Here’s how we’re packing lunches for school and work this year.
Who takes a lunch every day
Right now, six lunches get packed for each school day. Elias takes his lunch to work (he’s a Special Ed Behavior Technician at an elementary school). Our housemate, Kermit, is a Paraprofessional at a different elementary school and takes his lunch to school. Both guys usually pack leftovers to warm up and eat. And our four elementary age kids pack a lunch to take to school.
Why we pack school lunches
Call me crazy (I am already well aware that I fit the category). But even though our kids qualify for free school lunch, we are still packing them a lunch. At least most days. Why?
The short answer is: Our kids eat much better this way. As in – they don’t make the healthiest of choices when going through the hot food school lunch line. Or they don’t eat much of what’s on their food tray, which wastes food and leaves the kids hungry.
When we pack lunches, I have the kids put all their trash and leftovers into their lunch bags to bring home. This is a (messy) way for me to monitor what/how much they eat and what they like/dislike. And it helps me to make sure they eat enough good food to give them a better opportunity to be alert learners at school.
Our two kindergarteners will likely not eat much – if anything – off of a hot food lunch tray. Bonus Buddy is extremely picky, so sending him with a packed lunch each day is a must. Keith may do a bit better with a school lunch, but I still feel better sending him with a lunch bag full of food I know he’ll eat.
How We’re Packing Lunches for School and Work
We decided that this year, Brayden (10) and Kiya (8) are old enough (and picky enough) that they need to be involved in packing their own lunches. This way they will complain less because they are invested in the process. Also, they are perfectly capable to doing this work and taking the burden off the adults.
Each day, they’ll pick a protein item, a fruit, and a veggie. On Fun Fridays, they can pick a treat to add to their lunch bag!
We’ve found that it’s most helpful to prep food ahead and put items into bins in the fridge or on the pantry counter so that we can quickly grab what we need and fill lunch bags.
What’s in our bins?
Our bins are full of snack-sized bags filled with items like:
- Petite Baby Carrots
- Carrot Chips
- Sliced Cucumbers
- Cauliflower (for Brayden)
- Grapes
- Veggie Straws
- Cheese Cubes
- Peanuts
- Hard Salami
- Crackers
- Tortilla Chips
It’s been so helpful to put together 10-12 baggies of these items together at once so that we have enough to last for a few kids for a few meals before we need to restock.
I keep bins of Veggie Straws, Peanuts, and Crackers on the counter in our pantry along with other non-refrigerated items like Meat Sticks and Applesauce Pouches.
I try to keep packaged food like this in our pantry also for Elias and Kermit (and our other housemates) to grab to snack on at work as needed. (By the way, our Pantry is an actual room which is an amazing feature in our house. It helps us feed lots of people efficiently every day!)
The week before school started, I baked a batch of Spinach Cupcakes so that I can sneak some extra nutrients into picky-kid lunch bags.
These are bagged individually and put into the freezer to keep them fresh.
I’ve also put together a few unique lunchbox items like Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Bites. These are made with almond butter and coconut flour so they offer protein and fiber, which makes me feel great about sending them. I put two into little baggies and put them into a bin in the fridge.
Peanut Butter on Graham Crackers works well for Bonus Buddy since he doesn’t eat bread.
This Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip has been a great lunch option with a bag of tortilla chips for dipping.
For fun, I made a batch of Vanilla Pudding with eight eggs to give it extra protein. The kids love this “treat!”
The top shelf of our pantry fridge looks like this. The two containers on the left are filled with Cottage Cheese because Brayden enjoys taking that sometimes.
I also have a drawer at the bottom of this fridge that is filled with fruit cups: Peaches, Pears, Mandarin Oranges, or Applesauce.
Each morning, I grab what I need for Keith and Bonus Buddy so their lunch bags look something like this:
Kiya and Brayden put their lunch bags together on their own, but they do have to get approval from me to be sure they packed everything they need.
Wait. There’s not much food in those lunch bags!
Right. I know. The filled lunch bags pictured above are what I’ve sent with Bonus Buddy who just doesn’t eat much in one sitting.
Brayden and Kiya’s bags are filled a little bit more, but ultimately not super full compared to the amount of food they would normally eat at home for lunch. Why?
They just don’t have time to eat more than what they take. The school gives them plenty of time, but without Mom around to say, “Hurry and eat. Stop talking (with your mouth full). Hey, lunchtime is almost over, can you eat faster please?” they run out of time.
Because of this, they are pretty hungry when we pick them up from school and I’ve learned to take food for them to eat on our walk home. Pistachios, Apples, and Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Bites have been perfect snacks to help us make it home.
What about packing hot food in lunches?
Yes. As the weather gets cooler, we’ll be sending food in thermoses for the kids to eat. These thermoses worked great the past two years. And here are some great hot food items that work well in thermoses.
So that’s how our school and work lunches are going so far. How’s lunch at your house?
Oh how we love us a Rotisserie Chicken from Costco or Sam’s! The cost just under $5.00 and can stretch a long way. Plus they taste really good. And the best part? They are hot and fresh and ready to pick up, take home, and eat right away.
