Packing School Lunches Made Easy With a Simple System!

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My child entered first grade this year and it all went to hell.

No, no school is fine. His teachers are great, his fellow students are loud and fun, and he’s even started swimming classes which he loves! Yes, school is good, except for the lunches.

I’m not sure why they did it but the school decided to change the food provider (oh how I wish they had just kept the old one). Since the first day my kid tried the new school lunch, he came home and gobbled up half the fridge, and in between mouthfuls of chewing explained that he hated the school food now.

Obviously, we told him to try again and keep an open mind, but by the end of the week, he had decided, in no uncertain terms, that the school food was pretty much poison. (FYI, it isn’t.) Thus, we were forced to start packing his lunches.

It was a nightmare from the beginning, as I fretted about trying to pack healthy choices, not only for his sake but also because of the judgement I feared from the school should I sneak a cookie in there. The delivery system (lunch box) was another concern – plastic, stainless steel, tempered glass, microwaveable, compartmentalized but how many compartments? But now that we’re a month in, I’m happy to report that I developed a system, thanks to hours of painstaking online R&D, coupled with a fair share of trial and error. The trick is really to systemize it and only allow occasional, moderate changes when you’re feeling adventurous, or have extra time (HA!).

I borrowed and tweaked this chart to suit my child’s preferences, so we just have to make sure we choose one item from each column. On top of that, we created a weekly schedule: Monday is always Meatless Mondays in our household and I try to uphold this rule even for his lunches, so Mondays tend to be PB&J or other vegetarian sandwich options. Tuesdays are pasta with red sauce (from a jar) plus a handful of meat. Wednesdays, another sandwich but tuna and cheese this time. Thursdays, most likely leftovers from the night before. And Fridays are his favorite, ham and cheese sandwiches. Aside from that, there are either cut carrots, cucumbers, or celery sticks in there as well. Though, truth be told, they are still in the lunch box when he returns. But we make him eat them all before dinner.

This is by no means a definitive list, and merely an honest sharing about the system that staves off panic attacks about his lunches. It may sound boring to have a more-or-less fixed schedule, but that actually allows us to have more breathing room to play around with the extras after we’ve prepared the scheduled entree. We generally pop in a dried fruit treat, and the occasional cookie (yes, I did) or whatever fun little snacks we happen to have in the pantry. The timetable also helps ground my child in his expectations, so he actually looks forward to his lunches at school. He even helps make his own ham and cheese sandwiches now!

Pro Tip: Placing a paper towel inside the box helps to absorb moisture so the veggie sticks don’t make a damp mess of the other snacks inside.

There you have it, a school lunch packing system. Hopefully, your kid is just eating lunches at school, in which case you could also use that chart to help ensure they are eating a balanced diet. But if they aren’t, or if your school decides to change food vendors on you, well, you know where to come for a little help.

Images: Pexels

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