It’s time to share the results of our first ever Facebook School Lunch Photo Contest! I have to start by saying you guys are amazing. I loved seeing how many of you out there are putting so much love (and good food!) into your children’s lunches. And I loved how all the pictures show that anyone can do this (not just some blogger!). I really hope it encourages others who aren’t quite there yet because it’s never too late to start in my opinion. :)
So I had the super duper tough job of picking only 3 winners who will each get a brand new PlanetBox Shuffle Complete Set by the way! And just as a reminder, to be eligible to win the packed lunch had to follow our real food rules. Here are the lucky winners (in no particular order)…
The Top Three Winners!
- Dana M. Huber: “Tuesday is our local health food store produce delivery day, so our fridge is well stocked with produce and that means it’s almost all fresh fruits and veggies for lunch today. Spinach, strawberry, raisins and olive oil salad with a slice of provolone and avocado. Carrots, snap peas and cherry tomatoes, grapes, sliced apples and peanut butter. All organic produce except the “natural” peanut butter. water to drink.”
– - Monica Mckinley: “My 7th grader got a quinoa veggie salad (red bell pepper, cucumber, kalamata olives, garbanzo beans and feta with a lemon olive oil dressing) plain whole yogurt with a homemade berry sauce and almonds and sunbutter under the apple slices, for dipping.”
– - Angela F. Farhat: “My daughter is 2 1/2 and it was her first day of preschool yesterday. She took with her a boiled egg, a slice of organic cheddar cheese, organic peaches and organic cucumbers with a home made whole wheat strawberry banana mini muffin (from your recipe index).
She gobbled it up and when we asked what her favorite part of school was she said ‘lunch’ lol.”
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A Few Runner Ups…
I just thought it would be fun to share a few more of the lunches that caught my eye (although I am sorry I have no formal prizes for these). Keep up the great packing job guys!
- Myra Simpson: “Filipino Rice Noodles with broccoli slaw, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, blueberries, and dragon fruit.”
- Stephanie Walla Stevens: “This is what all 3 kids got today. Whole wheat waffle defrosted from the freezer (recipe from 100 Days of Real Food) with cream cheese and homemade canned strawberry jam (recipe from Deliciously Organic). Almonds and pistachios. Bacon (they requested it and like it nice and crispy). Nectarines, strawberries and blueberries with a little bento pick. Carrots and cucumbers (picked from our garden last night) cut up into shapes. Hooray! Have a great day everyone!”
- Liv Van Dyke: “No school today for Rosh Hashanah so I made the kids a favorite home lunch: Rainbow Muffin Tin Lunch served with mini-forks (the big thrill!).
Left to right, top to bottom:
Strawberries :: Raspberries :: Yellow Cherry Tomatoes :: Hummus :: Cheddar Cheese :: Green Beans :: Dill Pickles :: Avocado :: Blueberries :: Dried Cherries :: Roasted Cashews :: Gardenburger Pieces”
- Rachel M. Coleman: “aaah! my kids and i are so excited too. owl moon bento. with: blueberries + provolone moon. purple citrus kale salad + radish stars. herbed turkey and avocado sandwich + bell pepper feet + cheese and nori eyes + carrot beak.”
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A big thank you to everyone who entered for your participation. I hope to do it again sometime soon…maybe next time I can snag some prizes for our International friends as well. :)
Sponsor Shoutout: eMeals Meal Planning Service
Before you go…I want to make sure everyone knows about our weekly meal plan service sponsor, eMeals. Just imagine 7 complete dinner recipes along with a corresponding shopping list sent directly to your inbox each week…for as little as 5 bucks a month! They offer dozens of different plans (we personally like their Clean Eating, Organic, and Paleo options) and are one of the few services that can tailor their plans to the size of your family. If you are already an eMeals subscriber, we’d love to hear your feedback in the comments!
Giveaway: Real Salt, Redmond Clay, Earthpaste (Toothpaste), and More!
Very nice! Thanks for all the inspiration! LOVE the first one with all those fruits and veggies. MMMM
Can Monica McKinley tell us what container that is in her picture? Looks great! Is it leak proof??
I’m pretty sure those are from Walmart. I bought some but they are too big for my daughters lunch box. They are collapsible. Called Eco Collapsible Meal kit.
