Let’s Do Lunch {#BackToSchool with Target}

OK, mamas. You know the drill. It’s about that time to be bombarded with back-to-school everything. Everywhere you go, there are school supplies galore and you are probably walking around with a mental list in your head of everything you have to get done before the big first day back.

This year, I was lucky with the supplies. I went the easier route and opted to use the online order form to get all the supplies my three kids will need for their school year. After talking with another mama, I think I may have lost the chance to save, since a lot of supplies are now on sale in stores, but for me it was easy and taken care of over our family vacation away.

What’s left to do will be labeling times three (eek!) and…lunches. I have talked to one mama friend of mine who absolutely dreads the idea of having to make lunches for her kids every day during the school year. She begged me to write a post about it! So here you go, mama Liz. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make easy lunches for school.

Step #1 – Make lunch simple enough that your child will enjoy it. I applaud the Bento lunch mamas out there that go all out and make characters, scenes or themes for each and every lunch. I bet their kids love it! Mine, however want their staple foods and are good with that almost every day of the year. So why would I stress myself out and try to recreate Olaf with vegetables and sushi? Exactly.

Step #2 – Find a way to make their favourite food healthy. My oldest could eat grilled cheese sandwiches every day of his cute little life. But that ain’t happening, especially during school hours. So I opt to make him the healthiest version of a cheese sandwich, and he gobbles it up every day. I start with a good multigrain bread, add hummus instead of butter, and then add one piece of sliced cheese that has no additives and the lowest amount of sodium (I’ve looked high and low and Petit Quebec is the winner where we live).

Step #3 – Find out when and how your child will be eating each day. Sounds silly, right? Well, it is actually pretty important for many reasons. If you calculate from the time you place the lunchbox in their backpacks to the time they will be eating the food, you may need to think about adding a freeze pack to keep the food safe. Also, my child told me he likes bananas for first snack. Why? Because he wants to peel his banana, eat it, throw out the peel and get to playing for recess. The easier the snack, the faster he can go out and play! Smart kid, right?! So for first snack, he gets his fruit, his potassium and it is a stress-free snack done.

Step #4 – Add snacks that are healthy, fun and easy to find. I did a run at Target to see what I could find for back-to-school lunches. Did you know they have a good selection of organic snacks? I didn’t. I also didn’t know they carried a lot of my favourite brands for lunch packing. I found all of our favourites and managed to add some new favourites to the list. Here are few pictures:

Target snacks

Step #5 – Prepare as much as you can in advance. Make your life easy, mama! Waking up at the crack of dawn every morning to make three lunches from scratch is not an option for me. I try to prepare almost everything in advance. Because let’s face it, mornings are hectic enough! Depending on our schedule, I sometimes prepare sandwiches for the whole week and freeze them. Yes, a cheese sandwich can be frozen. By the time my child sits down for lunch, the sandwich has thawed out. I also prepare fruit and veggies in advance in the fridge for about half the week, and place them in big containers.

Step #6 – Make the effort and go green. It’s a no brainer these days, but some mamas find it hard to get it all together for lunch each day. Here’s what I do. Each morning, I take out three reusable bags and fill them up with veggies or snacks for each child. I pop that in their lunchboxes, along with a filled reusable water bottle, a couple of other snacks, a sandwich (in another reusable bag or box), and they’re good to go. While not everything is recyclable, a lot of it is. When I buy snack for the kids, I try to buy bulk where I can to avoid unnecessary packaging. Once you get into the swing of things, going green for lunch isn’t difficult at all.

Camelbak at Target

This is our favourite reusable water bottle. It’s BPA free and easy to wash. And at Target it is at the lowest price I ever saw($13.99)

Step #7 – Add that special touch only you have, mama. Do a little something every once and a while in their lunch that is a special. On my children’s first day of school, I pack a plasticized picture of us all together and place it in their lunch boxes. It’s like giving them a hug from home. Other times, I’ll add a few stickers to the inside of their lunch box, and almost every day, I’ll write a tiny note or drawing for them. Usually it’s super simple, like a stick person or “Love you from Mama” since they are little and the youngest can’t read yet.  The point is, it’s special and they like it.

That’s it! See how easy it can be?

Now to make things even easier, Target is giving away one lucky reader a $50 gift card to help with back-to-school lunch shopping!

To enter, simply fill out this Rafflecopter form. A winner will be randomly selected on August 27th, at 11:59pm. This giveaway is open to Canadian residents only.

Good luck to all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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63 comments

Jeannie August 16, 2014 at 6:11 am

I love packing fresh fruits or fruit leather for the kids as snacks.

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Erika E August 16, 2014 at 1:15 pm

Veggies and dip is my favourite. It’s pretty easy if I prepare in advance, like you suggested.

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caryn s August 16, 2014 at 5:02 pm

I love fruits and veggies for snacks!

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Liz August 16, 2014 at 6:28 pm

Anything that can be prepared/made in advance! I think I’m going to attempt a lot of baking and freezing:)

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Toby August 16, 2014 at 7:40 pm

Fruit and yogurt!

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Jonnie August 17, 2014 at 2:04 am

Bear Paws are a favorite around here

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Lisa Neutel August 17, 2014 at 2:09 am

I like fruit for snacks..like apples slices or grapes

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michelle tremblett August 17, 2014 at 2:52 am

My daughter loves goldfish and my son is a celery lover.

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Lori Jackson August 17, 2014 at 12:00 pm

My son loves goldfish.

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lucy August 18, 2014 at 1:54 am

fig bars!

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maria August 18, 2014 at 3:56 am

Yogurts are easy to pack!

