Peanut Butter and Black Grape Bagel

My husband goes through food phases, as I assume we all do. His latest is Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and black grapes. Not together though, just so you know. But hmmmm... I'll have to ponder that one.

This sandwich just makes sense. If peanut butter and grape jelly works, why not peanut butter and grapes?

Grapes are quite nutritious.  Grapes contain a large variety of nutrients, and are particularly rich in minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium, as well as vitamin C. In addition, grapes are very rich in antioxidants, one particularly beneficial antioxidant is resveratrol, which helps prevent a number of dangerous health conditions but most importantly it slows down the aging process.

Please pass the black grapes!

Peanut Butter and Black Grape Bagel

makes 1, easily multiplied

1 bagel (I used whole wheat bagel thins)

Peanut butter, or any nut butter of choice

7-8 black grapes, halved

Spread peanut butter on both sides of the bagel, top with halved grapes and combine.

Sides: Triple Berry Fruit Leather

I have shared a tip before about having fruit strips on hand for those mornings that you realize that the fruit in the fruit basket has gone bad but you still need the health benefits of fruit in the lunch box. Dried fruits retain most of the nutritional value of fresh fruits and so are included with fresh fruit in dietary recommendations by U.S., according to MyPyramid.gov.

I used this recipe for these Triple Berry Fruit Leather. The kids love them. I love them. Husband does too.

Triple Berry Fruit Leather 

• 1 cup strawberries, stems removed, sliced
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1/8 cup 100% fruit juice

Add berries to blender with fruit juice and blend until smooth. Cover baking sheet with plastic wrap (I tried parchment paper and it does not work) and spread puree evenly over plastic wrap, staying away from the edge. Set oven to the very lowest setting. Remember, you are not baking the fruit, just drying it out. Leave in oven for 6-8 hours. (fruit leather will peel easily and cleanly off plastic when it's dry) When cool, use pizza cutter to slice. Keep stored in air-tight container or zip lock bag.

Tip: Fun Shaped Fruit

Fruit salad is one of my kids favorites. Although it's true that fruit salad is pretty enough with all the different colors of fruit. And there are different shapes as is, with strawberries and the round grapes (and lets not forget the fun pattern a kiwi has).... using mini cookie cutters seems to make the extra special a little more extra special. 

I used a spring set of cookie cutters for the fruit salad pictured above, but my mini heart shaped cookie cutters are fun too, and will be great in February. I think the number cookie cutters would be a special way to celebrate a birthday in a lunch box.

Oh, the possibilities are endless!!

I like to make my fruit salad the day before, so the fruit can mingle overnight in the fridge. I think that a fruit salad that is already stunning and tastey gets kicked up a notch that way.

Sides: Tri Fruit atop Tapioca Pudding

I recently saw a recipe on line with fruit and rice pudding (I wish I could remember where so I could give credit for this idea) and my thoughts were, 'Rice pudding is good, but tapioca is gooder.' (I also wish I remembered where I saw the recipe so I could have went back and saw which fruits were used. The only one a specifically remember is the mango.)

Speaking of mangoes, did you know that mangoes are good for your skin? You could rub the pulp of the mango on your face for about 10 minutes before washing and it will unclog pores. But the even tastier benefit helps your complexion too. Eating mangoes on a regular basis will give your face a soft and shiny glow. All of this is not including the benefit of mangoes being an anti-cancer, a memory booster, good for your eyes, and more.

So to the lunch box lowdown! I used boxed tapioca pudding mix because it's lower in fat and calories than making from scratch, which calls for full fat cream.

Tri Fruit atop Tapioca Pudding

• Tapioca Pudding box mix, I used Jello brand
• blueberries
• raspberries
• mango

Follow Tapioca pudding directions according to the box, using skim or 1% milk. After it sets in the refrigerator, add to 4 oz container leaving room for fruit.

Sides: Cinnamon Cream and Berries

I found the most gorgeous, most plumpest blueberries just the other day and I was happy to send off some fresh fruit in the lunch boxes today after resorting to fruit strips for a day or two.

