It’s daily lunch making season again. I don’t know why this feels any different than making lunch in the summer time. It’s not like I don’t feed my kids all summer! I suppose it’s the fact that I have to do it at 7am and figure out how to keep it all cool or hot for 5 hours. I have never been able to make lunches the night before. Once dinner is cleaned up, my kitchen is CLOSED.
Let’s look at what makes up a good lunch. I think of it in terms of 3 parts. This is one of the many many reasons I really like the laptop lunches. Protein/Hot Food. Fruit/Veggie. Crunch.
The key is really for variety. But not the drive yourself crazy variety. More like, if your kids like pretzels, vary the size and shape. If your kids like melons, vary how you cut it or which ones you include. If your kids like ham and cheese sandwiches try them on croissants, baguettes or even crackers instead of regular bread. If your kids love breakfast, try waffles instead of bread for their grain. This keeps it interesting for them and for YOU!
I do NOT kill myself over making the perfect lunch for everyone’s particular cravings. I make basically the same thing for each of my three kids. One may prefer turkey to ham, fine, I can do that, but I draw the line there. I use lots of leftovers for lunch too. Leftover tomato soup from last night, perfect. Go with what already works. Keep it…simple.
Here is a list of some ideas to help kick start your routine or to look back at when you need a fresh idea in your repertoire. You can always take a look at my Snack + Lunch Ideas board on Pinterest
Just wanted to say “thank you”. I’m going through Pinterest and blogs about school lunches and trying to start fresh this year, but keep seeing all these that are make ahead for an entire week which would be great but I can’t figure out how the keep fruit from browning, the pretzels and chips from softening, etc. It was just so nice to read that you close your kitchen after dinner and also are trying to keep things hot, etc which means morning lunch packing! Glad I’m not the only one. Appreciate the ideas also. That’s it. Have a great school year.
Thank you so much Heather!best to you too!