The older your kids get, the more difficult it is to make a school lunch your kids will be happy with. Now that my son is a senior, he is not interested in the cute little “bento” sandwiches any more, so my days of cutting star-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are over. (Excuse me while I have a moment of silence for those cute little sandwiches.) His palate is more “sophisticated” now, so he prefers “grown-up” cuisine for lunch (snort). Since I am not running a 24-hour/five-star diner around here (old family joke), my son gets what he gets (usually a turkey sandwich and fruit), but every now and then I try to jazz things up for him (I’ve got to win that Mother-of-the Year award somehow, right?). This Thai Noodle Salad with chicken, vegetables, and noodles, then drizzled in a tangy-sweet peanut dressing, is exactly what his “sophisticated palate” craves…but now I have another problem. This fancy food can’t be shoved into a baggie, so I had to come up with a new lunch packing solution. Fortunately, I keep everything packaged nicely in Snapware® Total Solution food storage containers, so now this kid is getting a fancy lunch in fancy containers. (I’ll take that Mother of the Year award now, thank you very much.)
{This is a Snapware®/World Kitchen sponsored post, but this recipe and my ideas are 100% my own.}
Snapware® Total Solutions
Snapware® Total Solution offers food storage containers in lots of shapes and sizes, so I can put almost anything into his lunch, including Thai Noodle Salad. The snaps on the side of the containers are easy open/easy close, keeping everything safely sealed inside without spilling. I also like the Snapware® ice packs, which are thinner than most ice packs, fit right inside the Snapware® Total Solution containers, and keep food cold for up to four hours. Most importantly, I like that Snapware® containers go from refrigerator to his lunchbox, then his lunchbox to the dishwasher. Easy to use and easy to clean up! My set includes:
- Snapware® Total Solution Plastic 3.01c/712mL Small Short Rectangle
- Snapware® Total Solution Plastic 5.02c/1.18L Small Medium Rectangle
- Snapware® Total Solution Plastic 8.39c/1.98L Medium Short Rectangle
- Snapware® Total Solution Plastic 1.34c/317mL Small
Medium Square - Snapware® Total Solution Plastic 5.35c/1.26L Medium Short Square
- Snapware® Total Solution Plastic 3.86c/914mL Medium Short Round
- Snapware® Total Solution Plastic 1.21c/286mL Small Short Round
- Snapware® Total Solution Plastic 2.01c/476mL Small Tall Round
- Snapware® Small Rectangle Ice Pack 2 pack
- Snapware® Medium Square Ice Pack 2 pack
I was able to use one Snapware® Total Solution container for his salad (with an ice pack to keep it cold), another for his grapes, and I could have used Snapware® containers for dessert, potato chips, and more. I could even use it for a #ThrowbackThursday star-shaped Peanut Butter & Jelly if I want to!
Thai Noodle Salad
This recipe makes enough salad for 3-4 meals, which worked out perfectly, as I had enough for my sons lunch, plus lunch for my husband and myself…all stored in Snapware® Total Solution containers, of course.
- 1 Package Spaghetti Noodles
- 2-3 Cooked Chicken Breasts
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 Red Pepper
- 1 Green Onion
- 3 Tbsp. Honey Roasted Peanuts
Peanut Dressing
- 3 Tbsp. Smooth Peanut Butter
- 2 1/2 Tbsp. Honey
- 2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar
- 1 tsp. Finely Zested Fresh Ginger
- 1 tsp. Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
Cook the pasta according to package directions. When finished, drain and set in the refrigerator to cool. Cut the chicken breast into small bite-size pieces and set aside in a bowl. Finely chop the cucumber or use a spiral slicer to make cucumber noodles. (Note: If you make cucumber noodles, they blend into the salad and picky eaters will never know they are there!) Finely chop the red pepper and green onion. When the noodles are cool, mix the chicken and vegetables into the noodles.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and lime juice. Mix in the zested ginger. Pour the dressing over the chicken and noodles, and toss together so the dressing coats all the ingredients. Sprinkle the peanuts on top whole, or if you want to get fancy, chop the peanuts into small pieces, then toss into the salad. Refrigerate or keep cold until ready to eat.
For more information about Snapware® Total Solution, please visit the Snapware®/World Kitchen website. You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
96 comments
My kids love pizza pinwheels for their lunches.
My daughter love peanut butter sandwiches
My daughter is obsessed with chicken and dumplings and Carrots and celery with ranch!
Shaped hard-boiled eggs!
I dont have kids but if I did I would give them chips & veggies and dip in their lunch
They love chicken nuggets.
Spagetti and Meatballs always!
lasagna
Good storage containers are so hard to come by
My kids are now grown and have kids of their own. But when my 2 were little they liked the standard pb&j sandwiches with cookies and a banana.
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
I would love this Thai Noodle Salad…but I’m afraid neither of my children would eat it. They’re just not into the ‘fancy’ foods. My daughter would probably enjoy bringing chili in a thermos as her idea of ‘fancy’. And my son would love to have a quesadilla or tacos in his lunch. That’s about as fancy as they get.
