4 Kids' Lunchbox Ideas Plus At Home Weekend Lunch

School has been in session for a few weeks now, and I'm hoping we all got the hang of fixing lunches for the kids for school.  I am constantly trying to think of and find new ideas to not get them bored.  I'm sure I'm not the only Mom who has those kids that LOVE apple slices today...but hate them tomorrow.  So because of this I have to constantly change it up and have lots of options available.  In this post I will show you 4 more ideas for lunches.  Some of these will be with and some without sandwiches.    If you don't know already, my kids hate when I pack them sandwiches for lunch so I have to do it very rarely. I am giving you four meals, which can be a weeks worth of lunches if you allow them to eat lunch at school on Friday.  Usually once a week we allow our kids to eat lunch at school on Friday, or they can choose another day during the week to eat lunch at school.  This gives me not only a physical break from all the preparations, but a mental one as well. I will also include a fun lunch idea for the weekend.

I tried to switch it up a bit with their sandwiches by toasting them (in the morning), and adding lettuce and tomatoes.  Georgee loved this, but Gracee of course didn't like her bread toasted.  I added the baked cheese puffs and a buddy fruit (we no longer use the pouches due to all the horror stories of mold).  The items with the stickers on them are their classroom snacks.  Teddy Grahams with chocolate peanut butter spread for Gracee and mini pepperonis for Georgee.

Once a week I try to include my homemade lunchables.  Thankfully this whole lunch worked great for both kids which consisted of: apple slices, cheese stick, mini Canadian bacon, cucumbers, and wheat thins.  Score for Mommy!

Another once a week option is cereal for lunch.  My husband for some reason is not a fan of me sending cereal for their lunch.  What he don't know is that the kids love it!  They think it's different and cool.  I also make sure to pack them some protein.  Pictured above is Canadian bacon, but sometimes they get leftover bacon or sausage from breakfast.  I store the cereal in a container that they can easily pour their milk in with it.  I put their thermos in the freezer overnight and put the milk in it in the morning to keep the milk cold for lunch.

Here we are back to a good old fashioned peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Gracee does not mind having pbj's, but Georgee does not like peanut butter at all.  He only likes jelly on his sandwich, which is why I added the mini Canadian bacon.  Gracee likes the ham and wanted some too.  Gracee got another homemade fruit salad, and Georgee got mandarin oranges.  Popcorn is another great addition to lunches and for snacks.  The kids feel they are getting a real treat when they have popcorn in their lunchboxes.

Trying to think of lunches to feed kids for school is hard, but let's not forget weekends.  I find it equally draining to think about.  I am usually lucky and able to give them some sort of leftovers, but sometimes that's not an option.  I go grocery shopping most of the time on Saturdays, so it's a real treat for them to be able to get sushi from the grocery store for lunch.  My kids love sushi and will try all kinds, but we like to stick to the California rolls and anything cooked.  It's very easy for them to split a roll and add in some fruits and veggies.  They can be content while you are putting the groceries away.  That is...if they like sushi!

Makeover Monday: Black and White Nails

As a busy mother of 2, doing my nails weekly give me life!  I don't get to do them often, but when I do, I feel like I'm doing big thangs!  Pictured above I did a black and white combination.  I like to play around with trying to do designs.  I'm not the best artist, but it's good enough to make me feel good on the inside and out!  Like Shameless Maya always say, "Do You Boo"!

P.S. Please disregard my Hubby's Army boots...someone had to take the picture!

3 Lunchbox Ideas for Kids (No Sandwiches)

If you are loving my back to school lunch posts (and I hope you are), then today is your lucky day!  I have created more easy lunchbox options for kids.  Please refer to my previous posts on how I get myself organized to make this happen in an efficient manner in the mornings.  It's all about planning and preparing.  

It's hard enough for me to try to figure out what to put in my kids' lunchboxes every morning, and it's even harder when I can't give them both the same things.  They do not like the same things.  I try to give them similar things without having to think too much that early in the morning.  Pictured above is Gracee's lunch.  Sometimes I will break down and give them good old Chef Boyardee!  I use a small thermos to keep it warm in.  Paired with this is a cheese stick (Gracee does not like meat sticks), homemade fruit salad, and a kids' Odwalla bar.

Georgee does not like Chef Boyardee and will only eat the mac & cheese one.  He does like meat sticks, but does not like fruit salad.  He gets a cutie for his fruit.  

Another alternative to sandwiches or deli meat is mini pepperoni packs.  Georgee loves these and they are easy to throw in his lunchbox.  No prepping needed.

Gracee actually really likes the spaghetti and meatballs Chef Boyardee and will often request it.  I added raw broccoli, grapes, and a squeezable Greek yogurt.  One of these sides she can choose for a classroom snack.  

Over the next few weeks I will continue to post new ideas so that you can have at list of options to add to your kids' lunchboxes.  Don't forget to add in a cute little drawing or note.  They may not show it, but they do love that!  

More Back To School Lunch Ideas for Kids (No Sandwiches)

In the hustle and bustle of back to school time, the last thing we need to worry about is what to put in our kids' lunchboxes.  I have spent a lot of time thinking about this issue and have come up with some quick, easy, affordable, and mostly healthy lunch ideas.  I hope these ideas are able to save you at least a little bit of time and stress.

This may not look very appetizing, but any type of cold pasta salad is great to add to lunch to change things up a bit.  My kids love my Mom's recipe of macaroni salad.  We just use whole wheat elbow noodles, eggs, relish, onions (add whatever diced vegetables you like), ham or turkey, shredded cheese, and light miracle whip.  You can choose whatever pasta salad your child prefers and put it in a thermos to keep it cold.  I use a thermos that I can store in the freezer at night, and put the pasta salad in it in the morning to keep it cold for lunchtime.  I like to add raw veggies and crackers with this.

I usually meal prep for my husband and I a big fruit salad every week.  My daughter is also a fan.  I like to prepare hers in a cute small mason jar with some whip cream on top.  Sometimes we add granola and Greek vanilla yogurt.  This dish is not only super healthy, but super cute and delicious too!  My son is not a big fruit eater so he isn't a fan.

Here is an example of my homemade lunchables.  I have mentioned before that I hate buying the ready made lunchables in the store.  I do give in to those when I'm having a Mommy moment and just don't feel like having to think about lunch anymore.  Those times are few and far in between because I think my lunchables taste better and are quite cute.  The kids liked that I wrapped turkey around blocks of cheese and secured them with toothpicks.  You can also do this easily with string cheese without having to cut anything.

Soup and salad is always another great option.  My kids like tomato soup.  I use the thermos to keep it warm.  In the morning I pour boiling hot water in the thermos and let it sit in there for five minutes or so.  Then I warm up the soup until it is boiling hot as well.  I pour out the water and quickly pour in the soup to keep it warm for lunch.  I add a salad and fruit.

Check out my previous blog post for how I organize myself to quickly create these lunches.  Comment below ideas you use for your kids that you have found helpful.

Kindergarten Back To School (Boy) Style

It was just last year that my baby was entering Kindergarten.  He has been going to daycare all his life, but it's a different story when they go to big kid school.  With starting big kid school, he had to look the part.  We found this super cute outfit all from our favorite store Ross.  Little Georgee loves to wear his ties and it was befitting he do so on the first day of school.  This tie came with this shirt and we matched some dark jeans to go with it.  We also got the orange Converse sneakers from Ross to add a pop of color.  He was definitely the coolest and most handsome Kindergartener!