Meal Planning Monday: Creative ideas to spice up the traditional brown-bag lunch

By Leah Kelley
Your Strong Tower
 

I just realized today that my daughter, Ivy, has only three weeks left of summer vacation. Three weeks!? Where did the summer go? After I got over the mini-shock of summer flying by, the real shock hit me. I have three weeks to get Ivy’s back-to-school supplies, clothes, AND figure out what she’s taking for lunch. My daughter’s not particularly happy about packing her lunch this year, so I’ve been on the hunt for some fun and creative ideas. Here are a few that I found.
 

Photo from Your Strong Tower

PB and Banana “Sushi” – My daughter loves these! Take one piece of wheat bread and roll it out. Spread with peanut butter then place whole banana in middle of bread. Roll up and then slice into inch wide pieces. Drizzle with honey.
 

Ham and Cheese Kabobs – Slide chunks of ham and cheese onto skewer. You could also add chunks of pineapple. The possibilities are endless when you make kabobs!
 

BLT Wraps – Click here for the recipe
 

Frozen Fruit – I like to add a container of frozen cantaloupe or strawberries in Ivy’s lunch. By lunch time they’re thawed out and they double as a freezer pack helping to keep her lunch cold.
 

Pinwheels – This website has 8 different ideas for pinwheels.
 

Meal Planning Monday is a regular feature of yourstrongtower.com, a website dedicated to promoting the financial well-being of families through the use of coupons and good money management principles. Financial coach and self-proclaimed Coupon Queen Christine Luken, along with partner Craig DeLisle, aims to reduce the cost, time and stress of shopping and meal preparation so families have more time and money to invest in the things that matter most to them. Read more of Christine’s money management tips and check out her Coupon Wizard at yourstrongtower.com.