I’m definitely in the get ready for school mode now. Last night Kailea and I put the finishing touches on her school papers / artwork binder for last year, and we did the back-to-school closet clean out. Our local children’s charity picked up two bags of Collin and Kailea’s clothes this morning (woohoo!) and we’ve started the clothes shopping list. So, preparations are under way.
Next up, is restocking the lunch bin. I’ve blogged about our lunch bin in the past, and truly, this is one big sanity saver for me during the school year. It saves a bunch of time every school day morning because everything needed to make lunch is corralled together in a handy mini-zone. Since my break from packing lunches is about to come to an end, it’s time to get the lunch bin well stocked with food, new lunch boxes, and reusable storage containers.
One of the main reasons I pack my kid’s lunches is that it can be a healthier option than buying lunch at school. But it still takes some planning and label-reading to make sure we’re choosing healthy options. Some of our current lunch time standbys include organic granola bars, grapes, cheese cubes and wheat crackers. I’d love to make homemade cookies to pack along with their lunches, but often my schedule just doesn’t have the breathing room.
So, I was really excited when the folks at Ice Box Bakery contacted me about their all natural cookies and offered to send me some samples to try. The oatmeal chocolate chip cookies were really yummy, and best yet—super simple to make. All you have to do is slice and bake them, something that even the busiest of us can squeeze into the schedule. So that’s one idea for freshening up the lunch bin…but I’d love more ideas. (You can only get so much mileage out of granola bars, grapes, cheese cubes, wheat crackers and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.)
So how do you handle lunches during the school year? If you pack lunches, I’d love to hear what you put in your kid’s lunch boxes. Thanks for sharing! (My kids thank you, too!)
LOVE the lunch bin idea! Makes perfect sense. I’m dreading the packing lunches again for back to school but maybe with simpler things like the lunch bin, it will help!
Thank you!
I make my kids lunches every day – and the fruit always comes back uneaten. I can pack a nice healthy lunch, but I don’t know how to make them eat it!
My kids aren’t as adventurous yet BUT here’s one of my favorite sites that puts a punch of fun in lunch for kids….and mom too when she’s got a little extra energy…
http://www.anotherlunch.com/
My kids aren’t as adventurous yet BUT here’s one of my favorite sites that puts a punch of fun in lunch for kids….and mom too when she’s got a little extra energy…
http://www.anotherlunch.com/
Laurel – my kids won’t eat the fruit in their lunch either – so I quit sending it. I serve the fruit at dinner when I can see them eat it!
I love this lunchbin idea! I am going to find a container to start mine TODAY!
My kids tend to be more likely to eat the fruit in their lunchbox if I have it cut up, or if I mix a few types of fruit together. I will slice an apple into wedges (it doesn’t turn brown, I promise!) and sometimes add a few grapes with it. Or add a small container of peanut butter for dipping.
Also, since my kids started using a bento box (Laptop Lunches), I’ve found a lot more of the food gets eaten. It just looks more appetizing without all the plastic bags, bruised fruit etc.
I send my son’s (who is 5) lunch in a big divided Tupperware lunch container. He only has to open on container. so I find he eats more because he is able to pick/eat alittle bit of everything here and there. instead of having to open one container of say fruit, eat that and then put it away. then open the next container. hope i’m making sense.
I send dry cereal, crackers, cheese, rolled up meat, muffins, fruits & vegetables.
this year i want to try to be alittle more creative and cut his sandwiches with cookie cutters.
I just ordered a new lunchbox for MYSELF as I am a teacher, now laid off and working as a sub, so I don’t have a steady workplace. Visit gogreenlunchbox.com and check it out. I also have a place for lunch stuff, we have pull-out pantry shelves and stuff is either there or the fridge. Things we like around here are bagels with cream cheese because they don’t squish and you can choose whole grain low fat etc. if you want, also Lara Bars which are a nice change from granola bars, our Wal-Mart and some groc. stores have them or larabar.com also. Now that my girls are in high school they don’t want a container *sooo not cool* so they reuse plastic grocery sacks. They are happy with a bagel & cut up apple & eat other stuff at home. Fast way to apple slices – cut four slabs vertically off the core, then slice the slabs. Way faster than cutting the core out of the slices. I have my favorite no-fuss veggies for my lunches: the fancy cukes that come wrapped in plastic, just slice & salt or dip, pea pods – no slicing, and grape tomatoes. Done.
my kids love apples so i use the pampered chef apple slicer, you leave the core in place and wrap in foil, it’s sliced and perfect when they go to eat it!! a small container of peanut butter and a plastic spoon makes it even better!
I pack lunches 4 days a week, and let them buy lunch 1 day. I have 4 kids between 7 and 2, and this year, 3 will be in school. I rotate through several standards each week: wraps (whole wheat flatbread, deli meat, cheese, and sunrise slaw ), PB & J on bread or sometimes in a ‘pocket’ of flour tortilla, a second deli meat and cheese on whole wheat sandwich thins, and cheese-n-cracker lunch (2 kinds of whole grain crackers, turkey pepperoni, and string cheese). Chips might be SunChips, pita chips, blue corn tortilla chips, or pretzels. Finger fruits or cut veggies round it out. They also like cottage cheese and fruit, and yogurt is another stand-by. I typically send 1/2 of a sandwich or wrap so less is wasted. Has anyone had any luck with thermos-type containers for warm foods? I’d love to have the option to send warm left-overs once in awhile, but I haven’t found good containers.
homemade fruit roll-ups are great. Use unsweetened applesauce, mix with a little cinnamon, and spread it on tray in a food dehydrator. Takes about 8-9 hrs. to dehydrate (depending on thickness) but makes a wonderful snack!
We’ve done wraps,too, and my older kids liked those for a long time. They take a lot of peanut butter and jelly, even well into high school. We always have apples, grapes, and carrot sticks around, but clementines are also good for lunches if you pre-peel and section them. I often make regular cookies but use half whole wheat flour in them to make them healthier, and/or skimp a bit on the sugar in the recipe (usually no one notices that). Tollhouse cookie bars are great with half whole wheat flour in them, and bar cookies don’t take nearly as much time as regular cookies!
@Wendy-
I picked up a couple of small Thermoses for my kids a couple of years ago at Target. And they work well.
Here’s a blog post about them:
http://creativeorganizing.typepad.com/creative_organizing/2006/08/arent_surprises.html
Aby
Thanks for the great ideas. It will be my first time with a child staying for lunch. All the schools here are nut free, so the pb & j are out.
OMG I am such a nutter about organising, and here I am 5 mornings a week pacing back + forth… why didn’t I think of the lunch bin? Doing it right now for tomorrow morning. Thanks 🙂
The Laptop Lunchbox web site has some great ideas (even if you aren’t using LLBs)
http://www.laptoplunches.com/ideas.html
And their newsletter always has some great ideas in it as well!
I think it’s worth revisiting this topic a few months in to the year, too, when we are all sick to death of packing lunches! 😉
I know this is a bit late:( We have 5 kids all of school age… so 5 kids x 5 days= 25 bags of snacks, cookies or any other dry item.. I pre bad over the weekend.. then in the evening only have to make the sammies and grap a drink:) Plus the younger kids help.. and the big one @ our house.. you know you have a whole weeks supply and do not run out mid week
On Sunday I make a several PB&J’s and freeze for the upcoming week. Since I’m not in a rush I even use the Star Wars pancake molds to cut the bread. On those rush-rush mornings I know I have the sammies all ready to throw in their bags. I’m also big on the previous nights dinner for lunch in their thermos…a big hit those chilly fall/winter days.