Helllooooo Mamas. This one is for all of you who dread making school lunches, and need a little mid-year lunch idea pick-me-up. To be perfectly honest, I tried to encourage the whole cafeteria thing on both Brian and Grace because the meals are actually quite healthy, but after a few tries I got two very enthusiastic, “Mom, can you pack my lunch this week???”.
So, back to the drawing board. My morning routine is to wake up early before them so I can start my day quietly in peace 🙌🏻I get to have some coffee, put some oils in the diffuser, usually catch the sun coming up, plan out my day, and start lunches. Although I knock it, packing lunches IS really a great way to stay on top of what they’re putting into their tummies, and I’ve found that they are usually starving by lunch time so are a little more “open-minded” about what I pack them!
I sneak in tons of fruits and veggies which usually get gobbled up, and our kids LOVE cold cuts. We buy the all-natural and organic line Boars Head Simplicity which carries all of our favorite deli meats like ham, turkey, and roast beef, without the additives. Boars Head Simplicity is made without artificial ingredients, no preservatives, and no antibiotics ever and we are very into the organic cheeses on everything lately. I try and make different versions of sandwiches so maybe like a pineapple cut out of a ham + cheese, or turkey + cheese on crackers, bagels, tuck in a little spinach on top of a regular sandwich to see how that flies…you get the drift!
We also have been loving the simplicity hot dogs for dinner. Hot dogs are Brian’s favorite food so it’s nice to be able to keep those stocked in the refrigerator for quick dinners.
I’ve been documenting our lunches this week and thought I’d share them with you for some inspiration:
Snacks we LOVE:
- carrot, pepper and cucumber strips with either ranch dressing or hummus
- plantain chips
- oranges, berries of all kinds, apples (with peanut butter, too!), grapes, pineapple, mango (clearly ALL the fruit)
- yogurt
- trail mixes
- pretzels
- cheese puffs
- fruit bars/fruit leather
- dried apricots
- cheese + crackers
- cookies (yep, I usually give them a sweet treat to love in school)
A couple things, lunch boxes with compartments like these are great and I’ve found them to really enjoy eating from them! It also makes the job of packing easier, I don’t know if it’s a visual thing for me or what but having spaces to fill just seems easier. Also, I asked their teachers to save their discards so I can see what they eat and what they don’t.
What do you like to pack for kids’ lunches? Any favorites that we need to know about??
This post was sponsored by Boars Head Simplicity. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
For more food ideas, check out my recipes page!