Simple School Lunches

School is just just around the corner — which means school lunches are back — again.

Packing homemade lunches for your children can get old. real. fast. especially if they are picky eaters! However, homemade lunches are totally worth it as they will ultimately save you lots of:

• Time: packing lunches the night before will save lots of time during your morning rush.

• Money: homemade lunches are so much cheaper than prepackaged meals and fast food.
• Calories: skip the calories and sodium in prepackaged food and pack fresh fruits and veggies instead.

• Waste: we use washable storage containers and reusable lunch bags/boxes to help “save the environment”!

We’ve got into the habit of packing lunches right after dinner, which is convenient because we already have storage containers out and we like eating the leftovers for lunch the next day! I love crossing this off my list {actually, I love crossing anything off my list} but when the lunches are packed, it’s just one less thing I have to think about in the morning when I’m rushing…and I do rush!

So now that you’re all motivated to pack your darling children delicious lunches, where do you start?

I would suggest heading on over to AnotherLunch.com. Melissa is all about homemade lunches and you have GOT to see what she manages to come up with every day…she’s amazing!

Here are some of the super fun, creative, and waste-free lunches she prepares for her children.  Most of the lunches below are actually part of a Muffin Tin Monday series over at MuffinTinMom.com {Yup, it seems there really IS a website for everything!}

A Meal Fit for a Princess:

Breakfast for Lunch:

Stars!

Mexi-Meal:

Laptop Lunch: (with Bento Buddies)

OK, so if these don’t  have you inspire you to get a bit more creative with lunches this year…I don’t know what else I can do!

Here are a few more resources to help you simplify the lunch-packing routine.

• EasyLunchBoxes.com: lots of fun product to help you pack lunches quickly and easily.
• LaptopLunches.com: Eco-friendly, products to simplify and organize your lunches.
• TheLunchPunch.com: Really cute sandwich “punches” to make eating lunch just a little more fun.
• Epicurious.com: They just posted this great blog article with 9 of their favorite lunch-packing tools this year.

What ideas, tips, or tools do you use to simplify school lunches?