Now that school is back in session, I have another level of planning to do.  Last year, my daughter was in Kindergarten and she was digital for the entire year.  Now that school is open in-person for all, 1st grade if her first year actually in her school.  As  I do still work a day job, I am still spread thin and continue to find ways to save time for the different tasks that I have.  With Ava being in school, lunches are a little different from what I would make when she was home for Kindergarten.  Now I have to be more mindful of things that will and will not transfer and stay in their original state until lunch.  Today I will be sharing my meal planning and prepping tips for school lunches.

Before I get into this, I wanted to tell you that I was looking into Bento Box lunches for kids on YouTube to get some ideas on creative things I can do and ways to make her lunches exciting and something she looks forward to each day.  As I watched a few videos, I realized that their style of lunch making didn’t align with my life.  The people that I watched did not have day jobs, so they had more time to do extra special things to the lunches and make fun, edible items.  I’m all for this, however, not as someone that has a job to maintain during the day and plenty of things to do in the evenings.  This is actually what inspired me to create this post, because you may be a Mom like me that also has a day job while building a business and also has family obligations. We honestly don’t have much extra time to dedicate to make a school lunch on a “YouTube Mom” level.  And listen, I’m not knocking YouTube Mom’s because that is a job in itself and I applaud you.  HOWEVER, the tips that I’m going to share will still be extra special things that your child will like, and will also not take a long time to prepare.  These lunch ideas are scaled down, but I’m still keeping it cute!

1. Simplify

You know your child better than anyone else in the world, so create a lunch grocery list with the things they love to eat in mind.  This way, they will look forward to lunch everyday, and you can easily keep a running list of items you know they like which will make lunch prep simple.

My approach to making lunch is similar to my approach for making dinner:

• Prep items in advance in bulk so you can easily pull them from a container/bag throughout the week

• Buy items already prepped (carrot sticks, apple slices, etc.)

• Choose lunch items that are quick and easy to make and also healthy

2. Keep up the rotation

Establish a rotating schedule for the items you use to make lunch.  Sandwich two days, wrap two days, something different the 5th day.  2-3 vegetables and 2-3 fruits for the week.  Two different drink options, and a few different chip and cracker options.  I’m not one to keep junk food around my house...for one because I will eat it and I don’t need to, and two because my household overall eats well and tries to keep the junk minimal.  This is why I am always buying a variety of produce so we don’t get bored with the same things all the time.  This goes for general items like sandwiches as well. You can spice them up by remixing them with different breads, meats, cheeses, spreads, etc. so it won’t be the same boring sandwich all the time.

Bento Box found here

3. Be prepared

I like to prep items in advance as I mentioned earlier.  For example, I purchase whole carrots then peel and cut them into sticks in bulk and place them in a Ziplock bag so I can easily pull from it throughout the week.  I also do this with broccoli and cucumbers.  I wash fruits and place them in containers that I can also easily access throughout the week.  I usually set time aside on Sunday to batch clean and prep produce, and I don’t have to think about it anymore until the following Sunday.

Other ways to prep items in advance would be popping popcorn and placing it in a sealed bag, washing, cutting and storing lettuce (Ava loves salad, so I make them for lunch sometimes as well!), slicing apples and preserving the color with a squirt of lemon, etc.  

Lastly, when talking about prepping, in order to eliminate morning stress, pack lunches at night! I always pack Ava’s lunch at night because I don’t want to spend the time in the morning doing it. Mornings can be hectic as is especially without proper preparation, so do as many things as you can in advance to eliminate or greatly lower the morning rush stress.

4. Give a personal touch

For the first few days of school, I put cute notes in my daughter’s lunchbox.  Apparently I was more excited about them than she was because she said she didn’t want them in her lunchbox anymore.  To her point, some of the words on the lunch notes that I got were a little advanced and who wants to try to learn new words during lunch break?  I tried sifting through the lunchbox notes that were short and easier for her to read, but she still didn’t want them.

Since she didn’t want the notes, I still wanted to do something cute that she would appreciate and be surprised with each day.  This is how I now add a personal touch to her lunch that is not a note:

• Put napkins in the bag of cartoon and superhero characters that she likes

• Use a cupcake liner (My Little Pony since she loves them) to house crunchy snacks like cheese crackers

• Instead of a written note, I now put a sticker of one of her favorite cartoon characters onto a post-it note and stick that to her Bento Box.

These are small things I do that don’t require much time or thought (I keep all of these little items together in the drawer of the counter where I make her lunches for convenience), but I know that since they are her favorites, she will be happy to see them.

Bento Box found here

5. Know your limits

Don’t stress yourself out trying to make the perfect lunch.  The perfect lunch is one where a child has something to eat.  If you are cool with packing lunch but don’t want to do the bento box thing, don’t do it.  If you’re like me and see someone on YouTube packing a lunch and making a small pumpkin that only involved a tangerine and a celery stick and decided that was just too much to add to your plate, there’s nothing wrong with saying, “Nope! Not for me!”.  There’s also nothing wrong with saying to hell with packing lunch, I’m just going to load money on the lunch card and keep it moving!  I respect everyone and whatever decision is best for them, their time, and their family.

I posted an Instagram Reel showing how I make my daughter’s lunches and talking about the tips that I’ve shared in this post. Check it out below!

Here are some of the lunches that I have made and a sample week of how I would easily rotate what to give her each day (you will see repeats of most items, but the rotation is what changes it up!):

Tuesday

Jelly sandwich

Cucumbers

Banana

Saltine crackers

Rethink Juice

Thursday

Cheese sandwich

Carrots

Banana

Cheese crackers

Rethink Juice

Monday

Turkey and Cheese sandwich

Carrots

Grapes

Cheese crackers

Honest Apple Juice

Wednesday

Turkey and Cheese wrap

Broccoli and salad dressing

Strawberries

Popcorn

Honest Apple Juice

Friday

Jelly sandwich

Broccoli and salad dressing

Apple

Cheese Puffs

Honest Apple Juice

Bento Box found here

Do you make lunch for your kids?  If so, I’d love to hear what you usually put in it!  I’m always open to hearing what others are doing for school lunches.  Let me know in the comments!