Heavenly Homemakers

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Lunches I Packed October 2-6, 2023

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Here are the school lunches I packed Oct 2-6.

Lunches I Packed October 2-6, 2023

As I was trying to figure out what to pack the kids to eat on Monday, I realized I didn’t have anything easy on hand that was high in protein for their lunches. So I got the idea to make this Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream, which I sent with a container of animal crackers for dipping. This “main dish” idea was a bit odd, and it did have a little bit of sugar in it. But it also had protein, and it made the kids so excited! So, I’m glad I did it!

Monday: Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream, Animal Crackers, Carrots with Dip, Peach Cup

Tuesday’s lunch was also weird because I had to leave by 6:15 that morning to take BabyBoy#11 to the hospital for an MRI. So I packed Brayden and Kiya’s lunches on Monday night to make it easier for Matt and the boys. BUT, Monday night I was also getting everything else ready to take to the hospital and to situate everything so that I could be gone all morning (or longer). So I quickly grabbed a few items and threw them into lunchboxes.

Was it enough? Barely. But they don’t have much time to eat at school (or my theory is that they do have enough time but they aren’t as focused as they need to be during lunchtime so they don’t always use their time well and get all their food eaten quickly!). ;)

Tuesday: Whole Milk Yogurt, Granola Bites, Packaged Muffin, Applesauce

Wednesday I had a little bit more time to focus on food. So I warmed a can of tomato soup and packed it into the kids’ thermoses along with a straw so they could guzzle it down without making a mess. I used some of the Croissants we’d brought home from Tuesday’s Food Distribution and made them Cheese Sandwiches to enjoy with their soup. They LOVED this lunch!

Wednesday: Tomato Soup, Cheese Sandwich on a Croissant, Fruit Cup

Thursday’s lunch was easy! (Note: If the kids would have eaten lunch at home, Brayden would have downed four pieces of pizza and Kiya, two. Again, eating at school makes them rush a bit more.)

Thursday: Pizza, Applesauce, Cucumbers for Brayden and Carrots with Peanut Butter for Kiya

Friday. Ugh. Well, this is the day I usually pack a Fun Friday lunch which includes a sandwich of their choice, chips of their choice, and a treat of their choice. But we had some behavior struggles that morning and some privileges were lost.

I hurried to snap this picture before sending Brayden off to Ukulele class (which starts an hour before school) so Kiya’s lunch wasn’t complete yet. They both got a sandwich and applesauce. I threw in cucumbers for Brayden and later added an oatmeal crumb bar for Kiya.

Friday: Turkey and Cheese Sandwich for Brayden/ PBJ for Kiya, their favorite Banana Applesauce, cucumbers for Brayden and Oatmeal Crumb Bar for Kiya

Now that it’s getting chilly outside, I’m going to try and get more creative with hot food in thermoses!

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Lunches I Packed September 18-22, 2023

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In an effort to keep the kids from being burned out on the same packed school lunch over and over, I try to get creative and pack a nice, healthy variety. Here are the lunches I packed September 18-22, 2023.

Lunches I Packed September 18-22, 2023

Monday: Kiya had picked an Annie’s Parmesan Mac and Cheese at the Food Distribution where we volunteer each week. She requested this as a special lunch, so I cooked it Monday morning to put into the kids thermoses. They were so excited! But at the end of the day, neither kid enjoyed the taste of this one. Now we know. :)

At least they enjoyed their pear (which I packed in a container in an effort to keep it from getting smashed in the lunch bags.

Tuesday: Brayden had a field trip that day so he got to have a special lunch (our field trip tradition!). He got a turkey and cheese sandwich with chips, applesauce, crackers, and juice. Kiya’s lunch wasn’t “special” but she loved hers too. She got a pumpkin muffin, applesauce, carrots, and peanut butter.

Wednesday: I packed the kids a large helping of Whole Milk Yogurt that I’d gotten in an Azure Standard order two weeks ago, fresh strawberries, granola bites, and pistachios.

Thursday: I pulled food from the freezer I’d baked a few weeks ago and individually packaged for lunches. They each got a slice of pizza, a peanut butter snack bar, and a fruit cup.

