We’re engaged in a mighty effort here to get back to reasonable spending after a lazy summer month of too much (costly) fun. And one of the quickest ways to save is by bringing all food in-house. We pack our kids’ lunches and snacks for school every day and have some easy go-to’s we thought we’d share.
By packing our kids’ food for school, we not only save money, but we think they end up eating healthier than the food available for purchase by our school.
Making lunches and snacks every day can feel daunting. As busy parents, we work, do chores, check homework, drive children around, and more.
But we have some really easy back to school lunch and snack ideas for kids.
These are tried-and-true basics. Bear in mind that our children do not eat things that are cut into cute shapes or have more than 2 ingredients (if you put raisins on cream cheese on celery they will wonder why you are trying to kill them). So while we applaud all those websites out there making cute rollups and delectable quinoa muffins, that’s not our household.
Plus, it doesn’t have to be hard!
We put together an easy, downloadable, free (we’re not even asking for your email address, although if you want to subscribe to get more fantastic, helpful posts like this, we’d love it) printable with quick ideas. Print this out and stick it on your fridge to help you get through those groggy early mornings.
As a general rule, we pack one main/protein dish, one fruit, one veggie, one carb (like chips), and one small dessert (like a single cookie). For snacks, we usually provide one snack item off the list and one fruit item. But do what works for your family.
All of these can be modified to be gluten-free. As we are a gluten-free household for our 1st grader, we use gluten-free bagels, English muffins, bread, and pretzels as well as corn tortillas.
Going nut-free is also possible. Skip the trail mix and KIND bars, and substitute sun butter for peanut butter.
Parents, you’ve got this! You CAN pack those little bodies healthy and cost-effective lunches for school without too much time.
Here’s to a happy (healthy) school year!
Click here to download your FREE printable Back to School Lunch and Snack Ideas for kids.
Last Updated on September 5, 2023 by allisonbcarter@gmail.com
Great ideas! My son buys his lunch in the cafeteria on school days, but during track out (right now!) he packs a lunch each day for camp. Thanks for the free printable list to inspire us. 🙂
I love that you keep it simple! We don’t have kids yet, but when we do, I’d like to use some of these ideas.