I share my real food lunch boxes on my Facebook page several times a week.  My friends and family encouraged me to start this blog because they enjoyed me sharing my lunch creations on my personal Facebook page.  My kids joke that they have “famous lunches.”  The wonderful ladies who help the children at lunch each day often make comments that fill my children with pride about the lunches they are bringing.  These must be some spectacular lunches!

 

Shhh……….I’ve got a secret.  It only takes me about 10 minutes each night to make lunches.  If it took much more than that, I just wouldn’t have time to make lunches.

I am always busy with the kids.  They have really got me running.  Monday is usually, but not always my cooking and laundry night while my oldest goes to Boy Scouts.  Tuesday is Girl Scouts and I’m one of the leaders. Wednesday is dance class. Thursday has been flag football and cheer practice, Friday is Varsity football night.  Now add in church meetings, music booster meetings, baseball, fundraisers, and other school events and you can see that I don’t have much time to mess around with time consuming lunches.  When those lunches are made, my head can hit the pillow.  I am highly motivated to make quick and easy lunches.

It might be easier to toss some bagged chips and a sandwich in a brown bag, but I don’t really think so.  I buy everything in bulk and can easily pull a lunch together and provide a greater variety of nutrients by mixing things up during the week.

 

 

I’ve decided to start the Juggling Real Food and Real Life Lunchbox Series to show you just how easy this is.  I can tell that I still have doubters out there.  I know that some kids like the same thing every day and that is OK.  Just make sure you are using the best possible ingredients to make lunch.  My little dude is hooked on raisins.  I make sure to buy organic raisins without added sugar and color.

Today’s feature lunch comes together easily if the waffles are already made.  It would take a little longer if you also have to make the waffle.  This lunch is the result of having whole wheat waffles for dinner this week.  I just made a few extra so I was ready to make lunch.  Whole wheat waffles also freeze nicely.  Keep a stock of waffles and this lunch is easier than a regular sandwich since there are not crusts to be cut off.

 

The sandwich is made with natural peanut butter which does not have added sugar.  I added some sausage because I had it, but the peanut butter is plenty of protein.  I use applesauce from a jar or homemade…….whichever I have.  I make sure the applesauce does not have added sugar.  My kids are sweet already.  They don’t need added sugar.  I toss in some carrots and the lunch is complete.
We use reusable water bottles so I don’t have to worry about having juice pouches ready. The reusable water bottles are better for the environment and save me money.  I recently had extra juice pouches from a party so I put them in lunchboxes for a few days in a row. Boy, did I get the complaints.  They wanted to know when I was going back to the water bottles.  Point is, they want what they are used to.  Help them to be “used to” healthy foods and drinks.

So, what are  your favorite non-sandwich lunches?  What do you think of natural peanut butter? Do your kids like variety in their lunches or do they like the same thing every day?  Do they like hot or cold lunches……….or maybe a variety?

I can’t wait to hear from you. Leave me a comment here and I invite you to join the fun on our various social media. Just join us by using the various buttons at the top of the page. Lots more recipes, tips and fun to be had by all! If you are new to the blog……..I invite you to check out our Weekly Challenges. This is a great systematic way to to eat more of a Real Food diet and eliminate processed food. This is the approach my family took to overhauling our diet. Remember……small changes can create dramatic changes to your overall health. Good luck!