Anything put together on a skewer gets raves around here!
Turkey wrap ups
Spaghetti!
PB and banana in a wrap
My son likes a deli sandwich on soft white bread.
My daughter likes salad and my son prefers soup.
My son loves nutella sandwiches for a special treat!
Entered the Rafflecopter as “Wild Orchid”
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 AT gmail DOT com
My children love antipasto
My grandson likes Tuna sandwiches or Ham sandwiches for lunch.
My daughter loves Chicken Lo Mein.
PB & J in fancy shapes!
My kids like vegetable sushi.
Gelatin stars made with forms in Strawberry/banana
My daughter loves chicken salad wraps!
my child is grown now but would eat ham and cheese sandwiches – nothing fancy
My son loves his peanut butter sandwiches, chips & cookies.
My kids favorite “fancy” meal is lasagna, cheesy garlic bread and apple juice served in wine glasses. And for dessert it is cheese cake with their choice of chocolate, strawberry or caramel sauce 🙂
I think tuna salad and ham pinwheels are favorites around here!
Grilled chicken salad.
When my daughter was younger she liked veggie and chicken sushi rolls that I made for her once a week. Fun special lunch. Thank you for the chance 🙂
Our kid’s favorite fancy lunch is I make Spaghetti Pie! They love it!
hotdog bites with spaghetti noodles stuck through them.
My daughter loves lobster mac and cheese!
Egg salad sandwich.
My daughters favorite lunch is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
My kids love “sushi” with seaweed as snacks for their lunches.
My son likes sunbutter and jelly “sushi” rolls.
Probably italian!
His favorite is sweet and sour chicken on rice! He loves when we have leftovers for lunch!
My daughter loves pulled pork sammies!
My 3 year old daughter loves Brie & crackers
My kids love shrimp scampi and chinese orange chicken over rice.
Thin Spaghetti and meatballs with marinara sauce.
We love any sort of Mexican food for lunch!
Peanut butter sandwiches…on french toast!
Any type of pasta is a hit with them.
My daughters favorite fancy lunch is sushi. She loves all kinds and we have it as often as we can!
turkey & cheese sandwiches!
Big fans of pasta salad!
Pasta Salad, for sure!
My grandkids love mini pigs in a blanket!
My boys are not into fancy foods at the ages that they are.
My little one loves french toast with melted cheese on top cut into dinosaur shapes!
Turkey with cheese Sandwich!
My kid loves faux sushi wraps 🙂
They love little pita sandwiches, if that counts as fancy!
They love a good old ham and cheese sandwich
my kids wont eat anything fancy lol. they really love peanut butter and banana sandwhiches
They love tiny sandwiches 🙂
cutting her sandwiches in 4 triangles. 🙂
My children and I also like whole wheat wraps with peanut butter and jelly and sometimes bananas in it.
My kids love my redneck eggrolls.
i don’t have children but my favorite lunch is a grilled chicken Mediterranean salad!
My kids like when I make them a panini in our press with cheese and some veggies.
Turkey rollups.
My daughters favorite fancy lunch is a tuna/cheese sandwich.
PBJ is as fancy as my son gets.
I used to make them “fruit sushi” which was basically a couple different fruits cut bite sized and put together in a different way or wrapped in dried fruit. They thought it was fancy because it was “sushi”.
My kids loved BBQ pork sandwiches for lunch!
They love when I cut things into fun shapes.
peanut butter and banana sandwiches
My daughter loves sesame noodles with chicken and vegetables.
Mine love quesadillas
Salads with balsamic vinaigrette too! Thanks so much for the chances to win.
My son loves chicken and mint salad 🙂
my kids love pizza bread as a fancy snacks options.
My grandson only likes peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches. Fancy for him would be no crusts!
My kids favorite fancy lunch was different types of cheese and crackers.
Bagels with cheese, my daughter loves it.
Lol- crackers, cheese, and grapes
My niece loves my mom’s homemade mac and cheese. It is amazing!
He likes my cold chicken salad made with grapes and peanuts.
We all love the Country Style Hamburgers for lunch. They are so yummy.
My Granddaughter’s favorite is yogurt!
We don’t do fancy at our house. PB and J and Top Ramen for lunch. 🙂
burritos
ravioli. And my daughter likes it from scratch!
My kids don’t get to fancy but they do like sweet and sour chicken and eggrolls.
My son loves cold chicken, frozen grapes, and yogurt with granola.
My son loves the veggie sushi you get at Whole Foods. No seafood or anything expensive but it looks very exquisite 😉
My son only takes jelly sandwiches every day. Nothing fancy for him!
moms goolash noodle suprise =P
A BLT is my daughter idea of a fancy sandwich.
Cocktail cucumbers, slices of cheese and salami with slices of homemade French bread.