As a grown up, I love packing lunches, but as a child I remember being less than thrilled whenever a dry turkey sandwich came out of my brown bag. After a few years of school, it is absolutely vital that kids get something more interesting in their lunchboxes—lest their hard-earned allowance goes straight to the vending machines as an alternative.

If you are looking for a new way to spice up your child’s lunch, have a little fun with these food ideas:

• I’m not usually a fan of bologna, but these bologna and cheese rollups are a great idea for finger foods the kids will love. If you are bologna-skiddish like me, try the same recipe with ham, turkey or roast beef instead.
• Feeling the strain of the sagging economy in your own pantry? The New York Times has some great ideas for recipes that are delicious, nutritious and affordable, like this turkey cabbage soup.
• Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a flavorful way with food crafts from FamilyFun. This Shamrock Toasty looks like the perfect snack for your wee lad or lass.

Plus, you can inspire your kids to get into the action with this super cool felt craft from Skip to My Lou:

It’s 12pm and you’re stomach is growling. You mosey over towards the office fridge and reach for the sandwich you’ve been thinking about all morning.  But, it’s no where to be found!  How is that possible if you are positive that you brought in your lunch this morning? Where could it be?

Sound familiar?  I, unfortunately, have experienced the office lunch theft one too many times.  While this has never happened to me at Tiny Prints (thanks guys), it was a regular occurrence at one of my past jobs.  That’s why I was intrigued when Daily Candy featured anti-theft lunch bags in yesterday’s newsletter.  These ingenious plastic baggies have green splotches on both sides, which makes you sandwich look moldy.  If this doesn’t save your lunch, I don’t know what will.

Anti-Theft Lunch Bags from www.thinkofthe.com

p.s. These sandwich bags are also great decoys for hungry spouses and children

I love to spend Saturday mornings at the local farmer’s market, picking up fresh fruits and veggies for the week, so I tend to turn Sunday into a cooking fest. But, once I’ve portioned out soups and sauces for the week, I generally find that all of my favorite tupperware is already tied up in the fridge.

I hate packing lunches using those little wimpy (and wasteful!) plastic sandwich baggies, so I was excited when I found these adorable cloth lunch kits from ReusableBags.com.

I love how they use bright colors and charming prints to make lunchtime more fun for the kids. Plus, the cloth sandwich wraps are really easy to use, and tend to be more sturdy than your typical sandwich bag. I also personally want one of the bento boxes—imagine how easy it would be to portion out your fruits, veggies, protein and dessert! Heaven!