This week I’ve come face to face with my toughest opponent. Every year I walk away defeated, hanging my head in shame. I’m talking about school lunches, people. Feeding my picky child is always a chore and sadly his school has no cafeteria.  My goal this year is to be as hands off as possible when packing up the midday meal.  I’ve read some tips on how to make this process go as smoothly as possible. Please let me know if you have any other ideas!

What to pack

It’s easy to get in a rut when packing lunch, especially if you’re kid doesn’t complain about having PB & J every day. A good tip I read is to pack what your kid will eat (within reason), not what you want them to eat. Here are some ideas to keep things interesting.

Main course

Turkey sandwich
Pasta salad
Bagel
Pizza
Tortilla with Cheese
Lunch meat roll-up
Hard boiled eggs
Tuna sandwich
Pita and Hummus
Pizza muffin
Homemade lunchable
Leftovers

Fruits and Veggies

Cucumbers
Carrots
Celery
Salad
Snap Peas
Edamame
Strawberries
Blueberries
Apples
Raspberries
Cherries
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Pineapple
Oranges
Bananas
Grapes
Plums
Apricots
Raisins
Kiwi

Snacks

Granola bar
Pretzels
String cheese
Yogurt
Fish crackers
Popcorn
Nuts
Trail mix
Fig bar

How to organize and pack

I saw a genius post this summer that made me dream of organizing my life. I’m still a hot mess. Let me know if you take this next idea for spin and how it goes. Label bins number 1-5 in the fridge and in the cabinet. On Sunday nights fill bin 1 with main courses for the week, bin 2 with fruit, bin 3 with veggies, bin 4 with dairy, and bin 5 with a snack. Give your kid the freedom to pack their own lunch by chosing one item from each bin every day.

One lady posted about her family’s lunch cabinet. It has storage containers, lunch boxes, and snacks all in one place. She also meal plans one to two weeks in advance. She is pretty much one of those people I love to hate.

Reusable bento boxes are the thing right now! Everything has it’s own individual section and only one container to wash.  We don’t have any bento boxes so we pack lunches in reusable plastic and glass containers.

When

All of the ultra organized families I read about had a couple of things in common. They planned and prepped for the week over the weekend.  They also packed lunches the night before instead of in the morning. One person recommended packing lunch right after dinner. You can pack leftovers for the next day and have only one clean up for both meals.