With kids returning to school, we parents are busier than
ever getting our families organized. We
are purchasing school supplies, lunch supplies, making calendars of the family
member’s activities, coordinating childcare and bus schedules… basically trying
to figure out how exactly are we going to get it all done.
Making a variety of school lunches that are healthy and your
kids will actually eat? That’s for the pros. Not! I might help parents make fresh school lunches for a living
but I assure you that you too, can get-it-together in 10 minutes or less on
your own.
I have 3 children and I know
first hand how difficult it can be to find something suitable for everyone to
eat without becoming a short order cook. The thought of whipping up dinner 7
nights a week and packing healthy lunches might be a daunting task for many of
you; but I can assure you that by implementing these 5 tips it will be easier
than ever.
1. Make a plan. Planning your meals and creating a shopping
list to go with it will save you time and money on wasted food and unhealthy
last minute drive-thru purchases. If the whole menu planning thing overwhelms
you or you don’t know where to begin, you can always subscribe to a family friendly menu plan for
a few cents a day.
2. Cook once, eat twice. Are you firing up the grill? Cook extra or
another meal all together, save it in the fridge and dinner is nearly made for
another night. That extra chicken breast
no one ate? Great for lunch the next day in a sandwich, quesadilla, wrap or on
a salad. Boiling pasta or cooking
rice? Double it! Now you have ready-made
food quick lunches and won’t have to boil water while having an infant or
toddler on your hip -Not that I would
know…
3. Have healthy snacks ready to go. Snacks
are one of those things we always need to have on hand because our children
seem to always be hungry. Find a few snacks that are easy to make
or assemble and have them ready. You know kids are usually starving by the time
they get home, so having healthy snacks on hand can be very helpful.
4. The freezer is your friend. Once a week, I have a
breakfast-for-dinner night. While the waffle
maker or griddle is out, I double even triple the batch. By freezing your waffles or pancakes
you now have instant homemade breakfasts ready to toast. Hate cleaning your
waffle maker? Check out an easy way here. Have a picky eater
who only eats peanut butter sandwiches?
Make a whole loaf of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and freeze the whole
bag. Pull a sandwich out in the morning and it will be thawed out and perfect
temperature for lunch. No icepacks needed.
5. Prep-Early. Why not marinade, pre-assemble tomorrow’s
lunch while you are making dinner? Since
you already have a messy kitchen, go ahead and prep-it-up! When you get home from the grocery wash all
your produce, chop and sort ready to pack in the lunch bags.
I know what it’s like to pack lunches for a week the night
before my c-section as well as making lunches daily with a baby on my hip while
the other two are begging to raid the pantry.
I sometimes suffer from the meal-time scramble at my house! I’ve learned
that with a little planning, lunches are assembled quickly and 30-minute meals
can be made in a lot less time because I had the ingredients on hand. Fresh lunches should be easy to make, don’t
you think?
-- Laura Fuentes
shows parents how to make fresh school lunches over at MOMables™. A wife, mother of 3
and a lunch enthusiast who insists on healthy, wholesome food for her family.
On her personal blog, Super
Glue Mom, she writes about managing motherhood on a deadline.
She’s also a food contributor and recipe developer to numerous sites, and helps
busy parents overcome the difficulties of cooking real food in a hurry. You can
find Laura on Twitter and on Facebook and
MOMables on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. 