What kicks this simple (but delicious) side up a notch is adding cinnamon. If you have a cinnamon grinder, all the better. Cinnamon is a great source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium. There have been a lot of studies that have shown that cinnamon can help relieve pain, boost cognitive function and memory, is a natural food preservative, has an anti-clotting effect on the blood, reduce the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cells, and much more.

Don't you love it when someone tastes great and has amazing health benefits?

Cinnamon Cream and Berries

(makes 1- easily doubled)

• 1-2 fresh strawberries
• 5-10 blueberries
• 1 spoonful of vanilla yogurt (I used Activia)
• cinnamon, preferably fresh ground

Dice strawberries in bite sized pieces and add to a 4 oz. container. Add blueberries and top with a spoonful of yogurt. Sprinkle cinnamon to taste, cover and pack.

Tips: Fruit Strips

After a long weekend I woke to yet another morning of lunch box making but had a problem. There was only a handful of grapes left in the fridge that were headed to the raisin stage and a few clementines in the fruit basket that were also going bad. Our weekend started with a gracious plenty of fruit but with most foods in this house, it goes fast.

Thankfully I keep a supply of fruit strips for such occasions. Granted, I have to hide them so that I have them on such days, but at least they can be hidden, unlike fresh fruit. Of course, I'd prefer to pack fresh fruit but and am grateful for this alternative.

I am also thinking that this summer when I am making jam, I may also have to make some fruit leather.

And that, my friends, is Lorinda's Lunch Box Lowdown for today.

Sides: Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Do your little Valentine's deserve a little treat in their lunch box? Why not Chocolate Dipped Strawberries? Use dark chocolate for a more intense chocolate flavor and because dark chocolate is a potent antioxidant. Sorry milk chocolate lovers, the milk in milk chocolate interferes with the absorption of antioxidants and therefor cannot be called health food. Strawberries are high in vitamin C (even higher than oranges) which is great, especially this time of year.

You can read here about tempering chocolate and washing fruits here.

Happy Dipping!

Look for more healthy Valentine treat ideas this weekend.

Sides: Blueberries on a Lemon Cloud

Lemons and blueberries go together like strawberries and chocolate.

The combination is just oh so right. 

Blueberries on a Lemon Cloud

• 1/2 package of 3.4 oz lemon instant pudding
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 container whipped topping
• blueberries

Wisk pudding and milk until well incorporated. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour. Fold in whipped topping. Place a cloud of the lemon mixture in a small container and top with blueberries.

Leftovers would be great as a filling in crepes with blueberries or kiwi.

Chocolate & Strawberry Roll-Ups

Another favorite lunch box item from my home are these Chocolate & Strawberry Roll-Ups. Of course that's not surprising in the least, right? Who would turn their nose up at strawberries and chocolate?! I make 2 of Roll-Ups per person, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then wrap them together in foil.

Chocolate & Strawberry Roll-Ups

serves 1

• 2 fajita sized tortilla (I use La Banderita's wheat tortillas)
• 2 T. cream cheese (regular or strawberry)
• 2 t. mini chocolate chips
• 2 strawberry

Spread 1 tablespoon cream cheese on each tortilla. Add a sliced strawberry per tortilla and then sprinkle mini chocolate chips on each. Roll up, wrap up and pack up. And if you can't resist making an extra for yourself to eat for breakfast, know that you are not alone.

Sides: Kiwi Cups

Kiwi! It's packed with potassium (more than a banana), vitamin C and has the fiber of a bowl of bran. All that and one of my favorite fruits. Oh, and my kids too. And this is about my kids and their lunch boxes. There are a few ways to send children to school with kiwi but I think this is one of the best ways for a lunch box.

Here is my tip (in recipe form for fun) for Kiwi Cups. Warm up that printer, you'll want to print this one out.

Kiwi Cups

serves 1, can easily be doubled :)

• a kiwi

Slice kiwi in half horizontally. Place in container green side down so that it doesn't roll around and get brown fuzzies on the flesh. Serve with a spoon so meat of the kiwi can be cleanly scooped out.



Georgia Ham and Swiss Pita

This peach salsa is what makes this lunch. I live in Georgia, the peach state. So adding peach to a sandwich is what makes a sandwich more than a sandwich but a special Georgia treat. This pita is packed full of flavor and is one of my favorites. This Pita recipe is for one sandwich but the Peach Salsa will make many more.

