deviled eggs

I think eggs are a great idea.

My boys love eggs: scrambled, poached, over-easy. Having hard-boiled eggs at lunch with a dash of salt and pepper is a treat.

But if you want to take it to yet another level, one that you can serve at a party or tuck into a lunch box, you can also make deviled eggs.

I can vaguely remember the first time I tried them. I was four. It was Thanksgiving. Relatives were mulling all about, conversing, standing around in cocktail-style. I was underfoot, a little kid where out of sight and out of mind came in handy. Usually, when it came to Thanksgiving thievery, I would find myself an accomplice. My nearest grabs were my cousin or my brother. And when it came to deviled eggs, no other thief was more perfect than my brother Kerry.

He loved deviled eggs---even more than I did. We would scramble through the conversation, the adult legs, the above-head chatter and steal passes at the nearby table. Buffet style? Even easier. Slide through, slide the egg in mouth, slide away. We were quite competent at egg inhaling. (A precursor to oyster-slurping)?

Adults wouldn't notice until almost no eggs were left. Maybe they caught us, maybe they didn't. Either way, it was too late. We had enjoyed these eggy jewels that belonged to holiday tables. Why not make your little thief's day? Add some deviled eggs to his/her lunch.

Peanut Butter and Apple Sandwiches

This is a great resource: All Recipes has a section dedicated to lunch box recipes:

One idea is to give peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a makeover. How about Peanut Butter and Apples? Here are more tips they---and I---suggest:

• Because apples get brown, spritz them with citrus/water mixture (I use limes, All Recipes suggested lemon)
• Substitute bananas for apples. Try almond or cashew butter instead of peanut butter, or chunky peanut butter instead of smooth. 
• Wrap sandwich ingredients in whole wheat tortillas instead of using bread.
• Freeze a small carton of milk or bottle of water to keep lunches nicely chilled until ready to eat.
• Use crispy apples! Have your kids try different apple varieties, so they become 'apple experts.' They will feel super lucky and smart when they find their favorite Pink Lady or Granny Smith layered in their sandwich.
• Have a PB&J taste party: try different nut butters, different apple varieties and of course different combinations. Do they prefer the Golden Delicious with Hazelnut Butter? Let them decide---your lunches will be that much more successful.

I am a big fan of letting kids have ownership in the food tasting, deciding and vote-giving. At the end of the day, they vote anyway: by eating or not eating. If you can't beat them, join them!

slices of salami.

For the love of salami.

My 10 year old adores salami. He would happily eat the same sandwich every day: salami, mustard and [sometimes] cheese, preferably shredded.

Just to push the variety button, I sometimes just stick a pile of salami and maybe some tiny chunks of cheese in his lunch.

We have had salami slices in our lives for YEARS. Recently, we upped the caliber a notch and started supplementing our salami stash with Salumi Salami (cool photo here).

Salumi Salami is famous; it is made in Seattle (nice article here), by Mario Batali's father. You can stand in line for sandwiches at his shop, but get there early because the lines are long. We lucked out; our nearby grocer started stocking Salumi, so we only have to travel a few blocks and no lines out in the rain!

eggs: crack me up.

Eggs.

Yes, eggs. Put them in your kids' lunches! Hard boiled eggs are a great idea for a brown bag snack.

It might be wise to peel them in advance---though if the lunch break is long enough---leave the cracking up to the kids. It is a rewarding, fun event to peel an egg at noon.

I put in an egg or two, then slide a tiny container into their lunch with a mixture of salt and pepper for dipping.

clever combos for brown bags.

...Or I can just put it together myself. I actually don' t mind all the marketing by grocers, companies and coffee shops that cater to parents who pack or plan for brown bag lunches.

I am amused by all the packaging of lunchable, easy-to-grab, pre-sliced and diced items. The carrots come in small packs with ranch dip, microwave popcorn comes in single servings, craisins are packaged in tiny boxes and apples are pre-sliced and sealed in small bags: all ready to drop into a nearby lunch.

