Let's face it -- back-to-school month is a lot like New Year's. Leading up to the first week, we are full of inspiration for a year of sending our kids to school perfectly coiffed in their new clothes, with their healthy-yet-creative lunches and not-yet-lost school supplies.
Then a week goes by, and the Stepford Mom urge gives way to reality. Imperfect, chaotic reality. After a few years of experiencing the inevitable back-to-school hangover, all mom cultivate the knowledge about realistically packing lunches. Here are some of top lunch box tips:
1. Pack what you're taking to work. This is an extension of my one-meal-three-ways philosophy, which involves creating one meal that can accommodate adults, kids and babies. It's a lot easier to pack school lunches while packing your own (especially when packing leftovers.)
2. When uninspired, use finger foods! Finger Food Friday is a huge hit with my kids and gives me a break at the end of a long week. It can be carrot sticks with hummus, celery with cream cheese, fruit with yogurt dip or salami and cheese with crackers. The idea is a snack tray for lunch.
3. Themes. You can find fun in themes while packing Sunday's leftover veggie quiche. For this Sunday's venture try to go with a French theme and tore off a piece of baguette, added a slice of brie, a cluster of grapes and a piece of chocolate. Voila!
4. Breakfast for lunch. Pack an individual yogurt with granola, fruit and a hard-boiled egg. For a quick time-saving tip, scramble eggs and bacon and put them in a Thermos.
5. Pack a Thermos. Leftovers are truly the easiest, no-brainer lunch to pack. Always try to make extras for lunch. If your kids are opposed to leftovers (some really do not want what they had the night before), freeze the leftovers in a container and use for another day. Stock your freezer with single-serve leftovers, which you can thaw in the morning before school and pop in a Thermos.
6. Batch baking. On Sunday mornings, make a couple dozen of the kids' favorite muffins to put in the freezer for lunches. You can put one in every other day for their morning snack.
7. More is more! While less is usually more, when it comes to packing kids lunches, the philosophy does not apply. They go through sporadic growth spurts and it is important that we always ensure that they have enough food for the day. Throw in an extra apple, granola bar, milk or bag of cut veggies if you notice your child is demolishing their lunch every day.
8. For more clean and organized lunchbox, try organizing all your preparations with the use of silicone baking cups for added ease in compartmentalizing and cleaning.
-XoXo
post credit: huffingtonpost.ca
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