Friday: It was Fun Friday! So the kids got their choice of sandwich, chips, an applesauce, plus some of the Little Bites we’d been given at the Food Distribution.

Now that the weather is cooling off a little bit, I’ll probably start packing more hot lunches in thermoses. This will give us more options to keep up with having a nice variety of foods to pack!

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Lunches I Packed September 11-15, 2023

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Here are the lunches I packed September 11-15 for my kids to take to school last week!

Monday: Cheese, crackers, grapes, pistachios, and pickles (Kiya) cucumbers (Brayden)

I’ve been buying Balanced Breaks, which I shared about on this “What I Buy at Costco for School Lunches” post. They are convenient and fun, but not frugal. (<—but I still keep them on hand because sometimes we need convenient more than we need frugal)

Since I had a few extra minutes to pack this day’s lunch, I left the convenient packs in the fridge and instead sliced some cheese and packaged up crackers for the kids. I put the crackers into plastic containers, otherwise they’d get smashed in baggies in their lunch boxes.

Tuesday: Cottage cheese, fruit cup, carrots/peanut butter and Spinach Cupcake (for Kiya), and cucumbers and peanut butter pretzels (for Brayden)

It’s cheaper to scoop peanut butter into a container for Kiya to use as dip with her carrots. But I keep the Jif Natural peanut butter cups on hand for a quick-to-grab option.

Wednesday: Turkey lunchmeat roll-ups, strawberries with Cheesecake Parfait, and Snickerdoodle Bites.

We had pounds and pounds of strawberries in our fridge from the super sale I took advantage of on Saturday. So it was fun to include those with parfait for the kids’ lunches.

Thursday: Tuna salad with crackers, applesauce cup, cucumbers and cheese stick for Brayden, pickles for Kiya 

I had an extra minute on Wednesday so I mixed up the kids’ tuna salad for lunch the next day. This was so nice the following morning as we were getting them ready to head out!

Fun Friday Lunch: For Brayden: his leftover Hamburger Helper, cucumbers, applesauce, and Pocky’s (that we were given as the Food Distribution when we were volunteering); For Kiya: PB&J, chips, applesauce, and Pocky’s.

This is the day I always give them a treat in their lunch, and often chips also. They love Fun Friday Lunch day! ;)

Feel free to leave a comment sharing more lunchbox ideas!

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5 Lunches I Packed for My Kids’ First Week of School

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Since I share all the other food we eat at our house, I thought it might be fun to share the lunches I packed for my kids’ first week of school.

First, here’s why I pack a lunch for my kids to take to school. This works best for us and I feel good about what they are eating each day.

5 Lunches I Packed for My Kids’ First Week of School

Monday I packed them a container of cottage cheese, a peach cup, a baggie of pistachios, and a fun Bobo’s muffin from Costco. This can all be put together ahead of time. In the morning before they put their bags into their backpack, I throw in an ice pack to keep everything cold.

Tuesday they were thrilled to see that I was sending Leftover Mac and Cheese rewarmed and put into thermoses with grapes and a chocolate cupcake with hidden spinach.

Wednesday I made Cream Cheese Salsa Dip which I put into a container and sent along with a baggie of tortilla chips, carrots with dip, and an applesauce squeezie.

Thursday was leftover Tuna Salad that we’d eaten a few evenings before (I made extra that night for this purpose!). I sent a container with crackers for them to eat with their tuna, plus a container of grapes. For Kiya, I sent a chocolate cupcake with hidden spinach. Brayden has become obsessed with cucumbers this summer so I sent him a baggie of sliced cucumbers.

On Fridays last year we started having Fun Friday Lunch. This is the only day I send a sandwich and chips with the kids. Usually I add a sweet treat on Fridays too.

This week, I intended to make Homemade Uncrustables but didn’t get to it. So instead I made a regular PBJ for Kiya and a Turkey and Cheese sandwich for Brayden. I put a few Fritos into snack-sized bags for them, plus sent them a peach cup and a Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar.

It was a fun week of lunches and the kids came home with empty lunch boxes each day! Well, empty except that I ask them to put all their trash back into their bags to bring home so that nothing gets accidentally thrown away (like ice packs and spoons) and so that I can see what they ate and what is working!

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