Monday Meal Planning: Summer Lunchtime Edition!

It’s Monday–time to share our dinner-time game plans for the week! A little effort with meal planning at the beginning of the week helps me to provide my family with nutritious, budget-friendly meals, and also allows me to get my act together when our family’s headed in several different directions.

Last week, one of our readers left a comment asking “What do you do for lunch time now that the kids are home from school for the summer?” I thought it was a great question, and one worth taking a look at for this week’s Monday Meal Plan.

For our family, it really depends on the day. Sometimes it’s a simple hot lunch, sometimes it’s leftovers, sometimes it’s a picnic if we’re out with friends, and sometimes it’s as simple as PB&J or a bowl of cereal…whatever fits into our schedule and is something they’ll eat! Lunchtime could look different depending on the day, but here are a few things I try to do with having 5 or 6 of us home each day for lunch:

Wash and pre-cut fruit & veggies: This works for lunches, dinners, and healthy snacks. If it’s washed and ready to eat in the fridge, they can help themselves for snacks, and it simplifies mealtime. The kids are getting old enough that they can help a little with this. It’s nice to keep salad “fixins” ready too. In the next few weeks, we’ll also be picking fresh berries–we can’t wait!

Make extra for dinner: As the kids get bigger (and eat more at dinner!), I really need to plan for leftovers if I’m counting on them for lunch the next day. It usually doesn’t take too much extra effort to increase the quantity I make for dinner, then lunch is ready for the following day.

Have a “YOYO” meal: YOYO stands for “You’re On Your Own.” This means that the kids can make their own sandwiches, reheat their own leftovers, get their own cereal…whatever they can do on their own with minimal help from the grownup in charge (age-appropriately, of course…this concept works much better with my almost-9-year-old than the 3-year-old!)

Let the kids shop and cook: Lunchtime is a great time to let kids try their cooking skills, from choosing a recipe to shopping for ingredients to preparing the food. There’s usually less of a time crunch (no evening sports or activities, etc.), and we’re usually not tired from a full day of summer fun like we sometimes can be in the evenings.

Convenience foods: We don’t do it every day, but Aldi’s chicken nuggets, boxed mac & cheese, and the occasional frozen pizza make an appearance in our summer lunch repertoire. Paired with those pre-cut fruits & veggies I mentioned…it’s probably not stellar nutrition, but it’ll do 😉

School lunch favorites: Just because the school year’s done doesn’t mean we throw out all the favorite school year lunches (we just don’t have to pack them up!). Here are a few lunch recipes we do all year round:
- DIY Lunchables
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Flatbread
- Chicken Caesar Wrap
- Fruit and Veggie Dips

How about you? If you’re home for the summer with the kids, how do you “Do Lunch?” I’d love to hear your ideas–join the conversation in the comments or on Facebook!