Sunday, August 14, 2016

Our favorite school lunch supplies

With school gearing up and now Bella AND Grayson going to school, we have lots to do and buy. Bella has taken "cold" lunch four days a week or more since she started school. We do "cold" lunch for several reasons:

1. Have you seen what's on the trays at school?
2. Kids get to pick and chose what they want. Which leads to....
3. Strawberry milk and a scoop of peaches. which leads to....
4. $2.85 for something I could have packed for less than a $1
5. Ugh the choices, the look and smell not so great.
6. Allowing her to pick ONE day, allows her to decide what she really wants and have an option
7. We talk about budgeting and money when discussing "hot lunch"
8. She gets a LOT of say in her "cold" lunch
9. She takes things she actually eats in her lunch
10. She gets a groovy lunch bag :)

Here are some of our favorite things for packing lunches:

1. Ziploc containers- These are our all time favorite containers... Ziploc has discontinued them *insert super sad face here* We've used them for the last 2 years and they've held up amazing. They are also realistically priced so we had at least 6, allowing us to pack lunches ahead of time.


2. Goodbyn 3 compartment lunch box- We've had this box for about a year and a half. We love it and there's NO leaking when you put dip or yogurt in the smaller side, which is something frequently in Bella's lunch. No complaints about this and it's reasonably priced.


3.  Silicone cupcake liners- We use these to put inside of the other containers. The "standard" size are perfect and keep things not touching. So you can put cheese in one and crackers in the other and store them in the bigger area of the goodbyn or ziploc.


4. Toothpicks- I use regular plastic toothpicks for "kabobs" of fruit or cheese and meat. Bella knows to remove the toothpick first. It makes for a fun appearance for the food rather than just stuffing it in the box.

5. Paint chips- Yep you know the ones at Home Depot, Lowe's or Walmart? My kids love "collecting" them and I find them all over the house. Instead of tossing them in the recycle bin, I use them to write notes and put them in their lunch.

6. A reliable lunch bag (or two). The bag we used all last year was from Toy's R Us. We've used other bags and believe it or not, this held up well... all year to be honest. Bella could use it again this coming year but Monster High is SOOOOO last year :)


What are your go-to lunch supplies? Tried and true? We are two years in and still working to find out favorites, they change frequently and we've added and taken away as things have not held up or broken. 



No comments:

Post a Comment

The joys of being a mama

Being a parent is NO joke. I just had a conversation with one of my aunts about how as parents we do the very best we can and sometimes its ...