread sticks and mini pizzas.

Get creative and wrap sandwich fillings in lettuce or spinach leafs, dig a tench in a cucumber or a tomato and stuff them with your filling of choice or make your own pitas! Flatbreads are a good substitute. Check out Chef John's Pita Bread Recipe and video on allrecipes.com I love when he calls the pitas ""soft, supple and sexy".

3. Creative Carbohydrates

It's a simple thing to stuff some carrots or celery sticks and a banana or an apple into a lunch but often those are the same items that are still sitting in the lunch bag when it comes home. Let's give them some colorful variety, now! Start thinking snow peas, an array of pepper slices, mushrooms, zucchini and cherry tomatoes. Make dips for them to enjoy like Sriracha Greek Yogurt Dipping Sauce or Avocado & Feta Dip.

Whip up some yogurt with the berries already mixed in and sneak in some of those cooked rolled oats from breakfast. Think variety and stay away from the granola bars that are usually filled with yes, granola, which is high in calories and accompanied by unwanted sugars and oils.

4. Power Packed Protein

Lets try some of these power ups for helping our eaters get through their day; shrimp salad, shrimp dip, shrimp skewers, chicken salad with almonds or salmon spinach salad with feta or strips of lean beef with whole eggs or deviled eggs. Tuna is an old stand by but you can jazz it up with cranberries and pecans (remember any nut allergy rules) Please even your picky eaters with a pinto bean, guacamole or salsa dip.

5. Lunchtime Libations

You have provided a healthy, vibrant meal that your family is going to enjoy! Don't wreck it all now by placing that pop or juice box in with their lunch. Empty and useless calories are not needed. Think simply, water. Yes, nothing fancy here. Skip the sparkling water and lemon water. too. Dentists frown on a large consumption of both because the sodas as well as the fizzy and acidic, modified water drinks can cause tooth decay.

6. Keep Spreading the Love

If your eaters need some encouragement to learn to love their new lunchbox menu then slipping some healthy treats into their lunch is going to encourage them to try something different. Lunchbox love notes and notes of encouragement are nice but you can up your game here, too.

Make some homemade paper fortune cookies to place in their lunches. Tara from unsophisticook.com has a fantastic tutorial on making these sweet treats! For the little ones, add in a small paper plane or origami swan. I'd go so far as to add in real bribes like gift cards for music, but I'm known to be a bit of a pushover. (read sneaky mom)