Ahhh...School lunches....

My husband laughs at me 99.9% of the time when my type A personality shines through!!  I am pretty crazy about pre-planning dinners on Saturday night and I head to the grocery store bright and early Sunday morning so I can prep food for the week ahead. Recently, I had a brilliant idea to buy some cheap (79 cents each to be exact) baskets to help organize our pantry and refrigerator for lunches. I have 2 different baskets in the pantry and 3 in the fridge.  I pre-prep food every Sunday and baggie up goodies for the boys to choose from. I mainly pick 2 from each of the categories below and rotate each grocery trip so the foods selected allow the boys to have a variety of lunch options.  I don't pre-make the main course but the planning of fruits, veggies, protein, snacks and treats come in pretty handy.  Below are a list of items that I buy, cut up, baggie up and the boys simply pick and place in their lunch.  The best part is that I only have to make the main course the night before, let's be honest mainly sandwiches and throw in a juice box and it takes less time each night to make lunches and the boys get a kick in helping "pack" their own lunch for the next day. The list below are some ideas and like I said I don't give them every option.  For example last week I pre cut and baggied up cucumber and carrots in one basket, hard boiled eggs and string cheese in another, you get the idea......

Veggies (boys pick one)
cucumbers
baby carrots
celery w a small pack of peanut butter
bell peppers
pickles
snap peas
cherry tomatoes
broccoli
jicama sticks
*hummus snack packs are one of my boys favorites to dip with their veggies

Fruit (boys pick one)
strawberries
blueberries
raspberries
applesauce
grapes
watermelon
apple slices
Fruit cup (if fresh isn't available):
peaches
pears
mandarin oranges
pineapple



Protein (boys pick one)
hard boiled eggs (my kindergartner LOVES these)
string cheese
edamame
yogurt
elk jerky (we make our own)
pumpkin seeds
almonds or nuts

Snacks (boys pick two) one for lunch and one for their snack: 
cheeze-its
pretzels
kid cliff zone bars
yogurt covered raisins
dried cranberries
organic fruit leather or snacks
goldfish
ritz crackers
granola bars
popcorn
jello cups
pudding cups

Treats (Sometimes I skip this one, oh I lie...actually this only happens sporadically): 
cookie
brownie bites
small piece of candy
rice krispy treat
small donut hole

ENJOY packing lunches for the next 180 plus days.... :)