Sweet Shoppe Designs – The Sweetest Digital Scrapbooking Site on the Web

I grew up with crap on my lunches. Yeah, I said it, crap. Processed, sugary, carbohydrate-loaded, not-so filling food that really did me no good.  As an adult, I can safely say that I am STILL addicted to sugar, carbs and crappy food.  I can’t blame my parents, they did what they could with what they had and honestly, when I was a kid, we didn’t know as much as we do now about food addiction and what causes it.  That being said, this year, I’ve been on a mission to improve the quality of my own kid’s lunches.  For the past 2 years, I’ve found myself traveling the same path with my son: the easy, pre-packaged, grab and go foods that I could just shove in his lunch box on a busy morning and call it good. But this year, I’m determined to do better, not only for their health but for cost effectiveness too! Here are my steps to making lunches healthier, while still making it easy on you in the morning!

1. Bake in Bulk – Who doesn’t love homemade cookies and goodies? They’re infinitely better tasting than Chips Ahoy, cheaper and most of the time, healthier too.  But I think it’s safe to say that most of us don’t have the time to bake on demand as needed. My solution? Bake a LOT all at once and freeze it! Then when you’re making lunches, just pull a frozen cookie out, and they’re thawed by lunch time!  Here’s my most favorite Peanut Butter cookie recipe, I just got done making 5 dozen of these tonight!

2. Replace the favorite packaged snacks with home-made wherever possible.  Did you know you could make your own Fruit Roll Ups?  How about McDonald’s Egg McMuffins? Even Cheez-its!  All of these options may take more time and cost a little more, but the benefits are endless!  One, they most likely taste better than their over processed counterparts. Two, you can count the number of ingredients in these on one hand AND you can control what’s in them as well. Allergic to something specific?  You can find away around it! Here’s a super fun recipe for homemade pop tarts!

3. Organization is key. Do everything you can to make life easier when you’re bleary-eyed and tired in the morning. Pre-cut your fruits and veggies, put portion-sized snacks in baggies or tupperware, put everything in one place! You can either make lunches at night, or use a lunchtime-organization system like these I found on Pinterest!

Did you know that you can find anything on the internet? Haha, no really!  Just the other day, I learned that you can store cut apples without having them turn brown. Just soak them for 10 minutes in sprite and voila! No oxidation!

4. Finally, consider making lunches more fun.  This year, Bento Boxes are all the rage but you don’t have to invest in a lot of tools to make lunch more fun for your kiddos.  At the beginning of the school year, I challenged myself to go as long as I could without making them sandwiches.  I made meat and cheese roll ups, octopus hotdogs, packed leftovers…whatever I could do to avoid making PB&J and I made it a full 10 school days without a sandwich.  I know we can get stuck in a rut but there are SO many websites out there to keep you inspired! Try a few of these!

http://www.bentolunch.net/

http://www.cutefoodforkids.com/

http://thislunchrox.com/

http://www.leukelunch.nl/nieuws/

So, with a little planning, a lot of organization, you too can start to wean your kids (and your wallet!) off of Chips Ahoy, Goldfish, Lunchables and fruit snacks.  You can make them healthy alternatives and cater to even the pickiest of eaters. Yes, it’s more time intensive but honestly, in the end, a little time investment is worth health benefits alone in my opinion!  Does anyone else out there make things like this from scratch? What do you guys do to make your kids lunches fun or interesting? Here’s a link to a few of my related pinterest boards!

Replace Those Packaged Snacks

Do-able Bentos

Sweet Stuff

Last but not least, this week’s Layout of The Week goes to LauraMarie with this amazing layout called Boy Rock N Roll!

Congrats Laura, this is beautiful!!