Paleo Brown Bag Lunches

What's in your lunch today?
Photo by ningmilo

This is one of the areas where we have been consistently challenged.  Both my son and my husband have to take lunches with them, and they are having problems thinking outside the sandwich bag.  The common complaint is that they aren't taking enough food and are fading shortly after lunch.  Sorry boys, a hard-boiled egg, nuts, and a piece of fruit aren't going to cut it!

They are both old enough to pack their own lunches (haha), so we've had to do some brainstorming to come up with more ideas.  Here are some of our winners:

Proteins

• Leftovers are definitely the big winner.  Before we dig into the main meal, we've been pulling aside an extra portion for each of them to take the next day.  
• When we made the chorizo meatballs from Practical Paleo, these were a huge hit.  Next shopping trip, I'm going to grab extra pork sausage, and we're going to make a batch to keep in the freezer and fridge for fast lunches.
• The "egg muffins" from Eat Like a Dinosaur have also been a great option for lunches.  We made them as in the book with diced tomatoes, olives, mushroom, and pepperoni.  This weekend we're going to play with them some more and try using different ingredients.
• I found a package of turkey sausage in the meat discount bin.  I picked it up and we tossed them in the grill pan and then the fridge.  Not only were these a great option for the guys, but since Maddie and I had a "picnic" to go to that required a lunch, I sliced them up and put them in a baggie and they made the perfect finger food.  
• Individual serving cups of tuna and salmon are the perfect size for lunch boxes.  Elias thinks that they are quite the treat.

Veggies/ Fruit

• This one is kind of a no brainer.  Both the kids love fruit, so getting them to eat it is never a problem.  Apples, pears, berries, melons... whatever we have on hand, it all goes into the baggie.
• Veggies are a little more challenging, but items like carrots, cucumbers, and green peppers are popular.
• Each kid has the opportunity to pick out a piece of produce they want to try this week, so that has made fruit and veggie packing a little more interesting.
• I'm planning a trip to an apple orchard soon, and we're going to try out some of those dried apple snacks from ELaD.  I suspect they will be huge hits.

Snacks

• Homemade trail mix has been the big winner in this category.  We hit the bulk bins at Fred Meyer and Elias can basically go through and pick out which nuts and unsweetened dried fruit he wants in his mix. This week he had sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, dates, and coconut flakes.
• Canned olives are a HUGE favorite.  Just drain 'em and toss 'em in  bag.  I'm sure Elias sticks them on his fingers.  I don't want to know about it.
• Elias has thought seaweed is incredible since he was little.  When I came home with a package of SeaSnax, his mind was completely blown.
• Larabars and fruit leather are less common treats but still a possibility.

What are your favorite lunch options?