Last Night's Dinner: The Lunchbox Key

Never mind racking your brain and raiding your cabinets to come up with creative lunch ideas for your little ones. Everything you need is probably right on the dinner table. Just cook with the idea of having leftovers and you don't even need to worry about lunch. Okay, so maybe you don't cook every night but this can even work with takeout.

Case in point: On Izzy's first day of school, I packed him the dinner he helped to prepare the night before. He proudly showed off the mini-version of this meal to his teachers.

When I arrived for pick-up, there he sat just beginning to tuck into his lunchtime feast: Chicken Tajine, Eggplant-Tomato Jam, Couscous and Chickpeas with Kale. He also had watermelon slices and yogurt for dessert. I was able to keep him company at his tiny table yesterday since the first day's schedule was a bit chaotic and lunchtime turned out to be a bit later than planned. As I sat, I noted the other moms eyeing his lunch approvingly. Little did they realize what little effort it took to prepare.

Not only is preparing leftovers easy but eating leftovers for lunch is a much healthier option than stuffing kids' lunchboxes with all manner of pre-packaged "kid" lunch-foods. No need to create separate lunchtime extravaganzas either. Just use what you have and make sure you have the right sized containers.

Note: This method works best if your child's classroom has a microwave oven.