Back to School Cook off!

Well, today was finally the day I got all my back to school meal prep cooking done. I love having the majority of the kids meals all prepped and ready in the freezer. It's easy to grab their lunch out of the freezer the night before and have it ready for a quick prep and thrown into a thermos for lunch. It saves me a lot of time and they get a variety of meals... I don't fall into the sandwich and veggie/dip rut!

I also love that I know they are being fed nutritious, whole food where I get to control what goes into their food and there is no questionable ingredients or meals being served to them. I can control how much sweetener being put into them and how much they are served. I can "hide" veggies or fruits for an extra boost. It's kind of great. My kids are generally big eaters... they eat almost as much as I do each day. I find daycare doesn't serve enough food to accommodate their hunger so I'm always sending extra snacks and food(asides from the gluten free replacements). I take pride in sending healthy snacks and lunches with the kids for school and daycare but I also need to be prepared with healthy snacks and lunches in order to be able to do that. Processed food just isn't an option for myself or my kids so I don't give myself any other choice but to do it this way!

I highly recommend a good quality thermos to send each day. Cold lunches are great but being able to send hot lunches 2 or 3 times a week gives you so many more options.

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Today, I prepped a lot. I doubled recipes and also got 3 nights of suppers and my lunches out of it too! WIN-WIN! I made:

-3 batches of Chili. I made it beanless again. I threw in spinach, red bell pepper, carrots, sweet potato, zucchini and a little broccoli this time and I blended the veggies in case Tucker happens to have one of those days where his nerves can't handle chunks of vegetables in things. I made 1 recipe for supper this week, 1 batch for the freezer divided into meals and 1 for lunches this week.

-2 batches of Sweet Potato Chicken Poppers It's a new one I just posted! I made one for supper this week and the rest went into the freezer for lunches!

-Taco Macaroni Casserole Sauce. I divided this up into 5 lunches(for both kids). I made just the sauce and I'll just add rice or brown rice pasta to it when it's taco mac lunch day! Feel free to add some veggies to this as well!

-3 batches of Pancakes These freeze great. Serve them for a snack OR lunch! Send them with applesauce, berries, sunbutter, chia berry jam, or local maple syrup and add some fruit on the side. I made one batch of this for supper this week, one batch of apple cinnamon and one batch of dark chocolate chip for the freezer.

-2 batches of Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins - these make great snacks and they freeze well.

-2 batches of Sweet Potato Avocado Brownie Bites - these are a yummy 'treat'. Great for a snack or as a 'dessert' with a homemade lunchable.

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Recipes I didn't get time to make:

-My Hidden Veggie Macaroni and Cheese Sauce

-French Toast (ready from the freezer)

-Deviled Eggs for snacks

-A bone broth soup of some sort

What are some other snacks or lunches do I make or buy? I don't buy a whole lot of snacks but it is nice to have a break sometimes so I will from time to time. I am very picky with the products I do purchase and they tend to be very expensive because they are whole food/organic products.

-Skinny Pop Popcorn I get the snack size bags from time to time OR I will make homemade popcorn too if I have time

-Sweet Potato slices from the air fryer

-Made Good Granola Bars

-Mini Sandwiches and Veggies

-Avocado Chocolate Pudding(I'll post a recipe on this another day but there are lots of recipes out there)

-Hard boiled eggs or Scrambled eggs

-Organic tortilla chips and hummus, salsa or guacamole

-Clean, pepperoni sticks

-Mini Pizza bites(made with whole grain GF tortilla OR Canyon bakehouse bread)

-Chicken breast chunks w/ mayonnaise and veggies

-One Degree Sprouted Oat Honey O's (a nice treat!)

-One Degree Sprouted Brown Rice Crisps

-Homemade lunchables (Pizza themed or crackers/cheese themed)

-Leftovers from supper the night before

-Somewhat of a mini charcuterie(different meats, cheese, crackers, hummus, fruit, veggies)

-No bake energy bites

-Plain yogurt, drizzled with raw honey or local maple syrup and fruit

-Fruit kabobs

-Once in a blue moon I get clean grass fed, organic beef hot dogs(more as a treat)

-local made sausages

-Unlimited fruits and/or veggies!

-And of course I always love trying out new, healthier recipes from time to time so I will send those too!

What are your favourite lunch box or snack box ideas that you send for your kids to school?! Feel free to share - I am always looking for new ideas!

-K