Back 2 School: School Lunches

Oh... School lunches. In the past, the older two kids basically fended for themselves. They are certainly old enough to make their own lunch. However, since Nic is now going to school and I need to make his lunch, I've decided to treat my older kids to a little extra pampering this year. They can help out in the prepping... Yep. Prepping. As in, crazy chaos in the kitchen on Sundays.

Alex isn't a lunch-taker all that often. It's not cool. I argue back that what's not cool is a lethargic 16 year old. I am providing Alex everything he needs to take his lunch, and so long as he eats it sometime during the day and doesn't sell it, we are good. Alex was a huge help in the first Sunday prep day! That boy can tear plastic wrap like it's no one's business. Alex does not have a lunch box, and probably wouldn't be caught dead with one (/sigh); however, he opted to brown-bag it. And then proceeded to draw a picture of someone and wrote the name "Fred" on it.

In the past, Isa would get up and make her own lunch. Again, this year, she will be in charge off helping out on Sundays and then actually taking the food from the fridge in the laundry room and packing her items for the day. Isa has a lunch box and will be using it again this year.

 

Nic is the main reason why I've decided to get so organized this year. I am slightly worried about the lunch time process. Will he be able to open his own cheese stick? Or push the straw into his juice box? What if he accidentally throws his new Avengers lunch box (that my mom bought him) in the trash?!

Am I worrying too much?!

Well, one way to solve for disposed of or lost lunch boxes is with name badges. I made this badge for Nic to hang on his lunch box. I zip-tied it, just to insure it was secure:

It clearly lists his name, his teachers, his bus info and my cell number. It also has a current picture of Nic - easy to identify. To be on the safe side, I made two (laminated) and added one to his backpack.

As far as lunch ideas go, my kids are pretty easy. I did go grocery shopping mid-week last week and picked up a few items we needed; several loaves of bread, fishies, fruit, etc. We spent this afternoon making 24 PB&J sammies. My mom brought over a decruster she picked up at the grocery store.

The kids can have a sandwich, fruit, chips/crackers, cheese stick and a dessert. For Nic I purchased a ton of juice boxes (thank gosh for coupons) and for the older kids, I pack a mini sports drink or Fruit Punch. They can also opt to take a water bottle.

Here are some of the meal ideas I came up with:

Main - PB&J, Ham and Cheese, Turkey & Cheese rolls, cold pasta with Parmesan cheese, veggie sticks with hummus or ranch

Fruit - Applesauce, pineapples or Mandarin oranges (also bough plastic spoons). Re-packaged the pineapple and Mandarin oranges into Ziploc containers.  

Chips/Crackers - Chips, Fishies, Cheeze-Its

Dessert- Frozen Hostess Cupcake or Oatmeal Pies (they unfreeze throughout the day!)


While we were at it, I decided to make breakfasts a little more simple. Yes, there are days they can have cold cereal, but for the days they'd like something more, they can grab a burrito from the freezer, throw in in the microwave for a minute or so, and have a delish start to their morning.
 
The burritos we made are Chorizzo, egg, potato and cheese. They are so simple to make, fold and package!

Our second fridge in the laundry room is where I am organizing all of the kids lunch components.

I found this cute lunch survey on Pinterest. June created this for her daughter to fill out... and I think I am going to start this tradition this school year. I plan to include a printed survey and a colorful marker once every few weeks. Not only is it a great way to find out of my lunch making skills are right on, but also, it's a great way to capture some memories for my older kids!

via

Well... that's another long post, but there was a lot going on today! Two of the kids start school tomorrow - so I am logging off to serve dinner and then put my kiddos to bed!!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!