When else do you take the time to cut things into hearts for your child or a lover’s lunch? Here are some easy ideas to put together a Valentine’s Day packed lunch in partnership with LARABAR…

When I got the package of LARABARS in the mail my mouth was salivating! Cherry pie, Coconut cream pie, blueberry muffin, peanut butter cookie? Yum! I’ve had a lot of bars before but here’s what I LOVE about these: the ingredients are really simple. They’re made from 100% real foods: unsweetened fruits, nuts, and spices. Plus they’re all gluten-free, Kosher, and non-GMO; most are vegan as well. Food made from food (imagine that!). The cashew cookie is one of my favorites, and it’s just cashews and dates. LARABAR was established on the idea that real food should be accessible for all. Founder Lara Merriken combined whole, simple ingredients in a convenient, on-the-go package to deliver on that promise.

For a Valentine’s day packed lunch, we love cheeky puns so we created one for these bars: You’re the best BAR none. Stamp it on some card stock, and attached with string to the bar.

Here are some more ideas for a cute Valentine’s day packed lunch:

Jam sandwiches. Cut out of bread using a mini heart cookie cutter, fill with jam (my crafting assistant Gaby mixes the jam with cream cheese for an extra treat that’s also pink!). Use the bread scraps to make homemade meatballs for dinner later.

Yogurt parfait. We cut tiny hearts out of strawberries and added pomegranates and coconut on top of strawberry yogurt.

Cheese-y messages! Use alphabet cookie cutters to spell out your love note with thinly sliced sandwich cheese. Use the scraps for grilled cheese later.

Other ideas:

Babybell hearts: use an x-acto knife to cut a heart shape out of your babybell cheese wax.

Cucumber hearts: punch out hearts in your cucumber round with a mini cookie cutter.

Apple heart: press a heart cookie cutter into a red apple and then pull out, leaving the inside heart intact.

Photography and styling by Liz Stanley. Assisted by Stephanie Gardner and Gaby Viglas.

Also, I can’t get this song out of my head now! Very cute:

Thanks to LARABAR for sponsoring this post. Be sure to enter the giveaway to get a full prize package of Larabars + other goodies in the mail:
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