Lunchbox Burnout, Round 1 {DIY Lunchbox}

Make lunch fun again with my DIY big kid lunchbox. Thanks to Stonyfield for sponsoring this post. #StonyfieldYoKids

I see you over there packing those lunches. Trying to balance picky eaters, nutrition and repeat lunchbox syndrome. This is the time of year many of us encounter our first bout of lunchbox burnout. If you’re like me, then as much as you love your children, you aren’t going to manifest it by turning their lunch into a food diorama of their favorite movie.

Nope. Not going to happen here. But that doesn’t mean lunch can’t be fun! Sometimes it’s a matter of making small realistic changes here and there to keep things interesting.

Kayla is in third grade now, playing sports and eating more to keep that energy up. So for the first time in my lunch packing career, I’m realizing I need a lunchbox for a BIG kid even if she’ll always be little in my heart. I found this pretty plain but spacious box and customized it with text I thought would make her smile.

The inside has one closed compartment so I used that as a place to hide a surprise and made it pretty clear with some added text. Even if your kids will only eat a rotation of a few different fruits and vegetables, a mystery surprise helps keep things exciting.

That isn’t the only surprise hiding in this lunchbox, though. I was excited to find out that Stonyfield recently announced a sugar reduction across its yogurt portfolio – and it started with YoKids®, featuring between 25% – 40% less sugar than the leading kids’ yogurt. That makes me feel even better about packing them in Kayla and Blake’s lunch.

My relationship with Stonyfield goes all the way back to my teenage babysitting days. I can still remember feeding YoBaby® yogurt to a child who is now in college. Slightly terrifying when I do the math! But also pretty neat to see a brand I trust still doing their thing and offering products that are Certified Organic and Non-GMO Verified.

Yes I pick my battles, but these things matter to me. I totally spent some time last week trying to find a seaweed brand with similar certifications because my kids eat so much of it.

In this lunchbox you’ll find some cucumbers,slices of persimmons, some roasted seaweed, a Stonyfield® Organic YoKids® yogurt cup, a nut butter sandwich (yep, our school allows them unless you’re in a restricted classroom with an allergy present), and some freeze dried strawberries as the surprise.

As the week goes on I try to rotate in leftovers as main courses to change things up. Grilled chicken, pasta, salami and cheese. Kayla will only eat a few vegetables at lunch these days- seaweed, cucumbers, bell peppers (red only!) and romaine lettuce. Fruit is easier. Strawberries, pineapple, oranges and apples make frequent appearances.

But sometimes it’s not about completely changing things. It’s just about tweaking them a little bit, making them a little more fun, and a little better all while keeping them recognizable as what we know and love.

Thanks to Stonyfield® Organic YoKids® for sponsoring this post.