Valentine's Day Lunch Ideas

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and we’ll be celebrating all week in different ways. Keeping the fun going takes the pressure off of one day at school, where the exchanges often don’t include gluten free items. Plus, it’s tons of fun! Our Valentine’s activities range from decorating the house to homemade crafts to heart-themed foods. Read more about our favorite tips to make Valentine’s Day a memorable and positive experience.

Speaking of food, here are two cute Valentine’s Day lunch ideas. They’re both simple to make and bring big smiles to my children’s faces. The only tool you need is a heart-shaped veggie cutter. If you don’t have one, you can use a knife instead to create the heart shapes below.

Love Note Lunch Box

This lunch box was inspired by the Valentine exchange itself as it often includes a card in an envelope. The sandwich is meant to look like an envelope.

The lunch box includes:

Strawberry heart and blueberry skewers
Granola bar cut into hearts
Love note sandwich made from almond butter, banana and honey sandwich
Strawberry coconut yogurt
and a side of peas

To make the sandwich, you’ll need three pieces of bread. The first two will make your typical sandwich, just cut the crusts off. The third piece of bread will make the back flap of the envelope. Simply cut out a triangle and attach it to the bread underneath it with almond butter. That will keep it from moving around. Lastly, add a heart-shaped strawberry to the bottom of the triangle. This will give it the look of a sticker sealing an envelope.

Be Mine – Hearts Lunch

This lunch box was inspired by love, hence heart-shaped everything.

Here’s what’s included:

An apple-wich with a heart cut out of the top slice made with almond butter and jelly
Homemade “pita” chips served with roasted red pepper hummus in a heart shaped reusable muffin cup
“Ants on a log” made from celery, almond butter and raisins

To make the apple-wich:

Cut off and discard the top and bottom of your apple.
Cut the apple into 6-8 thick slices.
Remove the core in each slice with your heart shaped veggie cutter, or create the shape with a knife.
Add almond butter on the bottom, and jelly on top.
Place your second slice on top so that the jelly shows through in the heart cut-out.

How do I make the pita chips? Simple!

Takeout one of your favorite gluten free tortillas (ours are Siete almond flour)
Cut out a bunch of hearts with a veggie cutter.
Add them to a pan on low heat. (No oil needed!)
Cook them until they browned slightly, turning regularly so they wouldn’t burn.