Packing lunches the night before

[Anonymous]

I did sandwiches the night before. They were on rolls so heartier than a slice of bread. Condiments went in the middle. No tomatoes. Fruit was cut in the am..though I stopped cutting at some point so we could use less bags.

[Anonymous]

Heat the water for the thermos in the microwave.

[Anonymous]

Always leftovers that can be eaten cold unless we send soup in a thermos. This week for PKer:

Air-fried polenta with cornichons/olives, cucumbers, dried unsweetened fruit;
Yogurt, baked apple, whole-wheat crackers, sunflower seeds
Roast butternut squash with baked beans, hard-boiled egg, cucumbers;
Smoked salmon slices with hard-boiled egg, whole-wheat crackers, capers, avocado slices (with squeeze of lemon)
Baked cheese-spinach mini tart, cornichons/olives, cucumbers;

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Always leftovers that can be eaten cold unless we send soup in a thermos. This week for PKer:

Air-fried polenta with cornichons/olives, cucumbers, dried unsweetened fruit;
Yogurt, baked apple, whole-wheat crackers, sunflower seeds
Roast butternut squash with baked beans, hard-boiled egg, cucumbers;
Smoked salmon slices with hard-boiled egg, whole-wheat crackers, capers, avocado slices (with squeeze of lemon)
Baked cheese-spinach mini tart, cornichons/olives, cucumbers;

This sounds great- honestly it does. As a mom of teens, though, it does make me laugh a little. Keep this list and remind yourself of how good you did when they were little…. When you see them grazing on Cheetos as teenagers! 😊

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you pack school lunches the night before, what do you pack? We do a lot of leftovers in thermoses, which involves heating the thermos with boiled water, then heating the food and transferring it. Sandwiches my kids say get soggy if we pack the night before, they're otherwise not super picky. If we cut up apples the night before they get brown, pears they get soggy. We don't always have berries around (so expensive! And they don't last long when in the house, kids love them).

Help! Would love ideas. Mornings are so hectic.

Why are you cutting up apples?

Just do them in the morning. It isn’t hard. Lay out everything you want to include the night before except the main.

[Anonymous]

I pack the night before. Dinner leftovers get portioned out at dinner clean up. The nuked in the morning. I skip the hot water in the thermos. Kids say the food is just as warm (lunches packed before 8, lunches as late as 12:30). I do this probably twice a week.
Sandwiches get made in the morning as they are quick. Everything else is cut and in containers during dinner prep or while husband cleans up dinner.
Whole fruit: pears, apples, grapes
Precut fruit: pineapple, strawberries, watermelon (in season)

Precut veggies: cucumber, peppers
I wish they liked carrots or raw broccoli but they don’t.

A treat like chips or a sweet. Done!

[Anonymous]

Just wake up before they do and make the lunches. This is what I do. I make 3 lunches in about 15 minutes or less right before kids get up- in peace and quiet.

You are right, sandwiches aren’t good sitting overnight and thermos doesn’t work. So unless they are up for a “snack” lunch just wake up earlier and pack it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Always leftovers that can be eaten cold unless we send soup in a thermos. This week for PKer:

Air-fried polenta with cornichons/olives, cucumbers, dried unsweetened fruit;
Yogurt, baked apple, whole-wheat crackers, sunflower seeds
Roast butternut squash with baked beans, hard-boiled egg, cucumbers;
Smoked salmon slices with hard-boiled egg, whole-wheat crackers, capers, avocado slices (with squeeze of lemon)
Baked cheese-spinach mini tart, cornichons/olives, cucumbers;

Can you pack me lunch please? Sounds delicious!

[Anonymous]

You can freeze meat and cheese sandwiches for the week. You can also freeze PB&J.
Use butter on the meat and cheese sandwiches.
Use PB on both sides of the bread with jam in the middle for PB&J.
You can also do homemade lunchables with crackers, cheese slices, baby carrot sticks, dark chocolate.
For fruit, I never use fruit I have to cut up - blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, grapes, clementines, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did sandwiches the night before. They were on rolls so heartier than a slice of bread. Condiments went in the middle. No tomatoes. Fruit was cut in the am..though I stopped cutting at some point so we could use less bags.

This is what I do. I put meat/cheese on both sides of bread, then the condiments and lettuce/tomato. They don't get soggy that way.

[Anonymous]

What if you do deconstructed sandwiches for the kids? You can put everything in baggies (lettuce, bread, sliced tomato, deli ham, sliced turkey), and small serving containers (tuna salad, egg salad) and the kids assemble the sandwiches themselves at lunch time.

Frankly, I would just get up 10 minutes earlier if you're stuck on doing the leftovers and want to heat up the thermoses. I do think it is crazy that the schools don't allow kids to use microwaves. IMO there should be a whole line of microwaves in schools and kids then be allowed to heat up their meals from home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make my kids pack their own lunches and then it’s not so hectic!

Yea, not happening. We're just trying to eat breakfast and save our sanity.

[Anonymous]

Making lunch is never 15 min. What the heck am I doing wrong?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wake up before they do and make the lunches. This is what I do. I make 3 lunches in about 15 minutes or less right before kids get up- in peace and quiet.

You are right, sandwiches aren’t good sitting overnight and thermos doesn’t work. So unless they are up for a “snack” lunch just wake up earlier and pack it

Same here. It takes 15 minutes to pack our lunches. A quick assembly line. Everyone gets the same thing. Easy as can be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wake up before they do and make the lunches. This is what I do. I make 3 lunches in about 15 minutes or less right before kids get up- in peace and quiet.

You are right, sandwiches aren’t good sitting overnight and thermos doesn’t work. So unless they are up for a “snack” lunch just wake up earlier and pack it

Same here. It takes 15 minutes to pack our lunches. A quick assembly line. Everyone gets the same thing. Easy as can be.

^^You're lucky everyone eats the same thing for lunch, but that's not always the case with every family.