Sending healthy lunches to school with your child IS possible! It doesn't have to be time consuming or stressful. The first thing to figure out is if your kids like variety or if they are fine eating the same thing every day for a whole week or more. Keeping that in mind will help you plan. Repurposing leftovers and prepping a few favorites on the weekend for use all week will have you packing amazing lunches with ease in no time!
Roast some vegetables or make some burger sliders on the weekend as staples to use in lunches throughout the week. You can use these to fill in when dinner leftovers won't cut it, or when you are feeling short on time or ideas. Having a few easy recipes that can be prepped over the weekend (or making double and freezing some for later) will help you keep healthy awesome lunches packed all year.
Investing in good containers is the first step in amazing lunches. It may sound silly, but having containers that keep things cold or hot and that stand up to being tossed into backpacks or dropped on the playground actually does make a difference in the lunch packing process. Stick to reusable containers as much as possible, it takes a little more time to keep them clean, but in the long run it's less expensive (one time investment vs. buying plastic bags and plastic wrap monthly) and it's better for the environment.
Getting your kids involved can also be helpful in actually getting them to eat the lunches you send to school. Sit down together and come up with a few ideas for proteins, fruits and veggies, and snacks and treats. This gives them some ownership of the situation and will not only help them with decision making skills, but also get them to think about what they do and don't like.
Lunch packing inspiration
Here are some posts from around the internet with some amazing real food lunch ideas. Don't get caught up in making your lunches look pretty like so many of the photos in these posts, it's more important to get nutritious food into your kid than to make it look pretty getting there!
40 Days of Gluten Free Lunches - The Paleo Mama
Nut Free Paleo Lunch Ideas - Eat Drink Paleo
School Lunch Roundup - 100 Days of Real Food
Nut Free School Lunch Roundup - 100 Days of Real Food
