SPA: Bento Lunch 1

For the very first "Sweet Pea Approved" post, I thought I'd start simple. This is an example of what lunch looks like around here on a typical, hectic preschool day. When I have time, I love to play around with the cookie cutters and other fun tools, but time is not always on my side. So, this is a lunch that wins every time. I surrender to the power of "dip".



The containers used here are the Sassy On the Go Feeding Sets that I have referred to before. We picked ours up at Target for around $5 each. Our sets are solid pink and solid blue, but I tend to mix 'n' match them for added visual appeal.



I started off by splitting a container of Chobani Blueberry flavored Greek Yogurt between the girls- 3 oz. each. It's taken a bit of conscious effort to "convince" myself to buy this yogurt for the girls- clearly a more expensive choice than regular yogurt. Did you know that Greek yogurt packs an insane protein punch? An entire 6 oz. container of Chobani blueberry contains 14g of protein- almost 3x that of the yogurt I usually serve.

I also served about an ounce of Regenie's Multigrain Pita Chips, a small deviation from our usual favorite, Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips, with a couple of ounces of Sabra Classic Hummus for dipping. We almost always buy our pita chips and hummus from Sam's Club... you truly get much more for nearly the same price as the regular grocery store.



And, for a sweet offering, I served a segmented clementine, or Cutie, as we refer to them... much more fun!



The last thing I want to touch on is our beverage choice. This day, I served a 4 oz. Pear Peach Fruitable juice box with lunch. Most days, we stick with water for lunch. Skim milk is always available at breakfast and dinner, and I will usually give it at lunch if one of the girls asks for it. For a special treat, I will buy 100% juice for the girls to have. I like Fruitables because they are made with natural ingredients, no artificial dyes, and they include extracts from both fruits and vegetables.

It may not look like much, but it's actually a sizable lunch, both in calories and nutrition. Best of all, it's something that my girls will eat without argument. Hooray! A great addition to this would be some baby carrots for dipping in both dips- my girls do not care for their texture yet, but if yours do, I would definitely suggest that as a veggie boost! If you decide to try a lunch like this, and it proves to be a hit, I'd love to hear about it!