Lunchboxes.
Definitely one of my least favourite things to do! Who wants to be dealing with mayonnaise before 7am (and before coffee). And hats off to those who create the most beautiful bento boxes at that hour!
I'm not sure about you - but lunch of the first day of school represents something from a fine Parisian restaurant. Come end of term it's a vegemite sandwich (bread's probably stale), half an apple and whatever I can find in a packet leftover from party bags....And do you ever get the lunchbox home and it looks remarkably similar to how it looked when it left - maybe stuff is just in different compartments....
Overtime - slowly but surely, I've developed a few tips and tricks for lunchboxes. Some of them - you may be way ahead of me already! But I thought I'd share them all anyway.
The biggest most helpful tool (in our house anyway) is a rather comprehensive list of all the foods I can possibly think of for lunch. Just before the start of every term, I sit my two down for not even 10 minutes, and we burn through this list.
Of course as they get older the responsibility for their own lunch increases (sometimes maybe). But a busy schedule at school can mean that help is sometimes needed too. And it's good at least to know what you're shopping for.
This achieves a few things! Firstly - some accountability! If you're choosing what you want for lunch - there's really no excuse not to eat it. Secondly it gives everyone an opportunity to shop and prep stuff in advance - knowing it's going to be eaten. It means when I meal plan I'm not relying on cold sausages as lunch on Thursday, if cold sausage is not flavour of the month.
I always try to see what's in season and emphasise those - they will taste their best!
I have many other (alleged) pearls of wisdom for lunchboxes- watch the blog and social media for some ideas!
If you feel like giving this a go with your tribe - you can find the free printable here. I'd love to know if you used it, and how you went - leave a comment below. What other foods should we put on this list?!
Happy Dolloping!
Vicki