Pack a Healthier Lunch: Pear & Seed Chicken Salad #GlutenFree #Top8Free #USAPears #Giveaway

Day 3 of our Pack a Healthier Lunch week & Giveaway thanks to Pacific Foods, USA Pears, Franz Bakery, & ECOlunchboxes!
One thing we love packing for lunches are salads. I'm very blessed that my Little Miss loves a salad as much as I do (so long as I don't pack them every day for her, lol). This began by setting an example - I would eat mine and "ooo" and "ahh" over how good it was, all the vitamins I was getting, etc. 
She eventually became curious and wanted to try for herself. Guess what? She loved it. At that time, she actually preferred spinach salads over romaine but will now eat both. I usually mix her greens when I make them now. 
I, too, pack salads frequently for work. I don't want to eat the same one every.single.day so it's good to mix it up with new toppings and variety. That's where today's lunch idea comes in! A yummy Pear & Seed Chicken Salad packed in our ECOlunchbox cube. 

Lunch Made Easy: Sunny Days with SunButter Nut-Free Spread!

Spring is here.  Lots of rainy days, little bursts of sunshine, and tons of sneezing in my house (got to love allergies!). 
Little Miss is so happy to be gearing up for the end of school. Once May hits it feels like there are so many programs, fundraising events, and different activities going on... before you know it, it's June and school is basically done! Crazy.
The lunch packing never stops in this house, however. All through the summer, Little Miss still needs safe & healthy gluten free and allergy friendly lunches for the babysitter, visits with the grandparents, or on any road trips we may take.
Today for school, we decided to celebrate the "Sunny Days" ahead (since I had none for this photo, ha!), with SunButter nut-free sunflower seed spread: 

{Christmas Countdown} Advent Lunches: ♫ Oh Spinach Tree, Oh Spinach Tree! ♫

Thursday's school lunch pays homage to an Advent Lunch of Christmas past... 
We made an "Oh Spinach Tree" lunch in 2011 and I thought it would be fun and festive to do another play on it again. 
{20 Days Until Christmas}

Lunch Made Easy: OVER 25 Gluten Free & Allergy Friendly Lunch Box Ideas

I try to post daily Little Miss and my work & school lunches to Instagram and Facebook. Rounding-up all the photos, I have over 25 I knew I needed to still share here on the blog. No time like the present!
Here's a great round-up of gluten free & allergy friendly school and work lunch box ideas to help inspire!

{Enjoy Life Foods Friday} Pack Lunch with Plentils! #AllergyFriendly #GlutenFree

I'm thrilled to announce our new partnership with Enjoy Life Foods! 

Each month we'll be featuring a different line of their amazing allergy free food products. All Enjoy Life  products are free of the Top 8 Allergens & Gluten Free. They're made in a dedicated facility and have no artificial anything. They're also a member of the Non-GMO project.

For the month of September, I was challenged to "think outside the chip bag" and come up with lunch box ideas using Enjoy Life Plentils.  Plentils are crunchy lentil chips. Lentils happen to be one the best plant-based sources of protein. That's why they call them the "chip with benefits"!

Rather than just sticking a baggy of chips in with lunch, here are some creative ways you can use these allergy friendly crunches of goodness for your family:

Lunch Made Easy: #GFCF Adult Work Lunches ~ Gluten, Dairy, & Nut Free

I told you I had some catching up to do this week. ;)  I realized I had a pretty little backlog of my own work lunches to share!
I've been completely gluten and now dairy free (we are always nut free) for almost 2 months. It's helped immensely with my MG and, overall, I feel so much better!
I've always made a point to pack my own lunches, as well as, Little Miss'. (Check out my past Adult Work Lunch Round-ups by Clicking Here, Here, & Here.) It's helped me be healthier and, in the long run, save money!
Here are 10 of my most recent lunches packed for work:

Lunch Made Easy: Healthy Adult Work Lunches

With the school year ending, for most families, this week seemed like a good one to focus on Healthy Adult Work Lunches. (Mom & Dad need to eat too!)
I don't just pack for Little Miss - I pack for myself, as well. Whether I'm at the office or traveling for work, it's important I have a healthy lunch to fuel me for the day!
My lunches are also now gluten free, nut free, and dairy free (& more). Here are some ideas + links to other adult work lunch round-ups I've posted to give you tons of inspiration!

Lunch Made Easy: Quinoa Gluten Free & Allergy Friendly Ideas

This week Little Miss and I both had fun trying Quinoa Gluten Free & Allergy Friendly recipes in our Work & School Lunches!
I've included links and recipes in the post below. If you've not experimented with Quinoa, this is a great way to try! Quinoa is a gluten free and a complete protein. It actually has all nine of the essential amino acids, as well as, being a great source of fiber and iron. Offering 100% whole grain per serving (even though it's actually a seed, not a grain). 
Towards the bottom of the post you'll also find our Quinoa Raisin Muffin recipe. Great for lunches, breakfast, or snacks!

