Lunch Packing Hacks! #AccordingtoAndie
Hey, there! It’s Andie Summers and for as much as I love getting my kids back to school and back to a schedule, it’s a lot of work. I hope these tips help!!!
Packing school lunch is not only time consuming, but super frustrating when you find out your kids are throwing your hard work away without ever eating it. I think, as parents, we need to be realistic about school lunch. I’m all for healthy food – but I know that if I send my son into school with a bag of carrots and celery, he’ll just find someone to share their cookies with him.
Here are some ideas to pack good food that your kids will actually eat for school lunch:
FREEZE, FREEZE, FREEZE! – If you plan ahead, you’ll never need another ice pack again. Did you know sandwiches can be made and frozen? DO IT! Make a week’s worth of sammies and keep them in the fridge, alongside a juice box and maybe even a tube of yogurt. Throw them all in a lunch tote morning of, and they’ll be ready to eat by lunchtime.
BLOW IT UP! – Did you ever notice that bags of snacks are filled with air? Did you also notice that when you put chips in a bag they get crushed? So … fill them with air. When you’re pre-packaging your own snacks (a huge money-saver) fill the bags with air so they don’t get crushed in transit.
MYO LUNCHABLES – What kid doesn’t see food in a box and think it’s better than mom’s? This stuff is so super processed, but kids just LOVE it! So why not make your own? I used to do this for Tori because she wouldn’t eat sandwiches (weirdo). Get a Tupperware-style plastic container with a lid, and use cupcake cups to separate the food. One for cheese, one for crackers, one for a meat, one for a veggie, one for cookies.
KIDS PACK OWN LUNCH – While this seems insane, I think that if you give them parameters, they’ll be proud of what they pack and they might even eat it! Use individual bins to house things like:
-
- FRIDGE ITEMS:
- pre-assembled sandwiches
- cheese sticks
- meat & cheese roll-ups
- fruit (grapes, apple slices, strawberries)
- FRIDGE ITEMS:
-
- PANTRY ITEMS:
- granola bars
- apple sauce pouches
- crackers
- pretzels
- veggie straws
- Lara bar (or similar)
- PANTRY ITEMS:
-
- DESSERT:
- cookies
- mini candy bar (Halloween size)
- Nutella & crackers
- DESSERT:
