Summer's lull of hot, lazy days is coming to an end and I know
that soon I will be fighting against busy schedules, endless "to
do" lists, and an overwhelming sense of responsibilities that
require boundless energy, attention and commitment. Yes, real
life is coming back in full force, and I am doing my best to prepare.
You would think that as a homeschooling family, lunches would be no big deal, and to be honest, and I wish it were so. However, I think the fact that my kids are used to home-cooked, nutritious food at EVERY meal, means that lunches on busy days are a challenge to plan and prepare. I mentioned to my husband the other day that our kids are "spoiled" because they don't like simple, normal foods such as sandwiches and soup and Kraft dinner. Instead, they would prefer Enchiladas, Butter Chicken or Kim Chee Che Gay (Korean soup), with a side of hummus and seasonal vegetables for lunch. We joked that we should have a "normal" week at home, where we only prepare the standards... tuna casserole, spaghetti, sandwiches for lunch, etc. We might end up with a full-blown revolt and hunger strike from our children though!
It is also a challenge when simply opening a can of soup in our house equals the expense of opening 3 cans to serve all 8 of us - and besides that, homemade is so much healthier and tastier. So herein lies my challenge - I would like simple, satisfying, mostly home-made lunches, but I also want to pay attention to nutrition. In the end, I decided on a fairly simple menu plan (we'll save the exotic foods for dinner), and I have arranged them in a 2 week rotation, to make lunches easy to prepare and plan for. In the event that my main feature of lunch is lacking nutritionally (usually in the absence of veggies), I am adding either a salad, fresh veggies (carrots, broccoli, snap peas) or a green smoothie to the meal. All of the meals are easy enough that I could have my 10 or 12 year old prepare them.
Anyway, I thought I would share this idea of a set, 2-week lunch menu plan... and I welcome any suggestions for simple, homemade lunches that I can add to my rotation. (I've also included the breakfast "menu" that I created, to ward off my kids' daily question "What's for breakfast, Mommy?".)
You would think that as a homeschooling family, lunches would be no big deal, and to be honest, and I wish it were so. However, I think the fact that my kids are used to home-cooked, nutritious food at EVERY meal, means that lunches on busy days are a challenge to plan and prepare. I mentioned to my husband the other day that our kids are "spoiled" because they don't like simple, normal foods such as sandwiches and soup and Kraft dinner. Instead, they would prefer Enchiladas, Butter Chicken or Kim Chee Che Gay (Korean soup), with a side of hummus and seasonal vegetables for lunch. We joked that we should have a "normal" week at home, where we only prepare the standards... tuna casserole, spaghetti, sandwiches for lunch, etc. We might end up with a full-blown revolt and hunger strike from our children though!
It is also a challenge when simply opening a can of soup in our house equals the expense of opening 3 cans to serve all 8 of us - and besides that, homemade is so much healthier and tastier. So herein lies my challenge - I would like simple, satisfying, mostly home-made lunches, but I also want to pay attention to nutrition. In the end, I decided on a fairly simple menu plan (we'll save the exotic foods for dinner), and I have arranged them in a 2 week rotation, to make lunches easy to prepare and plan for. In the event that my main feature of lunch is lacking nutritionally (usually in the absence of veggies), I am adding either a salad, fresh veggies (carrots, broccoli, snap peas) or a green smoothie to the meal. All of the meals are easy enough that I could have my 10 or 12 year old prepare them.
Anyway, I thought I would share this idea of a set, 2-week lunch menu plan... and I welcome any suggestions for simple, homemade lunches that I can add to my rotation. (I've also included the breakfast "menu" that I created, to ward off my kids' daily question "What's for breakfast, Mommy?".)
|
|
B-fst |
Cereal |
Muffins |
Oatmeal |
Cereal |
Toast/Bagels |
|
1 |
Lunch |
Grilled Cheese &Smoothie |
Perogies &Veggies or Salad |
Sandwiches &Smoothie |
Tuna Macaroni &Smoothie |
Breadmaker Bread/Easy Minestrone Soup + Fruit |
|
2 |
Lunch |
Eggs/Toast & Fruit Salad |
Pizza (made on bread or pitas, or just a frozen pizza) &Veggies
or Salad |
Re-fried beans with chips or Tortillas, cheese, sour cream, fresh salsa &
Fruit |
Tuna Melts or Sandwiches &Smoothy |
Calico Beans or Chili &Salad/Veg |
