Meal Prepping: The Key to a Quick and Nutritious Lunch for Your Kids
Busy moms who have to prepare lunchboxes for their children often face a common problem that can turn into a frustrating morning. It’s all about finding a quiet moment to put a little thought and creativity into their kids’ lunch boxes before those long, frantic school mornings. So, with one hand juggling time (getting their little ones ready, in particular, dressed, fed, and out the door on time) and the other avoiding any mishaps with lunch, moms get less than ideal breaks that make getting children to school with an appetizing midday meal anything but a breeze.
The first step to facing and overcoming the school lunch time stress is identifying its core components. One, it is often during the busy school mornings that parents get distracted with the morning rush and forget some key nutrients needed by their children throughout the day. Then, of course, it’s the issue of food preferences. This problem applies more to parents of picky eaters, who are very vocal about what they want to eat and what they do not. If kids happen to be allergic to certain food categories, making choices of what to pack becomes a major task. Moms are likely to be even more overwhelmed and irritated by the conflict this battle over food might create.
If you are a busy mom already submerged by the woes of having no time to pack good and balanced lunches for your children, here is an ultimate hack you have been longing for. Before we get to it, remember that there is always a solution to the core of any problem. So, if you are new to the packing lunches or you have always packed messy lunches, the following steps have got you covered.
The Ultimate Lunchbox Hack
Busy moms who feel like the clock is always running faster than they can keep up can benefit from meal prepping lunch boxes with healthy, packed food. You can decide to dedicate time to meal prep for the following busy school mornings. The following tips are proven strategies you can use to provide your children with a stress-free lunch.
For each busy mom, planning a menu ahead is always the solution. Select favorite sandwiches, snacks, fruits, and other meals for your child. After coming up with a selection of food your child will eat, write down lunch options and split into main part of the meal, sides, and dessert. This way, you can look at the list and make a lunch without too much thought into what your child/children will eat. Also, slicing fruits and veggies into smaller portions and also ensuring snacks are available in separate small containers saves time. By doing this, it will take little or no time for your child to pack his or her lunch.
To begin, create a grocery list of the food options to include in your children’s lunch and have them involved in the selection process by incorporating their favorite meals. Next, do your weekly shopping and ensure to leave enough time to set your kids’ lunch menus for a stress-free busy school morning. Prepare the sandwiches and wrap them tight to prevent the bread from turning stale. After preparing all of the favorite items and packing them tightly, ensure to label each one with the day of the week for easy identification.
Tips to Include:
Busy moms can consider some of the following options that are both simple, easy, and stress-free. Start with creating some colorful rainbow meals in which each of the lunch boxes is made using ingredients that are selected for their color. This should include cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, spinach, whole-grain wraps, and purple grapes. In this way, your busy and curious children will not only eat the rainbow but also keep enjoying the different and healthy ingredients found in your lunch box.
Busy moms can also consider taking a mix-and-match approach. Begin by packing protein such as hard-boiled eggs, hummus or yogurt with an assortment of grains and fruits, such as rice or an avocado and orange, next. With this in mind, moms can prep the grains and other protein over the weekend, which in turn will make the entire procedure very easy on the school mornings.
Busy moms can also add variations such as trying theme-based lunches. For example, one of the children can do Taco Tuesday, which is super easy as all the mom needs to do is buy a pack of tortilla wraps and other lunch items, which include shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, and seasoned beans, ready for the little ones to prepare their own tacos for school. Moms can consider these lunchboxes an expression of their creativity and more involved with the interests of their kids.
Food options are among the easiest ways of customizing busy mom’s lunchboxes for the kids. The above-stated options of being creative and busy with lunchboxes are a start for your children to have a full and happy bellies so that your children will be full and happy to go to school all day long.