In some instances, I don't mind the quick grabs, especially when I am out of time to cut, slice or sandwich things myself. I especially applaud when these prepared snacks serve to increase the number of healthy options for brown bags.

Coffee shops are even getting into the groove, offering non-pastry options for the mid-morning snack or quick lunch. One such coffee shop offers a small container of fruit, cheese and bread. More precisely fruit/nut bread, with a few slices of apple, some red grapes, a wedge of brie, and small 1/2 inch squares of cheddar and dill havarti. I confess to grabbing this snack, and now my 12 year old asks for it as well.

Sometimes, instead of grabbing the quick fix at the coffee shop, I DO take the time to assemble this healthy snack combination. Into my son's lunch I will put this exact fruit, fruit/nut bread and cheese chunk snack. The flavors together pack a punch, the dill havarti with the fruit/nut bread is our favorite pairing in the pack.

...In fact I sometimes serve dill havarti and fruit and nut studded bread toasts as an appetizer for guests! The good news is this: there are more healthy snack options appearing everywhere, all the time. AND even if you don' t grab them on the go, the snackable packs can simply serve as a bagful of ideas for brown bag lunch making!

nune's nuts at noon.

I love inserting a deliberate punch of protein into my boys' stomachs in the middle of their school day. And because school is just around the corner, I find myself seeking for and stocking up on protein-packed, bagable snacks.

Nuts, in general, are a great way to insert protein and good fat into kids' diets. Nune's nuts come from Nune's farms, and these nuts are perfect for noon-time munching!

Years ago, I worked a short stint at a company where I helped them determine what specialty food items would prance on their shelves from one season to the next. It was fun: we tried all sorts of sauces, dips and chutneys, mustards and chocolates, chocolate covered sunflower seeds and hot chocolates. When it came to nuts, this particular brand/maker made a notable impression on me: to this day when I see it in a store, I have to buy it.

Nune's nuts aren't as easy to find in a store as their flavors merit; but if you are curious and a bit ambitious, consider purchasing these online. Nune's farm provides small packets of nuts, just the right size to pack in a noon-time brown bag (I buy the 1.5 ounce packs of whole, seasoned almonds).

Our brown bag vote? Nune's nuts are Absolutely Bagable.**

**Rated on a Bagable Scale: Not---Possibly---Probably---Easily---Absolutely

New friend: nutty results

My favorite new friend has a son who is in fifth grade: aka growing like mad, and athletic to boot. He isn't much of a lunch eater, and she is always looking for new ways to 'punch up the protein' in his lunch. I told her I would give it some serious thought, as I too can appreciate growing boys who need the energy for their bodies and brains!

My first thought was nuts: pepitas, pine nuts, brazil nuts, almonds, hazelnuts. My kiddos love pecans, cashews, walnuts and macadamia nuts. Nuts are a grand source of protein and 'good fat.'

Sometimes nuts are just nuts; other days I make nuts into a brown bag 'treat.' In fact, we went to dinner at my---new, favorite---friend's house, and I brought Ginger Sugar Pecans as a thank you hostess gift. Guess what? Her son loved them!

My boys love eating them for lunch too; they also love the candied walnuts I sometimes tuck into their crumpled brown bag. Click here for the walnut recipe; below find the gingery pecans:

Ginger Sugar Pecans
5 cups pecan halves
½ cup sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground ginger
2 T honey
2 tsp olive oil

Toast pecans in single layer on rimmed cookie sheet at 325 for 10-15 minutes. Shake once during baking. Combine sugar, salt, ginger in small bowl and set aside. Mix honey, 2 T water and oil in sauté pan; bring to boil over high heat. Reduce to medium, add pecans and cook for a few minutes until liquid has evaporated. Immediately throw into sugar mix and toss well—these are fabulous warm or at room temperature. They taste even better on day 2 when the flavors have had a chance to settle.