Healthy Lunchbox Series Day 2 and a Recipe!

It's day 2 of the Healthy Lunchbox Series! My 7-year-old taste tester loved the finger food theme of yesterday's lunch, so I kept the eat-with-your hands theme going here. But with a nautical twist!

This lunch is nutritionally balanced, to provide a kid with the energy s/he needs to learn! There's your veggies (a chopped carrot) and peanut-free dip: 



There's your fruit, in the form of a Pear Strawberry Just Fruit Bar, made of 100% fruit (just pear puree, pear juice concentrate, and strawberry puree) with no added sugars, preservatives or additives.

There's your humor (a super-corny pirate joke), your 'kid's meal toy' (an eye patch from Pirate's Booty), your cheesy, all natural snack (Pirate's Booty is baked, with 50% less fat than chips, and is trans fat- and gluten-free) :

Here are the ingredients, for those of you who are curious:

And then you have the focal point of the meal, with your energy-giving carbs and healthy fats: homemade pancake pinwheels!

 They only take a few minutes to throw together, but they're delicious, convenient, and fun to eat!

 You start with your basic pancake.

 Quick & Easy Pancake (makes 1, serves 1)

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 1/8 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tablespoon Smart Balance Olive Oil & Butter blend, melted (or oil)
• Oil for the pan

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, butter (or oil), and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to milk mixture; whisk until just moistened (do not overmix; a few small lumps are fine).

2. Heat a large, oiled skillet pan over medium heat. 
3. Pour batter into pan, cook for 1-2 minutes on each side (flip once).

After your pancake cools (you can either let it sit on the counter for a bit or stick it in the refrigerator for a few minutes), the assembly begins!

PBJ Pancake Pinwheels (serves 1)

 
1) Spread the pancake with 2 Tbsp of PB Crave Razzle Dazzle.

2) Roll up the pancake, starting from one edge and rolling to the other, until you have a pancake log.

3) Stick five toothpicks approximately equal distances apart in the log.

4) Slice between each pair of toothpicks.

5) Enjoy!


They're so yummy and they also smell amazing with the Razzle Dazzle. I'd recommend using a flavored nut butter over nut butter and jam, because jam can make the pinwheels soggy if you make them the day before, as I did.

 
I recommend using a creamy nut butter (think Skippy-style: so like PB Crave or Barney Butter or something) over drippier nut butters for this recipe, because it makes the overall pinwheel mouth feel amazing.

Here's what my sister thought of the lunch: she didn't like the carrots and Wowbutter combination. She liked the Wowbutter, but thought carrots with nut butter sounded weird. She didn't eat the Just Fruit bar, because she ran out of time, and she only ate half of the Pirate's Booty (their lunches must be pretty short!) but the Pirate's Booty was her favorite part of the lunch.

Oh, and she laughed at my joke :) What's a pirate's favorite letter? Arrrrrr!

She also said she liked the pinwheels and that they were fun to eat. Though she said she unrolled half of them to make them easier to eat, so take that as you will... Anyway, I'm off to make up tomorrow's lunch!

Don't forget to enter my Gardein Giveaway and my Nana's Cookies Giveaway (winners announced Saturday)!

What was your favorite bag lunch as a kid?

What's your go-to bag lunch now?

Do you use a lunchbox for work/college or a paper bag or...?