Fun Ideas for Healthy Lunches & A Giveaway!

I don't know about you, but after the fun of Christmas & New Year's Eve has passed, I am not only happy to return to our normal routine, but I am also glad to get back to our usual healthy eating habits after indulging in all the holiday goodies. Yesterday was the first day back to school after Christmas break for my children, so I spent some time on Sunday cutting up fruit and vegetables for creating healthy lunches this week. If you have read my previous posts on packing lunches for kids~5 Easy Steps to Packing School Lunches & School Lunches Made Easy~you know that I like to include fresh fruit & veggies in my children's lunches everyday!

Recently I was contact by the folks at SNACK PACK and invited to take part in their "NO TRADESIES" Blog Tour and to share ideas on creating healthy lunches for kids that they will love.  I know that my children love fresh fruits and veggies in their lunches...the taste, the freshness and the crispness are all very appealing.

The folks at SNACK PACK sent me these fabulous containers{below} to use for packing lunches. I LOVE these containers {I had some like this about 5 years ago, but they wore out, and I haven't been able to find any since.} because they allow you to create a 'dinner plate' effect, where food can be eaten in whatever order, which  is more appealing to children. They can munch on  a sandwich, while also popping in a veggie and a piece of fruit.

Here are some tips for making healthy, "NO TRADESIES" yummy lunches for children:

• Encourage kids to eat their fruit by adding a Snack Pack to 'mix it up' and turn fruit into a tasty, dip-able adventure. Try apple slices with a Toffee Caramel pudding, or Chocolate with strawberries and grapes...reminiscent of a fondue party!

• Sandwich Shapes. Make eating the regular sandwich a bit more fun. Break out the cookie cutter to create fun shapes and use different types of bread to make things interesting. 

• Kebab it! My kids love mini-kebabs on toothpicks. Different fruits on toothpicks, or meat & cheese, or veggies...it doesn't matter....kids just seem to like it better this way!

I used these containers to prepare 2 healthy lunches~

The first lunch included a simple jelly sandwich on whole bread cut with some fun Lunch Punch Sandwich Cutters, cucumbers and red peppers, along with strawberry & pound cake mini-kabobs for dipping in the Lemon Meringue Snack Pack.

My son said it was "delicious!"

{I had never tried the lemon meringue dessert Snack Pack before and it was SO good. I am addicted!}

The second lunch was similar~a peanut butter & jelly sandwich cut with Lunch Punch Sandwich Cutters, cucumbers, red peppers and carrots, with grapes and strawberries to dip into the Ice Cream Sandwich Snack Pack. My son was intrigued with the Lunch Punch Cutters, so I let him cut the sandwich. I love help in the kitchen!

This would also make a fabulous after school snack! Fresh fruit & chocolate pudding...sign me up!

To be honest, I have not purchased pudding cups in a LONG time. Since I can' t remember the last time!

When my son first tried them, he ate 3 Ice Cream Sandwich Snack Packs, with a whole lot of grapes and strawberries. Apparently, he was really hungry AND ready to try something different with fruit, and the great taste sold him!

His hands down favourite was the Ice Cream Sandwich Snack Pack. Mine was the Lemon Meringue! 

Classic Snack Pack flavours include: Chocolate, Chocolate Fudge, Vanilla, Butterscotch, Vanilla & Tapioca, Fat Free Chocolate & Fat Free Vanilla. {Fat free flavours are 90 calories per serving or less!} Snack Pack also comes in exciting dessert flavours that include: Ice Cream Sandwich, Lemon Meringue Pie, Banana Cream Pie, Chocolate Caramel, & Toffee Caramel.

And here's some important nutritional  info about SNACK PACKS:

• Snack Pack Pudding is made with skim milk.
• Snack Pack Juicy Gels are made ith real fruit juice.
• All Snack Pack puddings have no preservatives or trans-fats.

To learn the latest information on  new Snack Pack  flavours and weekly lunch packing tips, be sure to visit the 

SNACK PACK CANADA FACEBOOK PAGE.

Now for the Giveaway Information:

• Giveaway is open to Canadian residents only.
• Runs from January 8th to January 31, 2012.
• To Enter: Please leave me a comment telling me what Snack Pack flavour is your favourite, or what Snack Pack flavour you would like to try.One entry per person.
• 1 winner, to be chosen at random, will win the following Snack Pack Prize pack containing: 2 delicious flavours of Snack Pack Pudding, Lunch Punch Sandwich Cutters, Happy Spoons, a mini portable travel speaker, and a tot-able lunch bag consisting of a cooler bag, and four leak-proof compartmentalized lunch containers. Valued at $50 and to be mailed to your home. 

Isn't that a great prize pack for any busy Mom packing lunches for her kiddos? I think so!

Thank you so much to the folks at Snack Pack for providing my readers with this wonderful giveaway opportunity!

Okay. All this talk about Snack Pack puddings has made me hungry, and I'm off to eat my new fav~Lemon Meringue with some strawberries! Yum!


{Disclosure – I am participating in the Snack Pack “No Tradesies” blog tour by enCompass Media on behalf of Con Agra Foods. I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion}