School Lunch Planning

We send our boys with a packed lunch to school 90% of the time.  For the month of September, the boys and I all bought lunch at school each day but then I really did start to understand that although buying a school lunch is cheaper than sending a Lunchable, it's not cheaper than sending a sandwich.  And in my case, my school lunch wasn't appetizing enough to justify the cost.  For the boys, it costs $2.25 for lunch, and I have to pay $3.25 as a teacher.  Buying lunch at school also meant that I had to go to the lunchroom during one of the three lunch times.  Lunch time falls during my planning period and having to pause a stream of planning efficiency to go to the lunchroom is somewhat of an annoyance.  So I began packing lunches again in October and I think the boys and I have only bought a school lunch on one day since then-- they each chose a random day and I chose the day that the cafeteria was serving their Thanksgiving lunch which was pretty good.

Packing lunches, although cheaper, is certainly more of a hassle.  It requires careful grocery lists to make sure that I actually get things that are suitable for lunch.  I pack a lunch and a snack for them. I always packed their snacks, even when they bought lunch, because the snacks sold at PE (which is always right before snack time) are solely candy-ish items. It takes some planning to pick out the items I want my kiddos to have for lunch and snack, which also means that I am specific in where I shop since not every store carries what I have come to rely on for their midday meal and snacks.  When I pack lunch, I have to write the carb amount of every item packed for Michael so this takes extra time.  Over the weeks, I've developed some time savers.  I try to pack up any pre-packaged and non-refrigerated items the night before, then I just have to pack the sandwiches, yogurts, or any other refrigerated items in the morning.

Here's some examples of what I pack.

The Pirate's Booty Cheese puffs, strawberry applesauce pouch, Slim Jim and one juice pouch (Koolaid Jammers or Capri Sun Roaring Waters since those two types are the lowest in carb count) are snack items.  The raisins, chips, other juice pouch, sandwich, and sugar free Jello pudding are lunch items.

Noah's food just has to be labeled as "lunch" or "snack."  Similar to Michael, Noah took Pirate's Booty Cheese puffs, strawberry applesauce and a juice pouch for snack.  For lunch, he took Fritos, pudding, 2 small Chips Ahoy, another juice pouch and two pepperoni-wrapped cheese sticks instead of a sandwich.

On this day, I took a photo the night before the lunches were packed which is why I don't have a picture of the sandwich.  Michael is pretty consistent with what he wants for lunch-- which is typically a PBJ sandwich.  We use Polaner's or Smucker's sugar free grape or blackberry jam, Jif peanut butter, and Sara Lee "45 Calories and Delightful" bread which is very low in carb count.  On this day, Michael would be having a sandwich along with 2 mini Chips Ahoy cookies, some Cheetos puffs, and a juice pouch.

For snack on this day, he would be having roughly 21 Goldfish, a juice pouch, Slim Jim, and a strawberry applesauce.

I also include a little joke/note for Michael.  On one side is a little Knock Knock joke, and on the other side is a spot for me to write a little encouraging note to him.  (When Noah reads with more ease, I will include notes for him too).

Sometimes it is hard to remember all the items I could use for lunch making, so I made myself a little list on the fridge that includes main dish ideas (PBJ, pepperoni cheese sticks, ham sandwich) and side item options so it's not so overwhelming.  I make sure my grocery list includes most of these items each week to make the lunch packing easier.

Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba