It’s that time of year again – BACK TO SCHOOL! Besides what seems like endless shopping for school supplies, there’s the never-ending school lunches to prepare x 3 (well x 4 counting my husband, LOL). It takes a lot to make sure that everyone gets a well-balanced meal plus something they like. My children take lunch every day instead of buying lunch. This way, I know that they have something that they like AND they’ll eat it instead of throwing it away. And most of the meals that I send with them cost me considerably less than school lunches anyway.

So, how do I get everyone’s lunches packed and out the door with them every day? I keep a bunch of plastic containers of different sizes on hand to use as portion control. They also pull double duty because I can use them to prep some things ahead of time. I can portion out fruits and veggies into these containers at the first of the week, and then they are placed in a designated area in the fridge to that I can just “grab-n-go” in the mornings. I also reuse containers as much as possible. If they are taking sandwiches, the containers will be wiped out and reused instead of washing it each and every day. If they took grapes one day and I still have some to divide out, then that container will be refilled and placed back in the fridge at the bottom of the stack. Now, if the containers are all sticky and yucky, yes, they will be washed before being used again.

Even though they normally take cloth napkins, I also keep paper napkins on hand, as well as plastic utensils for the days with soups, pasta, etc. where a utensil(s) is necessary. But, my children (and husband) know to bring them back home to be rewashed. But, mom doesn’t have to worry if they get thrown away, misplaced, or broken because it’s not my silverware, and they don’t have to wait in line to grab utensils in the cafeteria.

This year, I bought them stainless steel thermoses to instead of the generic plastic ones AND I don’t have to worry about grabbing juice pouches either. It’ll save a lot of money all around.

Another thing that I do for my family, especially during the school year, is to prep a bunch of items and place them in the freezer for a quick breakfast/lunch/snack. These items are usually muffins, sweet quick breads, cupcakes (for desserts in lunches), waffles, pancakes, breakfast burritos, burritos, crepes, etc.

These are just some of the things that I do during the school year to make my mornings go much quicker and easier.

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Tags: lunches, packing school lunches, school lunches