Between all the hats we are wearing this school year, lunch should be the least of our worries. By planning, you’ll be able to hang one of your hats up each week. As a busy parent, I always take some time on the weekend to plan for the week and make sure I have all my snacks and lunches in a row.
Here are 4 simple tips to prepping weekday lunches:
1. Start with making a list of meals and snacks you need for the week (be specific and realistic)! From there, write an ingredient list you’ll need for the meals and snacks. Working backward will help save time at the grocery store, help with food waste, and leave you ready for each meal!
2. Have a go-to list in your back pocket at all times. Meals that you know will nourish and be crowd favorites at the same time (like the ones below!).
3. Meal prepping can save you lots of time, but for the weeks that you feel like you absolutely no time, the simple act of cleaning and cutting veggies up can go a long way during the week. You’ll thank yourself later.
4. Lastly, get the family involved! Ask the kiddos what they want and have them help plan or prep the foods on the weekend. A great way to get them involved in their nutrition at a young age!
Here are some lunches to give you some major inspo:
⭐️ Stone House Bread Paleo bread with almond butter and banana
⭐️ Safe Catch Foods tuna or salmon salad with apples and cucumber and dill
⭐️ Nourish bowl with brown rice pasta, RAO’s sauce with leftover protein and veggies
⭐️ Sourdough bread with turkey lettuce tomato
⭐️ Instapot chili or soup
⭐️ Instapot chicken bean soup with broth, spinach, navy or pinto beans, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, chicken
⭐️ Raw Wraps with slices chicken, spinach, and tomatoes with a side of fermented carrots by Contraband Ferments
Most packaged and pre-made snacks you purchase at the store have many hidden sugars, sodium, and have minimal to no nutritional benefits. Prepping snacks in snacks in advance allow you to know what exactly your kiddos are eating and will limit the dreaded ‘sugar high’ – parents, you know what I’m talking about.
Here are some my go-to snacks:
⭐️ Rhythm Superfoods dehydrated carrots and beets
⭐️Lesser Evil Snacks single serving popcorn packs
⭐️ Simple Mills crackers
⭐️ Almond butter and crackers
⭐️ Carrot or cucumber sticks
⭐️ Apple chips from Bare Snacks
⭐️ Sweet potato fries
⭐️ Cucumber slices with Mother Raw Dressing (use code: NAOWELLNESS15 for 15% off)
⭐️ RachlMansfield sweet potato brownies
⭐️ Seaweed Snacks with avocado slices or raw salmon wrapped up
⭐️ Apple spice muffins
⭐️ Pumpkin loaf
⭐️ Freeze-dried fruit
⭐️ Veggie go’s fruit strips and Veggie Fruit Bites
⭐️ Barnana banana coconut bites
⭐️ Raw Crunch bar Crunch bars
⭐️ Siete Foods tortilla chips
Download my Thrive go-to’s to save for later!
You can also find these plus many other of my go-to snacks on my one-stop Amazon shop!
