Ever have days where you don’t know what to pack the kids for lunch? Sound like every day? One of my biggest struggles is making sure my son has at least a few of the food groups in his lunchbox for lunch. Another struggle is making sure I have what he wants in my fridge! The real struggle is that if I don’t have this planned out I’m a hot frantic mess the night before school or the morning of.  Do you want to know how to eliminate this issue?

Lunchbox Menu Printable! Yes! There is a lunchbox god and he has blessed me with this lovely idea to see the week's menu and help my son now also read and pack his own lunch. I wanted something to reuse to make it simple, so I printed this and then laminated it. This way I can use the dry erase markers and wipe and reuse. You can purchase laminate at any supply store or craft store.

Download Lunchbox Menu Printable

Now for the hard part, what to pack? I try to include a few food groups into each lunch and snack. We usually do one hot lunch a week so that leaves me with four days.

Here’s a few ideas of what you could put in a lunchbox so that your child will get a handful of things from the food pyramid.

MAIN COURSE:

• Sandwich
• Meat Rolls
• Tuna Salad and Crackers
• Chicken Salad and Crackers
• Pita & Hummus
• Ham Slices and cheese stick
• Turkey Slices and Cheese Stick
• Chicken Slices and Cheese Stick

A FRUIT OR A VEGGIE:

• Apple Slices
• Grapes
• Banana
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Pear Slices
• Watermelon
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Celery Sticks
• Carrots Sticks
• Cucumber Slices
• Oranges
• Pineapple Chunks
• Cantaloupe Chunks
• Zucchini Sticks

A SNACK:

• Pretzels
• Cheese Sticks
• Popcorn
• Raisins
• Rice Cakes
• Crackers
• Trail Mix
• Chex Mix
• Yogurt
• Applesauce
• Veggie Sticks
• Crackers and Cheese
• Mini Muffins
• Annie’s Bunny’s
• Dried Fruit

A SWEET TREAT:

• Fruit Snacks
• Cookie
• Pudding

A DRINK:

• Water
• Juice
• Milk

So, now that I set you up with the printable and this list that I started, your mornings will be more full of coffee and talking, rather than frantically running around looking for what to pack in your child’s lunch! Happy Lunchbox Packing!

To find more ideas of lunch boxes for kids, check out https://www.pinterest.com/easylunchboxes/easy-lunch-box-lunches/

This guest blog post was written by Jamie Lee, mother, entrepreneur and photographer at Reveal Photography. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.