Thanks to Ann Kroeker for the link!
So, just to round out our food discussion for the nonce, I thought I would touch on that touchy subject, lunch. With a secret to packing lunches, below.
It’s touchy to me because I detest it. I can hardly even say it. Are you ready for “b-lunch?” “su-lunch?” I am always blurting. I like breakfast and supper. I don’t like lunch!
I don’t have any pictures of sandwich-making for you because I try to block out the whole thing!
For those of us at home, we eat leftovers that aren’t earmarked for future suppers. I have a good macaroni and cheese recipe that I’ll share with you — much cheesier and easier to make than most. Make a big pot of it and the kids will eat it all week!
And soup is a great lunch dish.
The occasional quesedilla or salad rounds out the menu here.
On Saturdays, when I would rather walk on tiny swords barefoot than make lunch, we have leftover pizza from the night before. Making extras is so worth it when you are knee-deep in chores and errands!
Again, make your grocery list with your very own favorite lunch menus in mind. You should know how many loaves of bread you need in a week (and if you make bread, how many sacks of flour!), how much ham, how many cans of tuna, how many packages of pasta. The things you need for each lunch each day!
Stock up on what you need and be at peace!
PACKING LUNCHES — the secret to sanity.
When the kids were packing lunches for school, and I had up to 6 people heading out the door with a brown bag, I realized something important: Don’t expect to make lunches during breakfast. It’s a BAD IDEA.
The counters are already strewn with bagels, butter, eggs, cereal, and milk. Add to that mayo, ham, plastic bags, chips, and all the rest, and you will spend the rest of the morning just putting things away.
No. Make lunch at lunchtime. While you are making sandwiches for those at home, make them for the next day as well! While you are heating soup, get lunches ready for the brown-baggers!At the very least, make them at night before bed. Do whatever it takes to avoid the morning chaos.
I like to make them myself or delegate to a responsible older child, because it’s the most efficient and frugal use of the food.
No kid is going to take that last chicken breast and make chicken salad. No kid is going to know to put half a slice of ham extra on each sandwich to avoid leaving behind a slice and a half, good for nothing. Something will end up shoved to the back of the shelf if you are not there to supervise.
But, once the sandwiches are made and wrapped, it’s up to them to get a bag and put into it a piece of fruit, some snacks, a cookie, and the sandwich. Keep a good supply of brown bags in a handy spot.
They can even get a napkin. They can do it.
And they have to be sternly warned never to throw good food away! Give it to someone and then tell me if you are getting too much or don’t like something. (Not that they are allowed to be super picky, but if there is a genuine distaste for mustard or meatloaf, you’d better let me know and not just throw it away!)
I'm happy to know I'm not the only lunch hater mom in the world :-)
Boy, you've hit the nail on the head. Lunch…ugh…and esp. on Saturdays. I tend to tell them to make a taco. Tiny swords and barefeet! So funny!
I made my lunch the night before all through high school. It really made the most sense for me, and it makes a lot of sense for any teenagers, who are so notorious for not being able to drag themselves out of bed in the morning!
Thank you for sharing.
Just a few lunch ideas from me. My girls rarely take sandwiches because they only really eat salad ones and they can get soggy. They each have a lunchbox with little segments. Sometimes they'll have nachos and put the cornchips (only plain flavour)and cheese in the main part, salsa and sour cream in another, lettuce(for my salad lover) or baked beans in another with a plastic spoon. Then at school they layer it all together so it doesn't get soggy sitting for a few hours. Other things that work well like this are wraps with mexican mince or leftover chicken and salad. Or I make pizza scrolls by spreading tomato paste on puff pastry, sprinkling with cheese and bacon, roll up, cut into slices and bake. This makes about 12 and they take 3 or 4 each, leaving some for another day or snacks.My girls, 9 and 11, are expected to make their own lunches. I asked them at the beginning of the year for ideas for what they'd like and we try to have a set "main meal" for each day. Then they also HAVE to take a piece of fruit or vege sticks and a sweet for afternoon tea.
MUST you keep hitting me right between the eyes? Honestly! I am the world's worst lunch preparer. I hate it and I'm terrible at it. And I don't think I'm quite there yet. I'm still wrestling with breakfast. Plus, I have a very picky 8-year-old who is rebelling by only liking processed, preserved, simulated food products (I know, I know, who ever let him taste them in the first place). I get the fruit, cookie and sandwich/salad/leftover thing, but when you say "snack" what, exactly, does that entail? That's where we tend to come to our worst blows over here.Sigh. Baby steps. Baby steps. That's what I keep telling myself.