Georgia Ham and Swiss Pita

• Pita bread
• 5 slices of ham
• 2 slices baby swiss cheese
• Peach Salsa 

Cut pita in half and stuff with ham and cheese. (I also added spinach) Spread Peach Salsa on top.

Peach Salsa

• 1/2 cup peach jam (I used Pollaner's all fruit)
• 2 T red bell pepper, diced small
• 4 T red onion, diced small

Mix together and think of all the ways you could use this Peach Salsa. Like, over a brick of cream cheese for crackers.... Yum!



Sides: Two Toned Blueberry Parfait

The truth is, the granola gets soggy in this parfait. The other truth is, my kids still love it. I reckon it shouldn't be surprising, they love oatmeal and oatmeal is.... well, soggy. If you are worried about the sog you could keep the granola separate and have your child add it at lunch.
 I used my 4 oz. containers for these so it's just the right size. I also make it the day before (at least) and freeze, so it's still cold when it's lunch time. This recipe makes one.

Two Tones Blueberry Parfait

• 1 T. Blueberry Yogurt
• 1 T. Vanilla Yogurt
• fresh blueberries, about 5 or 6
• 1 heaping teaspoon granola

Put spoonful of blueberry yogurt in the bottom of the container, add fresh blueberries, then granola. Top with vanilla yogurt and freeze.



Double Blueberry Bagel Sandwich

This is a favorite in our house. So much so that my kids asked for it for breakfast when they saw me making it for lunch. I warned them that it was for lunch but they were perfectly fine having it for both. With blueberries being ridiculously healthy, why not have blueberries two meals in a row, right???

Double Blueberry Bagel Sandwich

• Bagel (I use Bagel Thins, 110 calories)
• Cream Cheese (I used whipped)
• Blueberry fruit spread (I use all fruit, sweetened with fruit juice)
• Fresh blueberries

Spread cream cheese on one bagel half, the blueberry spread on the other. Dot the cream cheese side with fresh blueberries and put the two together and you have your Double Blueberry Bagel Sandwich.

***To make this a Triple Blueberry Bagel Sandwich, use blueberry cream cheese.
**** Quadruple? Use a blueberry bagel! Yum!

Crunchy Fruit and Nut Roll Up

Here is another lunch box winner according to my toughest critics. There are lot of health benefits packed into this roll up. I made one of these for my high schooler using Flat Out bread (because I had just one left over) and I used two small fajita sized tortilla's for my children in middle and elementary school. 

Fruit and Nut Roll Up

• Flat Out or fajita sized tortilla's
• Nut Butter (I used peanut butter, will use almond butter next time)
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used light)
• strawberry (about 2)
• banana (about half)
• 1 T fruit spread (I used Black Cherry Pollaner's All Fruit)
• toasted sliced almonds
• 1 tsp. Fiber One cereal

Whip nut butter and softened cream cheese together. Spread on wrap. Add sliced strawberries and banana. Microwave fruit spread until it's just the right consistency for drizzling. Drizzle over roll up. Add almonds and cereal. Roll up.

Sides: Creamy Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cups

This is a little cup of goodness that fits with any lunch. Is it a dessert or a healthy side? You decide.

I have two different brands of mini containers I use with lids that have good tight seals, they are both just 4 oz. and one is made by Reynolds and the other is made by Rubbermaid. They both work perfectly for this. Glad has similar containers that are the 'can be disposable, can be reused' type that do not seal well enough for me to trust with this.

 (but I do use them for dry things like pretzels, nuts, etc)

Creamy Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cups

• 2-3 strawberries, depending on size
• 1 T. vanilla yogurt, I used Danon's light & fit
• 1/2 tsp mini chocolate chips

A PB, CC & Strawberry Bagel Sandwich

This is my kids favorite sandwich at the moment. I hear tell after some lunch room sharing, some of their friends are making this at home.


Peanut Butter, Cream Cheese and Strawberry Bagel

• Bagel (I used bagel thins)
• Cream Cheese
• Nut butter (I used peanut butter)
• Sliced strawberries

Simply schmear peanut butter on one slice of bagel, the cream cheese on the other and place the sliced strawberries in between.