Creative back to lchool lunch ideas work pretty good the first few weeks of school and then I loose steam and start packing the same meals. In an effort to save my kids palates (and yours!) here's a round up of our favorite EASY back to school recipes! No fancy thermoses or bento boxes required.
Back to school has started quite eventfully. Our school is under construction and there are new home developments going in down the road. The city water main broke today, forcing us to evacuate the school. We got all of our kids through the lunch line and out the door to carpools in sixty minutes!
My kids aren't fans of school lunch, so I opt to pack their lunches. I used to pack fancy lunchboxes, thermoses and the works and then found that they DO NOT MAKE THEIR WAY HOME. Instead of getting mad over wasted money, I decided that I would quit packing them nice hot lunches and they would get the same old everyday. But that got boring even for me, so I started coming up with some fun lunch ideas that still didn't require a lot of fancy packaging.
These lunch ideas are great for teens too as i pack my elementary aged girl and older teens too.
Back to School Lunch Tips:
- Make the meal simple and easy! I often make lunches while I'm prepping dinner.
- Don't splurge on fancy ice packs--my kids always loose their ice packs or don't bring them home. We just freeze yogurt or juice boxes and use them as ice packs. They thaw by lunch and lunch stays cold
- Stock up on all the supplies you need--paper lunch bags, sandwich bags, snack bags, etc. Always be ready to go.
- I also love to use Gladware for days like salads, etc. It makes me feel beter and not have a heart attack that the kids lost a $15 storage container. Peace in the home is a good thing.
- place an easy note in your kids lunchbox with these cute printables from Katie at Personal Creations. Get the kids talking and laughing with their friends with these easy to download jokes. Download them here.
Sample Meals:
Breakfast for Lunch: Chocolate Zucchini Bread, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread, or Quinoa Banana Bread with yogurt and applesauce, Funfetti Cookies
Little Caesar Italian cheese bread, (my kids freaking LOVE this cold--it's like cold pizza they say), marinara sauce for dipping, fruit or vegetable, kid friendly gingerbread cookies
Blueberry Salsa, Pita Chips, Cheese stick, Fruit or vegetable, drink, Healthy pixie sticks
Healthy Uncrustables, Chips, fruit or vegetable, drink allergy friendly lunch lady peanut butter cookies
Peanut Butter and Jelly Trail Mix, Caramel Apple Trail Mix or Chocolate Trail Mix, beef jerky, fruit or vegetable, drink, baked double chocolate donuts
Peanut butter and jelly muffins, cheese stick or yogurt, fruit or vegetable, drink, pumpkin nilla wafer cookies
Chocolate chip graham cracker cookies, peanut butter cups for dipping, fruit or vegetable, drink
PopChips Chicken salad, fruit or vegetable, drink, chocolate toffee no bakes
Ranch oyster crackers, cheese stick, fruit or vegetable, drink, baked churros
Walking tacos, fruit or vegetable, drink, hot cocoa cookies
Ready made salad (we add cooked, shredded chicken to ours), fruit or vegetable, roll, lightened up lofthouse cookies
Homemade Protein or Lunchable meal (sunflower seeds, smoked almonds, cheese, turkey or ham bites), pretzels, fruit or vegetable, cake mix cookies
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