And, um, hey, where are those mac&cheese and soup recipes? Did I miss them somewhere?And one more thing, why does it seem that the more healthy and frugal I try to be with our family's diet, the more expensive it is? It's baffling!
I am a Lunch Detester as well! I despise having to stop in the middle of my day to cook something. Soup is a great idea, though! I'm busy implementing better breakfasts (meat every day this week! woo hoo!). Then I'm on to lunch! Although I have found that with better b-fasts, I'm not FAMISHED by 10:30 AM for lunch!THANK YOU!
Lunch detesters, unite!You are all so funny! I will post the Mac and Cheese recipe soon! (gotta make it first :)
Why not buy lunchboxes? Save money and trees by not using brown bags! P.S. That soup looks yummy! Think I'll go defrost some of my own from the freezer…. :-)
And here I thought I was the only one with a lunch loathing! My oldest son finally took control of his lunch because he's just better at it–he won't eat the school food (unhealthy, processed stuff)–so I just have to be sure I make enough bread and have his other preferred supplies on hand. Strangely, he is at least as frugal as I am, so I'll find him scraping the peanut butter jar with a spatula or making a sandwich out of bread ends–no supervision necessary ;) My big struggle is assembling a lunch for my husband and me to take along to the office. We don't really stop working to eat so I could make do with bits and pieces of this and that or a bowl of cereal–I don't care! But somehow my husband believes he ought to have a lunch-lunch. I always come through, but it isn't fun. And Saturdays–ugh.
For a few years now I've been starting lunches for my kids at around 6 a.m. — it works pretty well for me because I am an early riser. I like to use leftovers when available (I gave them fried rice today) and they always get a fruit and a veg. Today it was fried rice, corn, bananas with honey or applesauce, salad for my oldest, crackers and cheese. I put them in Lock n Locks, which are terrific. I would like to find little water bottles that don't spill. ~ Mom of 3
As always, friends, do what works — but do something! :)Dear Mom of 3 — you are blessed with being able to wake up early, that's for sure! Remember that children need protein in every meal. A salad for a growing child (unless by salad you mean something with meat and cheese)is not enough!These girls I hear about from my kids are learning bad eating habits. They have to eat something hearty in the middle of the day. Salad or yogurt is not enough.
The Nester had recommended putting all the sandwich making stuff in a bin:http://www.thenester.com/2010/10/31-days-to-a-less-messy-nest-day-lunch-basket.htmlWell, she used a basket. I bought a rectangular bin at IKEA. Love it…all the mayo, mustard(s), meats and cheeses in one place so people are not opening and closing the fridge umpteen times to get one thing at a time. I even keep a little sliced tomato and/or onion container in there.Hate lunch too. Can barely do dinner let alone all 3 meals.Thx Auntie Leila,RubberChickenGirl
Um, me too! Another lunch hater right over here. I generally do okay making lunch for the school-bound boy (I do it during dinner prep or right after while I'm cleaning up the kitchen), but I can see that when more of the children are in school, this won't work as well. I usually just send boring sandwiches, cucumber slices, grapes or apple slices, maybe a cheese stick and done. I use bento boxes for the containers. But for myself and those of us at home. UGH!! My husband wants a hot cooked meal on the weekends at EVERY MEAL, and this drives me to distraction because I never want to cook in the middle of the day.
Oh my goodness, I hate lunch too! Actually, I love lunch, all by myself. Making it for everyone, I hate. It just makes the day feel like a never-ending round of kitchen messes.
I am late to this party, but boy, do you speak to me! Lunch – blah! I have to pack lunches for the first time this year. Thanks for the future grief you have certainly saved me. I am not a morning person, and neither is anyone else in my family. The thought of packing lunches when it is still dark out (AND making breakfast, and acting as cheerleader for everyone to brush teeth, put on pants, tie shoes….) was stressing me out. I mean, just the THOUGHT was stressing me out. Leftover soups were my main plan for lunch, but no way to warm that up other than first thing in the morning, right? Anyway, this post deserves a bump, with the school year starting up. I read somewhere that your family all sat down to eat breakfast together. I am wondering how you managed this with little ones who needed help or close supervision to get dressed, brushed, etc. If we did this I think I would need to get everyone ready, then have them wait while I make breakfast. As it is I get us all ready, if possible my husband makes breakfast (though he is sometimes at work already), I finish getting ready while they eat, and I grab the quickest bite of something as we all jump into the car…not ideal, but that is where we are at. Any magic tricks up your sleeves on this one? I hope all you ladies are well, and doing all kinds of fun things! We miss you on here!