Healthy lunchboxes for all!

We started school!! Well, no we about it, just the kids. I started doing the massive pile of laundry and painting the hallway. It's a really big lifestyle change for us and one I'm not 100% sure we are going to stick with. I don't love getting up so early and I know we didn't move here so we could hang around Arabia all the time. Plus trying to travel only when all the schools are out is both difficult and expensive.

 Our school is really special and cool, though. We have chickens, I get to teach a 'Meditation and Movement' class to the upper school (that's 8 kids), the boys are learning recorder and macrame, and it just feels like a nice place to be.  Its so cool you aren't supposed to send your kids with any junk food of any kind. A policy which I helped to write and of which I am wholly and utterly supportive. BUT, I still occasionally find myself ripping open packets and putting the contents into individual BPA-Free fancy re-usable lunch snack packs and hoping nobody notices.

I've been militant about obscene sugar consumption in school and the problem of multiplication in a bring-your-own environment, in the past. But 'nothing in packages' is pretty challenging, especially for the FAC's  Some websites have been helpful so here's my roundup to kick off blogging again:

School Bites 
There's not much here by way of recipes, but there is lots of good 'how-to' info on getting your school crapola-food free.

100 Days of Real Food
This started as one family's attempt to cut out all processed food and has developed into a huge blog with tons of great resources including meal plans. They have a great Pinterest page with TONS of ideas for healthy meals.

The Vegan Lunchbox
I tend to think of this site as the vanguard of healthy-school lunch blogs. I remember pouring over her ideas (we are by no means vegan) when the boys were too little to go to school.

Bon Appetit's 25 School Lunches
Some great ideas, possibly a bit ambitious for my kids, but tastes change...