Lunch Made Easy: Healthy Work Lunches for Mom {or Dad}

I often post photos and details of my own healthy work lunches on my Instagram feed, but it's been a while since I've done a round-up on the blog itself. Today seemed like a good day to share! 
Let's kick off Monday and spring with some yummy ideas on how to pack a healthy lunch for work {i.e. Adult Bentos}!

Lunch Made Easy: @CrunchAColor Healthy Lunches

Crunch a Color® is an award winning nutrition game that's aimed to help make healthy eating fun!
I was thrilled when Jennifer, the mom and creator behind this healthy eating game, sent us her products to try. Little Miss, of course, looked forward to beating me in points for the week! Challenge accepted!

Lunch Made Easy: {Gluten & Nut Free} School Lunch Box Ideas

Happy March! I am sooo ready for Spring, aren't you??
It was another fun filled week of school lunches here for my Little Miss, which means another great round up of ideas for you! 
{Gluten Free & Nut Free} and More: 

Lunch Made Easy: 20 Non-Sandwich School Lunch Ideas for Kids!

Let's face it, we all know that {allergy friendly} and {gluten free} breads can be expensive. We also don't always have time to bake our own. Not only that, what if your kiddos don't even like sandwiches to begin with?!
We need some Non-Sandwich {Easy} School Lunch Box Ideas stat! Don't worry - I got you covered! 

Lunch Made Easy: Simple Snowflake Salad {Advent School Lunches Christmas Countdown}

♫ After all there's only {13} more sleeps til' Christmas! ♪

 

In my head, I sing that along to the song from Muppet Christmas Carol ~ You know which one I'm talking about? Love that movie. ♥ I just change the words from "one more sleep" to how many our left on our Advent School Lunches Christmas Countdown.

 

Keeping it simple today with this Snowflake Salad bento for my Little Miss: 

 

Lunch Made Easy: Taco Leftovers = Nachos for School!

I've said it before, "taco night" is probably Little Miss' favorite thing in the world. She and the fella have "taco races" to see who can eat the most.

 

I can say proudly that my daughter... WON last night! LOL

Girl ate FOUR tacos to his three. She was quite proud of herself! ;)

 

I thought she might be "taco'd out" after that but I asked if she wanted the perfect amount of remaining taco meat for school lunch today so she could make nachos. Without hesitation I received an emphatic "YES PLEASE!" in reply.

 

I love repurposing leftovers for lunch:

 

Lunch Made Easy: Sandwich on a Stick

Little Miss loves when I get my Starbucks fix because she knows the stoppers/ stir sticks are saved for her food as picks! (Thanks MOMables for this fabulous idea!)

Today, we kept this school lunch simple by using them to make "Sandwiches on Sticks" ~ Using our Udi's Gluten, Nut, Dairy, & Soy Free Bread:

Lunch Made Easy: Spider Web Pizza & Halloween School Fun

One of Little Miss' favorite school lunches I made her last Halloween was Spider Web Pizza. So, of course, I had to make it again!

 

{Allergy Friendly} Gluten, Tree Nut, & Peanut Free:

 

 

Lunch Made Easy: Veggie Lasagna Cups for School & Work Lunches

When I first made these Gluten Free, Grain Free Veggie Lasagna Cups for MOMables, Little Miss immediately fell in love. So much so, I had to pull more out of the freezer stash already so she could have more on hand.

I decided to pack them up for lunch today for both our school and work lunches!

First up, Little Miss:

Lunch Made Easy: Silly Salad School Lunch

Even a simple school lunch can be made silly and fun!

No special tools required, just a little creativity.

 

Gluten Free, Nut Free, & Tree Nut Free ~ This Allergy Friendly Lunch Box can also be made Egg Free by simply swapping the smiley face with another medium such as cheese or deli meat.

 

Lunch Made Easy: Fast & Fresh, Simple Salad

I am very thankful over the past few years Little Miss has grown to *love* eating salads. A great meal and source of nutrition, it also makes for a fast & fresh, simple school lunch!

 

This lunch box could easily be made dairy free by substituting the mozzarella cheese with dairy-free mozzarella style shreds. It's also egg-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, & treenut-free.

 

Allergy friendly food can be colorfully delicious!

 

Lunch Made Easy: Leftovers for the Lunch Box

Little Miss has picture day tomorrow at school! Yay!

I had *planned* on making her a Picture Day themed bento like I did for her school lunch last year... BUT whenever we have tacos for dinner, this little girl gets her heart set on the leftovers in her lunch box the next day. Seriously. lol

So, I gave her the choice: Picture day lunch or leftover taco meat? She chose leftovers. :)