Category — green tips

We received news from the ladies over at laptoplunches.com… and they have a new color combo!

Their Laptop lunchboxes are now available in black with red inserts, and they are GORGEOUS! We got one in, and it is much more “adult” looking. It comes with a fork & spoon with red handles, and all of the small containers are red. It looks like a real Japanese bento box!

This one is for my husband to take to work. Now when I am making dinner I can make enough for the three of them to take to lunch the next day, and just pack everything the night before – how much easier is that?

So, if you were considering a Laptop Lunchbox for yourself, but you weren’t sure about the colors they have one for you!

Head over there to take a look…

LaptopLunches.com

When you combine the cost of school hot lunches with the sheer lack of nutrition parents are looking for a better way to feed their children. Enter the lunchbox! When you pack a healthy, nutritious lunch for your kids, you know that they are getting the good stuff that they need – and you can save some money! For our 2 girls it would cost $100 per month to pay for the school-provided lunch of pizza, hot dogs or chicken nuggets. Why pay for junk food when you can send them to school with something healthy for less?

To this end I have been looking for a good lunchbox that would cut down on the about of waste that a typical cold lunch can create – ziploc baggies to keep everything seperate, aluminum foil, wax paper or plastic wrappers for the foods inside, etc. Did you know that it has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year? That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school!

In my searching for a solution I recently discovered a new kind of lunchbox for my girls – one that cuts down on the amount of waste each day.

They are called the Laptop Lunchbox, and they are available online, or in many health food & eco-concious stores around the country.

What is a laptop lunchbox you ask? A very nice way to pack a lunch for your child – or your self!

Each laptop lunchbox comes with 5 containers inside – 2 with lids. They all fit together perfectly into the case, and they make you think about the lunch that you are preparing for your kids.

There are 2 large containers – one with a lid. They fit a sandwich cut in half very nicely, and I usually put some applesauce & granola in the one with a lid. There are also 2 smaller containers that are perfect for trail mix, carrot sticks, mandarine orange wedges, etc, and a mini container with a lid that is perfect for your child’s favorite dip. And they come with a fork & spoon.

All of the pieces go into the dishwasher – yay! – and clean up very easily.

My girls use these every day – I just wash out the containers in the sink & dry them to be ready to use the next day.

Things I love about the Laptop Lunchbox:
- multiple containers make me think about how to fill them with healthy food
- a dip container that holds just enough, but not too much
- a specific place for everything
- fun color combinations
- the recipe/lunch ideas book that comes with it

Things I think can be improved:
- I wish one of the small containers had a lid – they are the perfect size for yogurt or applesauce
- it took the girls a bit to figure out how to open them, but once they figured out “their way” it hasn’t been a problem
- if the cutlery section was a tiny bit bigger you could fit a cloth napkin in too

I have gotten each of the girls a small tote bag that their laptop lunchbox fits down inside – along with their water bottle or juice and an ice pack to keep the contents cold. They slip these into their backpacks and they have an easy way to carry their lunch over to the lunchroom.

Because everything has a specific place inside, it is obvious if something is missing. They have been using their lunchboxes for almost a month now, and we haven’t lost a single piece – pretty good for a kindergardener and a first grader!

If you are looking for a lunch time solution, I urge you to take a look at the Laptop Lunchbox. They have 4 different color combinations to appeal to a variety of tastes, and your kids will have fun putting their lunchbox puzzle back together after they have eaten a healthy, nutirtious lunch!

To order your sets, please visit LaptopLunches.com

Do you love to garden? We purchased a new home this year that came with a fabulous garden – garlic, herbs, trees, bushes… lots of beauty. Not one to leave well enough alone, I had to add more flowers to the bounty.

I received a catalog from Michigan Bulb and of course had to get some new plants.

I have to say I am impressed with most of what I ordered. They ship many plants just as a root system – something I hadn’t realized before. I trusted them and put these gnarly looking roots in the ground around our yard and prayed that something would grow.

As the Summer is coming to an end I have been blessed with 3 colors of balloon flowers, peony’s that should bloom in the next couple of years, and a hibiscus bush that is almost 2 feet tall. The only one that I had a problem getting to grow are the poppy’s. I have always wanted a large red oriental poppy bush, but I have heard that they are very finicky. I will be giving it another year to see if it comes out of dormancy, but I am hopeful! Everything else is beautiful, and already grown quite large.

If you are looking for a place to get your fall bulbs or some plants next year, I recommend Michigan Bulb. Did I mention that I have some Asiatic Lilies coming too? Gotta go get them in the ground this month!