Hug From Home

What's the biggest challenge for you with packing school lunches??

I'm a couple of weeks into packing school lunches and we are hitting our stride.  I almost always pack lunches right after a get dinner cleaned up.  I'm still in cooking mode and don't leave it to do right before I go to bed.  I pop them in the fridge so they're ready to add to lunch boxes in the morning.  I write notes and lay out everything I need the night before.  It makes my mornings go easier.

I pack 10 lunches every week.  I try really hard to meal prep, grocery shop regularly and keep the fridge and pantry stocked with healthy food options for my crew.  I really love taking care of them this way. 

We have added some new favorite foods to the kid's lunch menu this year.  My goal each day is to fill their lunch box with food that they love so that it feels like a giant HUG FROM HOME in the middle of their school day.  I'm also working on adding hot lunch options to their school lunch.  I haven't perfected the hot lunch Thermos method yet so stay tuned for a post once I get things just right. 

I hope you find a new food or two that you think your kids would enjoy!

Yumbox lunch favorites:

Grilled chicken leftover from dinner the night before.

Pub Style Pretzels from Aldi

HARIBO Gummy Bears

Nectarine Slices

Mini Naan Dippers from Sams

Honey BBQ Fritos

Homemade cookies

DOTS pretzels

Watermelon sour candies

Snaps pretzels

Hershey Kisses

Cheese cubes - usually extra sharp white cheddar

A slice of homemade bread

Protein bites/balls - search my blog for a couple different recipes.

Do several different bites of fruits and veggies in each slot.

Fritos & fun shaped pretzels

Gummy Nerds

Turkey Pepperoni & Turkey sausage links

Rainbow Goldfish

I save fun napkins from holidays, parties and add them to the kid's school lunches.  These were from shark week last year and the kids loved them.

I am excited to use these cute lunch box note card sets from Aldi.  They're in store now.  180 note cards for $4.99.  My store had two different packs so I got one of each.

I love to include a note in their lunch.  I've been switching up who does the note writing - mom, dad,  kid to kid notes, baby brother colors them a note and sometimes the cats even write their notes.  Post-it notes work great for this.

If you want to make protein bites for snacks/lunches - make a big batch and keep them in the fridge for the week.  The kids love the cinnamon (left) and I love the chocolate chip.

These are our favorite lunch packing supplies - Yumbox Originals, Funtainer Thermos and Pogo water bottles.  Each kid takes a big and small water bottle to school along with their yumbox.  You can head over to this blog post for links to all of our Back to School Favorites.

 

Happy lunch packing!!  Let me know if you have any questions.