Preparing school lunches is a chore. It is up there with vacuuming and laundry. Would you agree? In order to make lunch preparation less stressful, I have employed the following tricks:
1. Write out a weekly meal plan of lunches and include the food items on your grocery list so you have everything you need on hand.
2. Once or twice a week double your dinner recipe so there are leftovers for lunch.
3. One Sunday a month, bake muffins, homemade granola bars and other healthy treats and store in the freezer.
4. Sunday afternoon pre-cook rice, pasta, couscous or other grains and keep in the fridge so they are ready to use.
5. Pre-cut vegetables and store in the fridge
6. Get your kids involved. If they make it they are more likely to eat it!
Create a regular guide so you know what the plan is on a day-to-day basis.
Monday – soup or green salad with a hard-boiled egg, scoop of tuna, cheese slices or tofu
Tuesday – wrap with nut butter and jam, hummus and red peppers or labneh and cucumbers
Wednesday – pasta with tomato sauce, orzo with pesto, macaroni, and parmesan cheese
Thursday – grain salad like rice, couscous or quinoa with black beans or chickpeas
Friday – leftovers or something from the freezer like spring rolls, samosas, potstickers or pierogis. Ok, not homemade but it’s Friday so take it easy!
