Lunch Boxes

Happy Tuesday!  Today I’m linking up with Ashley and Erika for Tuesday Talk.  Today’s topic was inspired by my friend Alison, who suggested I do a blog post about lunch boxes…because apparently she thinks I’m super organized in this department  (Disclaimer: I’m really not. I just found a system that works for me😉).

I pack lunches in the morning.  I feel like a sandwich made the night before would be soggy, and I just prefer to do it all that morning.  We use these food containers every single day and have been using them for years.  I usually have their sandwich on one side and fruit or veggies on the other side.  Max eats a pb&j sandwich every.single.day.  Claire is more adventurous- she likes cheese/meat sandwiches, cheese and crackers, meat/cheese roll ups, pb&j, or pasta/mac and cheese in a thermos. Grace is primarily pb&j or mac and cheese in a thermos.  We use these thermos containers for hot food.  I fill it up with hot water (from my coffee machine), put the lid on, and let it sit for 10 minutes while I pack the rest of the lunch.  Then I empty out the hot water and put the hot food in.  The kids have said it’s still pretty warm by  lunchtime with this method.

It’s definitely easier to pack lunches when the pantry is stocked, amiright? It’s so frustrating when I need to go grocery shopping and I’m scrounging around trying to find things to stick in their lunches that morning.  I try not to let that happen too often, but I have sent my kids to school with random items in their lunch box from time to time. Bag of granola and a celery stick anyone? When the kids get home from school, it’s their responsibility to empty their lunch box.  They throw out any trash, put their containers in the sink, put the ice pack in the freezer, and their lunchbox in the cabinet. All ready for the next day.

And yes, usually by the beginning of May I start feeling like this about packing lunches: