It’s time to get ready for fall schedules and the kids going back to school. Here are some suggestions for snacks and meals.
Sprinkles, cookie cutters and baking sheet
Back to school means back to baking cookies and decorating cupcakes. Wilton has several fun new collections of cookie cutters, icing decorations and sprinkles, for the next time you’re holding a birthday party or baking for a class event. We loved the sea life series, with its shark, crab and seahorse cookie cutters and cute icing decorations, including adorable seashells. Also, for the start of the new school year, treat yourself to a new nonstick cookie sheet, with a cooling grid that fits right inside. And, then, choose from the dozens of sprinkle sets that make it so simple to decorate cookies and cupcakes. This is the kind of decorating your kids will love.
$6.99 per four-pack of sprinkles, $3.89 per three-piece set of cookie cutters, $7.49 per set of 12 icing decorations, $18.99 for large cookie sheet and cooling grid. Available at wilton.com.
Credit: STARP_Estudi
Credit: STARP_Estudi
Reusable food wrappers and bags
Packing school lunches means making decisions, not only about what your children will eat, but also how they’ll transport that lunch to school. In 2013, Meritxell Hernandez created Roll’eat, a company that sells reusable food wrappers. Our favorite is the Boc’n’Roll, a 13-inch-by-19-inch wrap that doubles as a place mat. Wrap the sandwich in the leak-resistant inner layer, secure it with the Velcro ties, and then, when it’s time for lunch, your child unwraps the sandwich and they have a sanitary place to set their sandwich and whatever else you’ve packed with their meal. Reusable snack bags are available that can hold items such as trail mix, cookies and fruit. When the meal is done, clean the wrap and bag with soap and water, or in the washing machine with warm water, and let dry. You can use them again and again. There are lots of colorful patterns to choose from, so your children can select their favorites.
$11.99 per Boc’n’Roll food wrap or Snack’n’Go snack bag. Available at rolleatusa.com.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Kid-friendly prepared meals
What to serve for breakfast, lunch and dinner is more complicated during a heavily scheduled school year. In 2015, when Joanna Parker posted an offer on Facebook to prepare a week’s worth of kid-friendly meals for friends, she was bombarded with sign-ups. Within months, she launched Yumble, which now offers weekly selections of meals designed so that kids can choose what they want to eat. Our taste-testers found plenty of kid-friendly simple pasta options, such as classic cheese ravioli, but also more sophisticated options, including chicken marinara Alfredo. Their moms loved that the fruit-filled empanada was baked, not fried, and came with cheesy scrambled eggs. Some meals are meant to be enjoyed at room temperature, so will travel well in a lunchbox, while others can be warmed in the microwave. Order four, six, eight or 12 meals per week, and a fully recyclable box of refrigerated meals will arrive at your door. Our meals also came with a set of table-topic cards that sparked conversation at dinner.
$6.99 to $9.99 per meal, depending on the plan; shipping is free. Available at yumblekids.com.
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