Trader Joe's Lunchable

It's back-to-school time for some; however, in our state, we've still got 2 weeks. But I decided that this lunchable is packable for school (for those who have started) or for the park (for those of us who are struggling through the last few weeks of summer).

One of my favorite stores is Trader Joe's. Not only are the employees friendly and knowledgeable, but the store is clean, well laid-out, and full of yummy things. My kids enjoying tagging along to look for the Octavia puppet (our store's mascot), which the employees hide in different places all over the store. Once they find her, the kids are given a sugar-free lollipop or a piece of fruit in exchange for Octavia's location. Today, she was on top of the mini chocolate biscotti.

In order to keep this lunchable simple, I popped into Trader Joe's to pick up a few remaining items to add to the other TJ's items I already had at home.

Here's my basic ingredients for today's lunch: Sesame Honey Almonds (protein). Extra sharp cheddar cheese (dairy). Sesame Sticks (grain). Sugar Snap Peas (veggie). Dried Mandarin Oranges (fruit).

After I trimmed the snappeas and cubed the cheese, I placed 4 silicone baking cups into a small, plastic container.

Cheese cubes go in one silicone cup. For aesthetic purposes, I made sure to NOT place the orange foods in the yellow cup. Orange and yellow would blend together too much, and I wanted to make them pop visually.

Diagonally across from the cheese, goes the other orange food - dried mandarin oranges.

Sesame sticks - my current craving - fill up another baking cup.

Sesame honey almonds, the protein component, complete the fourth cup.

Lastly, the deliciously crunchy snappeas get tucked in between the baking cups.

And voila! A Trader Joe's Lunchable that was easy, relatively affordable and involves no cooking!