We bought one too, but don’t use it as often as my new kinder would like because it is soooo big. We found ours at BJs. Love that it is collapsible for when not in use. We haven’t had any spills yet and the sides snap closed, so it is a little easier for her do on her own… though like I said. It’s huge for a 5 year old!
I have seen those at TJ Maxx/Marshall’s, too, and keep trying to think of a reason to buy one! So cute!
I have one of those. I’m pretty sure it’s this one I got from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008CC5LY8
All of these are beautiful examples of yummy healthy lunches! Love the inspiration. Great ideas to mix up my lunches too!
Well done Lisa and your team for picking these beautiful lunches!! Well done all who participated! Congratulations winners!
Our lunchbox is a smart planet silicon lunchbox. Got it on amazon. So far we like it
It doesn’t leak. Its a little large though. Good for big appetites. Hard to get in a lunchbox.
Where do you get the plastic containers? I’ve been looking for something like that.
Hi Janis. You can find them here: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/08/24/my-favorite-school-lunch-supplies/. ~Amy
Love the photos – the winners are so creative and the food looks yummy! I loved Stephanie’s idea of stacking cucumbers and carrots together. I have similar veggie cutters – will do the same for sure when my toddler will be a little bit bigger!
Liv Van Dyke should win simply on originality – brilliant idea for younger ones using the muffin tins! Even my kids – ages 12 and 14 – don’t like their food groups “mixed” at all. Love this.
I would like to know how long it took Rachel to make that owl…
Wow! Im pretty sure that Owl Sandwich is beyond amazing!
Great Job mom those lunches look healthy and amazing at the same time, Love the owl!
Awesome job moms. Those look so yummy!
My kids didn’t have school the day of the challenge, and I couldn’t motivate myself to make photo-worthy compositions. Next time! Great ideas though — I love the muffin tin idea. Almost makes me want to have little ones again. Almost. ;)
I just bought the same container that Monica has at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It is kinda large and doesn’t fit in the lunch bag that came with my son’s backpack. The bottom part pictured can go in the dishwasher but is also “collapsible” for different quantities of food, which lead to squishing… In a bag. Also the 4 sided snap on lid that has a full silicone rubber washer is NOT dishwasher safe, nor is the cute little silicone cap that pops into a condiment tray on the lid. This same little condiment cup is not very trustworthy as it popped open in my lunch bag. Loved it but kinda disappointed….
I like the runner-up ones better than actual winners.. Love the ones with an owl! So cute. Also love the idea of rainbow lunch :)
I agree! I thought the runner up ones were amazing!!
I really appreciate all the great ideas…looking at the various cut-up fruits and avocado slices, my question is what does everyone use to keep them from turning brown. My kids complain about the taste of the lemon or lime coating. I didn’t know if they had other suggestions. Thanks!
Kathryn, you can keep avocados from browning by leaving the pit with the slices (or guacamole, etc), although I’m not sure I would pack a pit in my kids’ lunches. ;) Somewhere on Lisa’s blog is a thread about keeping apples from browning… I can’t remember where I saw it, though.
Love seeing all the ideas!
Hi there. Readers have also suggested using pineapple juice and orange juice. ~Amy
WOW ladies…. major applause for beautiful food for your children! I would pick the owl and my five year old voted and chose the owl too! We are making changes in my home, gathering knowledge and trying to be healthier people! This blog has helped so much!
I love the muffin tin idea! All great lunches and such healthy kids I’m sure!
Wow! I gotta up my game! These ladies put my 2nd graders lunch to shame…and I thought I was doing really well:/ That’s ok, this is awesome inspiration!!
What are those darling little hearts with black dots in Myra’s photo?
Dragon fruit :)
We subscribe to eMeals Clean Eating dinner plan. So far we have loved all the food we have tried. We are a family of four but we have a 4 & a 5 yr old so they don’t eat that much. We choose a couple of meals each week and enjoy the left overs. I love their use of spices and how they tie the main and sides together so well. I tend to have a lot of spices but not know how to use them if not given a recipe to follow so this works out. =) Loved seeing all the lunch ideas here! This is my first year packing a lunch so it’s nice to see what others are packing!
