If you – or your kid – are blanching at the thought of yet another year of day-after-day brown bagged PB&J, perhaps this is the year to mix up the lunch box offerings a bit.

Of course, that’s an easy thing to say. It’s a lot harder to execute when the morning rush hits and getting the family out of bed and out the door has all the ease of a multinational military maneuver. That is why the typical parent is unlikely ever to fully abandon that all-American sandwich.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t mix things up now and then. The trick is to have something from which to draw inspiration – and we don’t mean staring blankly into the refrigerator at 7 a.m.