Grab-and-Go Lunches for Picky Eaters

The good old days. . .

So I was spoiled for the first two-and-a-half years of my kids’ schooling. They started Montessori at about 18 months, and from that time until we moved them to a new school at age 4, they were getting breakfast, lunch, and snacks at school. That’s right – no packing of food whatsoever.

Reality bites. . .

Then Jeremy and I, after much deliberation, decided to switch them to a new Montessori that offered a Spanish immersion program for preschoolers. There were applications, assessments, and daily mailbox-checking for acceptance letters. In spite of the mile-long wait list, our littles had BOTH been accepted into the program! Yippee! Right? The major drawbacks? (1) It’s WAY across town, and (2) we’d have to start packing lunches. Ugh.

Immediate action items

I am all about kids being as self-sufficient as possible, so I knew we had to do some rearranging so they could start being responsible for grabbing as much of their own lunch food and snacks as practical.

I then whipped out my handy label maker and started switching and moving all their stuff down into 3 dedicated spots:

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1. Fridge: I emptied a drawer they can reach in the fridge for their perishables – this is where we keep yogurt, cheese, juices and milk, fruit, etc.
2. Cabinet: I moved a bunch of snacks into a low drawer in the kitchen – this is where we keep grains, dried veggie snacks, and nonperishable treats like cookies.
3. Pantry: I created two new bins in the pantry to hold the extras of everything like juice/milk boxes, fruit pouches, etc.

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Now the only thing that has to be “done” is making the main item, like a peanut butter sandwich, or whatever hot item we’re putting in a thermos for them that day. Everything else can be grabbed and tossed into the appropriate compartment in the bento boxes.

Kid-friendly

You’ll notice that almost everything in the fridge and cabinet is safe for picky eaters. Sophie is willing to try most things, but Noah will not eat anything that hasn’t been through a factory. For his “fruit,” he gets fruit leather or fruit pouches. For his “veggies,” he’ll eat veggie straws or Terra chips. It’s a struggle, but I try to keep mostly things he’ll eat available for his lunches, and I throw in something new every couple of days just to give it a shot. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t – I try not to stress too much about it.

Mom-friendly

Not only does keeping everything organized like this allow the kids to grab their own snacks/drinks (parenting milestone!) and help assemble their own lunches, it is also a huge help when someone else like the nanny, babysitter, or grandma (or dad. . . . I don’t think that’s ever happened, but maybe in some families. . .) can easily and QUICKLY put together a balanced lunch for the kids.

Besides throwing money at the problem and just paying for school lunch (believe me, I would do this more often if Noah didn’t think school lunch was hot rubbish), what do you do to make school mornings less hectic when it comes to getting lunchboxes ready?