Loved seeing all the lunches!! Congrats to the winners and I respect Lisa’s decision on the winners and honorable mentions – judging is always hard with so many factors :). If Monica M. wouldn’t mind, I would love her recipe for the quinoa salad – looked delicious. Thanks!
oh thanks so much. My daughter doesn’t like plain quinoa so I try to mix something in it frequently. This was just 1.5 cups quinoa, cooked, mixed with chopped veggies (I cooked the kale in the quinoa the last few minutes of steaming.) Once it cooled, I added a chopped red bell, half a chopped, seeded cucumber, chopped kalamta olives and chopped parsley. I tossed that all with one clove of garlic, minced, two tablespoons olive oil and one lemon, juiced. and salt. and feta. You could put red pepper flakes too.
Thank you whole bunches for responding with the recipe! My children love all those ingredients except still working on kale but sometimes just adding a little mixed in with something they won’t notice it. Will definitely be using your recipe :)
When you cut the apples and avocado in the am, by lunch time aren’t they brown?
Great ideas! I can’t believe that owl sandwich didn’t win! So cute!
The runner ups should have been the winners, way more original than the winners! The winners look very similar to your own lunches, so maybe that’s why they won!
Wow! They all look great, but I think some of your runner-ups beat your winners.
this is adorable! I love the runner ups, and would love a pinterest board of all of them!
These are so inspirational! The owl one is super duper cute. :-)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Rainbow Muffin Tin! Genius!!
No kidding! I wanted to eat the rainbow tin for MY lunch! Although no pickles for me…not a pickle fan unless I’m indulging in the very rare fried pickle.
Nice job everyone! I got some great ideas for my kiddo’s lunches in the coming weeks :)
Hi I just wondered how do you stop sliced apples from turning brown? I know using lemon/lime/pineapple juice can work but just wondered what other solutions people are using? Thanks all the way from the UK :o)
I’ve noticed different types turn brown much slower than others. With these I sometimes do nothing. Other times I use the rubber band trick. Here’s a tutorial http://www.thekitchn.com/the-rubber-band-trick-how-to-keep-a-cut-apple-fresh-in-your-lunchbox-165267
holy food. i’m hungry. that owl looks awesome! and i LOVE nori! i can’t wait til my girl starts preschool! thanks for sharing!
Rainbow muffin tin was by far my favorite!! Would of been first pick for me!
I love the Rainbow Muffin tin! I do something similar at home, but never thought of using the tin to keep it all separate! Inspirational genius. I will be making this a regular home lunch from now on! :)
There is NO way that owl would make it to school and still look like an owl!!!
My daughter-in-law has been packing healthy lunches like this for over 8 years. I have NEVER seen any junk food in the boys lunches and their stainless steel containers come back empty every day.
you would think the owl would fall apart, but nope. with a cloth napkin folded over the top and the lid pressed on, my daughter and her friends reported to me after school that everything stayed in place perfectly. it’s a great little trick to keep things shifting around. :)
Wow. These all blew my mind. Fabulous job to all!
I use a mister bottle filled with lemon juice to spray my apple slices and sliced banana and it keeps them from turning brown just great. :) The kids never complain about the taste so I assume that the lemon isn’t making them too bitter.. I usually sprinkle a little cinnamon on the banana.
They may even like the lemon, my 4 year old requests lemon juice on pear slices, even when eating them freshly cut!
I’d love to know more about the container Monica Mckinley used. I bought the Ziploc ones and they are great – however on day one I broke one of the lids (though still usable) and in week two my son cracked one of the sides (not usable). Even though the Ziplocs are “economical” – going thru one every two weeks is not sustainable or friendly on my wallet.
Just saw the earlier comments on Monica Mckinley container… unfortunately, I don’t think that will work for us either :-( Not having each container self contained (keep liquids fom mixing with dry) is a downside as well as the collapsing (smushing).
The owl should have definitely won first place! Wow! That had to take a decent amount of time! Love it!
I love to see and hear that kids are eating healthy. What an inspiration to see photos and read about encouraging healthy eating!
Job well done……..
http://LivingItUpAlternatively.blogspot.com
Love the color in your spices you use. This is my favorite dish you have posted.
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