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sarah sar August 18, 2014 at 4:46 am

My kids love cut-up fruit!

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Amy C August 18, 2014 at 5:31 am

Cheese and crackers is my favourite.

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Brenda Penton August 18, 2014 at 9:14 am

Granola bars, yogurt, and fruit snacks

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Amy Heffernan August 18, 2014 at 11:38 am

Fruit Roll Ups!

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BlessedTA August 18, 2014 at 1:38 pm

Apple

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Glogirl August 18, 2014 at 6:07 pm

I like homemade trail mix for a back to school snack.

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Chris Stockford August 18, 2014 at 6:37 pm

Fruit and yogurt!

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Belinda McNabb August 19, 2014 at 1:24 am

cheese and crackers

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Bailey Dexter August 19, 2014 at 1:39 am

We like the Goldfish, I mix them with different kinds of nuts as well in baggies for the kids for school.

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Suzie M August 19, 2014 at 2:50 am

my fave is fruit & yogurt

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Nancy T August 19, 2014 at 8:57 pm

My girls love fruit, yogurt and homemade mini muffins.

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Megan F. August 19, 2014 at 10:44 pm

My son loves carrots, so he gets a lot of those. And banana bread or muffins. Red bell peppers are a big hit too.

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Tammy Dalley August 20, 2014 at 12:59 am

Yogurt

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Tracy August 20, 2014 at 6:02 am

cheese and crackers!

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stacey dempsey August 20, 2014 at 10:14 am

Yogurt is one thing I put in school lunches everyday and my son loves pepporoni sticks and usually green apples are liked by all too

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angela m August 20, 2014 at 7:09 pm

granola bars and yogurt

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Bree August 21, 2014 at 1:49 am

fresh fruit and yogurt tubes!

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Lee-Ann August 21, 2014 at 2:58 am

fresh fruit and veggies!

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Karla Sceviour August 21, 2014 at 3:46 am

my son is addicted to granola and cereal bars for school snacks!

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heidi c. August 21, 2014 at 6:31 am

My girls love cut-up fruit and veggies as well as small snack pack of cookies or popcorn.

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Julie Bolduc August 21, 2014 at 4:11 pm

Grapes my kids love them

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Jen Conlin August 21, 2014 at 4:12 pm

Hummus and Veggies or Cheese and Crackers

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Lori Bazan August 21, 2014 at 5:00 pm

Oatmeal raison cookies and hard cheese

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seham merzib August 21, 2014 at 5:56 pm

Granola bars

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Tasha August 21, 2014 at 6:34 pm

Granola bars and fruit cups!

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Judy Cowan August 22, 2014 at 12:32 am

Veggie/Dip, Yogurt and Granola Bars

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Dreena August 22, 2014 at 3:52 pm

Popcorn is a big hit as a snack.
Cheers.

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Florence C August 22, 2014 at 5:59 pm

The grandchildren love the goldfish.

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Rhonda W G. August 23, 2014 at 1:28 am

Banana bread…

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Eva Mitton-Urban August 23, 2014 at 3:46 am

Health conscious family – must say our favorite back to school snack is Yogurt coupled with fruit: strawberries/raspberries & granola – particularly fond of blueberries though. Add milk and ice makes a great smoothie drink !

Eva Mitton-Urban

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Tanis August 23, 2014 at 4:53 am

Any type of yogurt!

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missbobloblaw August 23, 2014 at 5:14 am

Fresh fruit and yogurt are always a hit with the kids! 🙂

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Rebby August 23, 2014 at 8:35 am

Granola bars and fruit smoothies

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Carol M (Lushka S) August 23, 2014 at 5:11 pm

Yogurt

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Doris H August 23, 2014 at 11:29 pm

Veggies & dip

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Jenness M August 24, 2014 at 1:09 am

Greek yogurt and berries

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Anne Taylor August 24, 2014 at 3:32 am

My grandkids like veggies and dip or fruit

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Andrea Amy August 24, 2014 at 6:38 am

One of my son’s loves chocolate pudding, and another loves to take grapes and cheese and crackers.

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Lori L. - @Miss_Elles August 24, 2014 at 6:15 pm

We often snack on baby carrots/red peppers/mini pitas & hummus – quick & healthy! Thanks for the chance to win!

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marla August 24, 2014 at 6:25 pm

Granola bars

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Nancy N. August 24, 2014 at 6:27 pm

My little guy loves taking granola bars.

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heidi c. August 25, 2014 at 12:20 am

My kids love cut-up veggies and fruit as well as snack packs of cookies or popcorn.

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Karine August 25, 2014 at 2:46 am

Cheesesticks 🙂 like Ficello type

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roger simmons August 25, 2014 at 3:48 am

Cookies, Cheese and Crackers, Granola Bars, Fruit Cups and Puddings

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Ann W August 25, 2014 at 12:47 pm

Fruit, especially blueberries, strawberries and oranges and yogurt

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Courtney August 25, 2014 at 5:42 pm

Cheesestrings!

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Angela Mitchell August 25, 2014 at 10:16 pm

Grapes, apples, and pears from our yard are definitely a top pick for back to school lunches.

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Julie Dyer August 26, 2014 at 1:03 am

My kids love goldfish — all the kinds!

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Kristine Ewald August 26, 2014 at 5:07 pm

Fruit and veggies

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Nicole August 26, 2014 at 6:15 pm

My son loves fruit kebabs!

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lori b August 27, 2014 at 2:58 am

rice krispie bars or cheese strings

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Healthy Snacks 4 Ways | Ask Mama MOE June 23, 2015 at 4:56 pm

[…] the past I wrote about healthy snacks for school and I think these are also good for home, but this is another way to present […]

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