Every September we enter the school year with renewed interest in creating healthy, exciting lunches for our kids. Our children were the inspiration for our embarking on food crafting to begin with, and they remain a huge inspiration. As every mother can attest, packing school lunches can be frustrating, especially if those lunches, always made with love and care, come back untouched. (My son is a sneaky one; I know he doesn’t eat everything I pack for him, but somehow, the box is empty when he comes home.) But who can blame a kid for not wanting to eat the same old same old? So, with an eye toward both health and excitement, we’ve created recipes that will sustain burgeoning brains throughout the school day. It’s no secret that kids who start the day with a healthy meal are more likely to fare better in school, have less trouble paying attention and fewer disciplinary issues, and enjoy overall better energy and health. But that’s all so serious. For the kids’ sake, I like to make making lunch fun by having them do much of it with me the night before. Notes left inside their lunchboxes help, too.