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Food Blogger Picks for Easy Back-to-School Meals

So long, summer! Back-to-school season is officially here, and with that transition comes hectic mornings, jam-packed afternoons and busy evenings. As schedules fill up, certain priorities can start to slip, but there’s one thing that shouldn’t: healthy eating. Luckily, serving your clan a wholesome, nutritious weeknight meal can be as easy and convenient as 1-2-3. The secret ingredient? Libby’s® Vegetable Cups. These single-serving cups, available in five varieties, are easy to open and packed with vitamins and minerals, making them an ideal lunchbox component and perfect addition to time-crunched weeknight dining. We’ve rounded up two brand new food blogger recipes that showcase the best of Vegetable Cups in back-to-school-inspired dishes.


These Easy Chicken Lettuce Wraps from Lisa at Snappy Gourmet feature Libby’s® Diced Carrots Vegetable Cups alongside protein-packed chicken bits and stick-to-your-ribs sticky rice. The wraps are versatile—you can serve them as a quick lunch, dinner or appetizer—and can easily be personalized for different palates. For an extra special weekday lunch, pack the wrap ingredients in a bento box and let your kids assemble them at school. This recipe serves 4, but you can easily cut it down to a single serving or dial it up for a big crowd. Bonus: each serving costs less than $2.00, making this both a waistline-friendly AND wallet-friendly option.
 
Allison over at Some the Wiser concocted this Quick Chicken Chili using Libby’s® Whole Kernel Sweet Corn Vegetable Cups. It’s super simple to pull together—we’re talking less than 35 minutes from start to finish—and delivers a hearty dose of flavor, nutrition and sustenance. Make a double (or even triple) batch of this on the weekend and pop it in the freezer for an instant dinner on those unexpectedly nutty weeknights. Serve it with a toppings bar (think: shredded cheese, sour cream, plain yogurt, avocado chunks and tortilla chips) for a fun, customizable meal sure to please the whole family. 

Foodie Fixations: Today’s Top Culinary Trends

One of the most wonderful things about the culinary world (and there are many!) is that it is constantly in flux. New recipes, cooking methods, presentation styles and even ingredients seem to appear every day, keeping our palates forever enticed and entertained. Here are three top foodie movements of the moment. Try them out today before tomorrow’s trends arrive.

 

 1.     Bento-Style Lunches: When it comes to packed lunches, simple brown-bagging no longer makes the cut. Instead, bento lunches—compact, balanced, and visually appealing meals packed in a box—are becoming a staple in school cafeterias. These Pinterest-perfect arrangements encourage well-rounded eating and make mealtime more fun for picky eaters. Libby’s® 4 oz. Vegetable Cups fit particularly well inside these lunchboxes.  

 2.     Plant-Based Proteins: Move aside, meat. Plant-based sources of protein (think: lentils, chickpeas, nuts and other beans) are stealing the mealtime spotlight. Hop on the bandwagon with these Sweet & Smoky Peas, starring Libby’s® Sweet Peas and Libby’s® Organic Garbanzo Beans. This protein-filled combo also packs serious flavor, thanks to cinnamon, sugar and smoked paprika.

 3.     Portable Soups: On-the-go soup offers both health and convenience, two increasingly valued qualities in food. Try out the trend with this Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup with Maple Roasted Garbanzo Beans. It’s a creamy, complex mixture of autumn’s finest flavors, including maple, cinnamon and nutmeg. Prep work is minimal, but the recipe requires about six hours of simmering in the crock pot, so it’s ideal as a weekend project. Once ready, the soup can be stored in the fridge and then transferred to a thermos for easy eating anywhere.