During the school year, my daughter usually eats lunch from the school cafeteria. But on the occasions when my husband and I went to eat lunch with her at school, we weren’t too impressed by the selection. We want to provide healthier lunches from home, but don’t have a lot of time to prepare them in the morning.
So when Walmart challenged me to come up with a great lunchbox idea, I challenged myself to come up with something healthy, but fast. When I remembered the bento box concept, I figured that would be a great way to add some fun to lunch. This Grilled Cheese Garden is easy to make, but tastes great and looks even better!
You’ll Need:
- Whole wheat bread
- Cheddar cheese
- Turkey slices
- Raisins
- Celery sticks
- Fruit of your choice
- Flower cookie cutters in at least 2 sizes
- Cupcake liners
My daughter got us started by making a grilled cheese and turkey sandwich, her favorite hot sandwich that only takes a few minutes on the stove to make. Next, she helped me cut out shapes from the turkey and cheese. Simply press a cookie cutter as hard as you can in the center of the turkey and cheese, and peel away (and eat :)) the excess.
Simply press a cookie cutter as hard as you can in the center of the turkey and cheese, and peel away (and eat :)) the excess.You’ll want to use a large cookie cutter for the turkey and a slightly smaller one for the cheese. Put the cheese flower on top of the turkey flower, and add a bunch of raisins to the center.
Finally, assemble. We got a great lunchbox by L.O.T.G. (Lunch on the Go) from Walmart. It has a deep main compartment, along with a removable cooling pad and two smaller containers that nest inside the larger one. In this case, we just used the large outer container.
Place your sandwich on the left, and put the assembled flower on top of it. Next, put two cupcake liners next to the sandwich. Put a good spoonful of peanut butter in the bottom of one liner. Poke celery sticks into the peanut butter and drop a few raisins in between to create “grass” and “seeds.” Fill the second liner with the fruit of your choosing. We chose grapes.
My daughter loved this lunch and ate Every. Single. Bit. The best part? This meal only took us about 10 minutes to make from start to finish. If this is all it takes to get her to eat her lunch when she’s at school, I’ll really have to start doing it more often.
There are TONS of ways to make lunch awesome, using everything from waffles instead of bread for sandwiches (Pocketchange Gourmet) to making bunnies from your burger buns (Modern Mami). Check out the Walmart Lunchbox Pinterest board for more ideas.
DISCLOSURE: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
