They're Pinterest-y perfect, but as kids' lunches take over your feed, one mom is unmasking the theory that these creatively assembled dishes are daunting, rather than totally achievable.
"I love food photography, so of course I'm going to style it up and make it look pretty," Foodie mama and lunchbox guru Kelly Pfeiffer told "Good Morning America," adding that the boxes are about community and camaraderie and not a competition between parents.
"Parents are just trying to feed their kids," she explained. "I think some people want to do simpler things and that's fun too. The food itself is pretty simple in my lunchboxes, they're just put together in a creative way."
Pfeiffer has been blogging since 2012, but started making lunches one year ago for her 8-year-old daughter, Kaela. Pfeiffer also noticed pretty lunches blowing up on social media in 2018 because, well, they're fun.
But Pfeiffer said there are popular misconceptions about the lunchbox trend that can be easily debunked.
It’s expensive.
Pfeiffer said it's often cheaper than a school lunch.
It takes too much time to assemble. "A lot of times, I use leftovers," she said. "Soups are easy to send."
The lunchboxes are difficult to clean. "They come apart in pieces and you can put them right in the dishwasher."
My kids aren’t going to like any of that food. "If they're not going to eat broccoli, put the veggie in broccoli and cheddar soup," Pfeiffer said. "Where they may not eat it normally, they might if it's in this combination, and don't give up if they don't eat it. Try it in something else."
It has to be fancy.
"I'm not going to throw judgment because you chose to spend time like that," Pfeiffer noted. "It's like when you’re cooking for a party you want your guests to say it looks fancy."
"If that works for that mom, you do you."
A simple search of #kidslunch on Instagram turns up 134,131 posts from parents proudly displaying their healthy, bento box-like creations.
Pfeiffer uses a leak-proof meal box called an OmieBox to store Kaela's lunches. She puts together three or so lunches per week, which are themed by letters of the alphabet and shared on her Instagram page, @noshandnourish. She includes simple, encouraging notes using a marker on a post-it.
"No cookie cutters required," she said. "No food pens. No googly eyes required. Just real, colorful, delicious food."
Below, Pfeiffer shares a lunchbox inspired by the letter S, part of her #NourishABC series, that's super cozy for fall.
Difficulty level: 2 out of 10.
"The hardest thing is making the soup the night before, but we’ll often eat it for dinner and then I’ll send it in the lunchbox the next day," Pfeiffer said.
Cost
For the soup, it comes out to $.98 per serving
For the strawberries, $.75
For the Sabra hummus, $1
For the crackers, $.12
For the sandwich, $1
Total lunch cost = $3.85
Ingredients
1 bosc pear
3 cups cubed butternut squash (approx. ½ of a large one)
½ tbsp olive oil
1 tsp everything-but-the-bagel spice (from Trader Joe’s)
1 cup unsweetened Silk almondmilk
¼ tsp minced garlic
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Peel and cut the butternut into cubes.
Cut out the core and stem of the pear and cut it into large pieces (it will be blended later, so the size doesn’t matter).
On a parchment lined baking sheet, arrange the pear and butternut into a single layer.
Brush on the olive oil and sprinkle with the everything-but-the-bagel spice. Bake for 20 minutes.
Combine the roasted pear and butternut with the almondmilk and garlic in a high speed blender. Blend on high until smooth. Serve immediately.
To prepare it for the lunchbox, follow the instructions on the thermos section of the OmieBox. Heat the soup on the stove and pour it into the thermos container. It will stay warm/hot for up to four hours.