It’s that time of year again… scrambling around in the mornings trying to decide what to pack in the old brown bag (or adorable Buzz lunch box as the case may be). Or, are you one of those organized Moms who actually packs at night?
I’m not much for menus, but I do like to keep an inventory list. This makes it easy to know what I have on hand and is especially good for teens who pack their own lunches.
Good for student lunches:
- Sandwiches (duh) – When I was a kid I liked to put potato chips on mine!
- Little bags of chips or other snacky items. Save money by purchasing bulk items and bagging in snack bags. Let your kids fill the bags! Save more money by using snack containers instead of snack bags. I like the “Snack Cup Set” from Tupperware! I like DollarTree.com for picking up snacks. This week they have 168 pre-packaged bags of peanuts for only $28!
- For healthier chips, make your own by baking corn or flour tortillas sprayed with cooking spray.
- Pita pockets filled with sandwich fixings
- Wraps
- Leftovers in an insulated container
- Soup (my kids have always liked chicken noodle!)
- Homemade lunchables – let your child choose their lunch meat & crackers
- Dried fruit
- Mini sub sandwiches – make on hot dog buns!
- Vanilla wafers w/yogurt to dip them in
- Homemade (read: healthier!) treats, like these delicious mini-muffins. I’ve been making these for years and my family loves them. I found the recipe in Family Fun Magazine. My favorite magazine!
What do you pack? Share the ideas!
the thrifty ba
i freeze gogurt tubes then throw them into the lunch box inthe morning. they thaw only a little by lunch and my son loves it!
and we always do juice boxes/bags and i make sure they are 100% juice. that way they are getting their fruit INTO them rather than chucking it into the trash (what i used to do).
Christy
I can't find the 168 bags of peanuts for $28 on the dollartree website. Any hints?
Whit
SKU #: 952654
It is a case of 28 units, each unit has 6 packs = 168 bags! 🙂
hth