Sponsored Post: Avocado Chicken Salad, a New Way to Pack Lunch plus a Giveaway from Glad

There’s something a little heart breaking about that first Monday after school ends at the end of June. Of course everyone is very excited to be finished another school year and looking forward to summer fun. Splashing into pools, picnics, later bedtimes, what’s not to love? And yet…. for many of us with kids going to day camps in the summer, a lunch must be packed. No rest for the wicked. Or parents.

photos by Maya Visnyei

Whether you’re packing a lunch for camp or the school year, the real killer is when lunch comes back largely untouched. I try to get my kids involved in at least planning, if not packing, their own lunches. And lots of times that’s a big help. As Laura and I always say, when kids know what’s coming to the table (or lunch bag) they’re more likely to give it a try. But somedays even a favourite lunch can’t compete with the distraction of friends. I often hear that “I didn’t have enough time!” as the reason a lunch comes back half eaten. I suspect what that translates to is, “I didn’t have time to eat my lunch and hear Georgia fill me on Ariana Grande gossip, trade Shopkins with Sahara and still get outside in time to bust my mad jungle gym moves.” So I’m loving anything that gives my packed lunches an edge in this battle. Enter these new, adorbs lunch and snack bags from Glad Facebook (in stores now for $2.49 – $3.49) Adorned with some of our favourite recent Disney characters, they just make lunch a lot more appealing. Who is going to ignore Olaf? With characters from Cars, Frozen and Toy story to entice them, my kids loved opening up these re-sealable bags and digging into their lunches. You can rinse these out and re-use them so a box of them will really last. Sign up for our Youtube channel – where our Lunch Ninja series will keep you in lunch ideas all year – for a chance to win a $100 grocery gift card provided by Glad.

Of course it also helps to switch up the contents of lunch to keep kids interested. I know some people swear by sticking with their child’s favourites but I find if I mix it up then they don’t burn out on those favourites. This easy Avocado Chicken Salad started out as a novel addition but is now a regular in our lunch rotation. You can poach the chicken or use leftovers. During a busy week, I sometimes pick up a rotisserie chicken and use the extra to make this chicken salad