Brown Bagging it with Beans

I have always loved back to school shopping. The smell of sharpened pencils, brand new erasers without any graphite stains, crisp sheets of college ruled binder paper and new lunch boxes still make me giddy. My brothers and I didn’t get a new lunch box every year when we went to school they had to last a few years. I wish we still had a few of those boxes. Some of them are collectors items now. In those lunch boxes my mom would pack a sandwich, fruit, maybe chips and always some homemade baked good. Mom always made the best cookies, cakes and pies from scratch…she still does at 91 years of age! I carried on the tradition of homemade lunches until my kids went to a school that had a cafeteria and they could get a hot lunch. When I did pack their lunch I would cut out the sandwich in different shapes and include homemade cookies for them to enjoy or trade. I still pack lunches, but now it’s for myself when I travel the road between Idaho and California. Instead of a lunch box I carry a small cooler.

The new lunch boxes are insulated and you can use something like blue ice to keep the food cold. This makes it so much easier and safer to include yogurt, salads and any other food that needs to be kept cold. I also love the bento boxes that are so popular. They make the organized part of me so happy to see everything compartmentalized!

Here are two recipes that kids and adults will both like.

Pinwheel Pasta & Bean Salad

Pinwheel or other pasta

Carrots, sliced

Green bell pepper, chopped

Red onion, chopped

Olives, sliced

Garbanzo beans, cooked

Black beans, cooked

Fresh parsley, chopped

Zesty Italian Salad Dressing

Note: I’m not including quantities with this recipe. Cook the amount of pasta you want and that will determine how much of the other ingredients you will use. Use as much or as little as you would like. If you like less dressing or more, it’s up to your particular

Tuna & Bean Salad

5 oz. can tuna, drained

1 cup black beans, cooked

1 cup white beans, cooked

1/2 cup tomato, chopped

1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup red onion, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil (less if you prefer)

3 Tbsp. lime juice, freshly squeezed

salt and pepper to taste

Handful of lettuce, chopped

Small flour tortillas

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. You can serve it in a tortilla like a burrito or just have it without the tortilla.

This food safety chart from FoodSafety.gov will help you keep your family safe when packing lunches.

For more inspiration here is a list of wonderful blog posts from moms (and one dad) that are packing lunches that have great recipes for brown bagging it!

http://www.5dollardinners.com/31-days-series/

http://www.laurenslatest.com/50-school-lunch-ideas-healthy-easy/

http://www.lunchboxdad.com/

http://www.superhealthykids.com/