Week 1 of Healthy School Lunches (with recipes!)

Did I mention the freakout I had the day before school started? It was over school lunches, because totally ridic and trivial things are always at the basis of all my fits.  Thankfully my husband and one of my dearest friends, Bonnie, were here to witness it and talk me down from the ledge.   

 

Together we created a system, because honestly, plans and systems sooth my soul. They helped me come up a bunch of different school lunches I can pack for Narls (and Em on dance days), which I then used photoshop to create recipe cards for, detailing exactly what ingredients are needed and how much time I'd need to set aside for preparation. 

 

My goal is to have 20 varying, healthy lunches, so I'll have four weeks to cycle through and rotate. No guesswork. No additional planning. Seriously, I heart anything that makes my life easier.

 

If you're interested, here is our first week of different, healthy lunches that my kiddos took with them. The lunchboxes are from laptop lunches and I love love them. I bought them last year and they're still in excellent condition despite being used almost daily.

A note on the food I use, because I don't want to sound all obnoxious & preachy by specifically pointing out ~organic wheat crackers~ and ~all natural sugar-free appleseauce~ , I do try to buy organic, natural, no-sugar-added and/or whole wheat versions of everything. We haven't completely eliminated every processed food from our diet, but on a whole, we eat primarily clean and have been for almost two years (go us!). 

 

Monday:

banana slices, green peppers, applesauce (mixed with a sprinkle of cinnamon), pb&j, thin crackers, & cheddar cheese slices

 

Tuesday:

a healthier diy "lunchable" consisting of deli-cut thick-sliced turkey pieces, colby jack cheese chunks, thin crackers, a cutie orange, blueberries, & baby carrots with homemade ranch dip

 

Wednesday:

apple slices with caramel for dipping, veggie chips, a cheese quesadilla, & cucumber chunks

 

Thursday:

a spinach chicken caesar salad with caesar dressing, grapes, apple cinnamon rice crisps, veggie straws, & celery with peanut butter and raisins

 

Friday:

rotini pasta with pasta sauce, cheese bunnies, pineapple and strawberries, & fig bars

 

Here are the recipe cards I made. I print them off at Office Max for less than $1/sheet (using their strongest cardstock-ish paper) and 3 4x6-in recipe cards fit on one sheet.  Download the recipe to get its full size. Also, if you spot a typo please let me know; I check and double check but still miss a ton.

 

Enjoy! And I'd love to hear what your kiddos' favorite lunches are :)