Tackling the lunch box

I have to admit, sometimes I think about all the years of lunch-packing in my future and I feel sad. I don’t like packing lunches, and for the first few years my oldest was in preschool, I didn’t. He goes to a lovely school that makes excellent lunches with whole grains, nitrate-free meats and organic fruits and vegetables. But once the younger two started, I knew that at $5 per kid per lunch, I couldn’t justify it any longer. So I got some lunchboxes and charged in. I’m no expert and I’m not packing beautiful Bento lunches, but I’m hanging in there and the lunch boxes are coming home empty, so I’m considering myself firmly in the win column for now. If you’re looking for some ideas or a few new recipes for your rotation, here’s what’s getting me through:

1.  Pack the night before.  Mornings are pretty crazy around here. My husband’s schedule changes every semester, but right now he’s gone four mornings a week before the boys are up. So I’m getting everyone up and out on my own. Add packing lunches to fixing breakfast, brushing teeth, and wrestling toddlers into clothes, and I would be in tears every morning. Evenings can be a little crazy too, but packing lunches at night is definitely the lesser of the two evils.

Toddler lunch: veggie and cheese mini-scones with cucumber, cantaloupe, peas and carrots

2. The freezer is my friend. So, I’m a planner. Having a few things I can grab from the freezer and throw in a lunchbox the night before makes things easier for me. The cheese and veggie mini-scone above are super-easy to throw together and thaw overnight in the lunch box. I prep quesadillas and freeze them, then crisp them up in the toaster oven the night before (my 5yo’s current fave is apple, walnut, and cheese quesadillas). Mini meatloaves also are a favorite. And I love frozen veggies. Throw some frozen peas in the lunchbox the night before and they’re thawed by the next day.

Repurposed leftovers for lunch: quinoa cakes with peas, cucumbers, pepper slices, strawberries and goldfish crackers

3. Leftovers also are my friend. I made quinoa cakes for dinner last week. All three boys love them, so I cut them in strips and packed them with some ketchup for the 5yo’s lunch the next day. Big hit. Any time I make mac and cheese (The Joy of Cooking’s Baked Mac and Cheese is my standby and is awesome and freezes well if you’re looking), I freeze the leftovers in muffin tins and thaw them overnight to send in lunch boxes. Roasted chicken and even grilled cheese sandwiches make great second day lunches as well.

Bell peppers, strawberries, and cucumbers sliced, washed and ready for the lunch box

4. Prep fruits and vegetables ahead of time. I almost always have a few baggies of our standbys — melon, grapes, strawberries, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, cucumber — washed and prepped and ready to throw in a lunchbox. I sometimes put off the prep work after grocery shopping and it always adds to the hassle of lunch packing. It’s definitely worth the effort.

Apple slices with almond butter, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, dried cherries and sliced almonds

5. Being in a rut can be okay, too. Sometimes my freezer supply gets depleted and there are no interesting leftovers, so I have a few backups that we usually have ingredients for on hand and I know will always make my sons happy. Banana dogs, waffle/almond butter/strawberry sandwiches, and cored apple slices sandwiched with almond butter all see pretty regular rotation in my older son’s lunches. I also know that I can always throw some veggies and hummus in my toddlers’ lunches because they are fiends for hummus!

So, these are the basics that get me through. I will not pretend that I enjoy packing lunches for my boys, but I do enjoy feeling that they are well-fed and enjoy a healthy lunch every day, and that’s enough to (maybe) get me through the next 2,790 days of packing lunches. But who’s counting?

Pottery Barn Kids Spencer Bento Containers – these are the larger boxes above and they work well for my older son’s lunch. They fit in PBK’s Mackenzie lunch box and both have held up well. They are not air or water tight, but keep those foods that shouldn’t touch from touching (you know who you are).

GoodByn Bento containers – I got these at Target during back-to-school season, and can’t find the exact set now, but GoodByn has a variety of sets on Amazon and this Goodbyn Mix and Match Food Container, Pink is closest. These are water tight and are sized better for toddler lunches. I send these for the twins in Skip Hop lunch boxes.