Back to School Tip: Make Mornings Easier by Planning Ahead
It’s Back to School time already.
Personal feelings aside, we have to get ready for the school year ahead. A big part of the school year in our house is packing lunches.
I gathered a lot of great tips for packing lunches at the Sara Lee Back to School Nutrition Summit, and I’m going to share them with you (in small, themed chunks) over the next week or two.
My first bunch of tips:
Plan Ahead to Make Mornings Easier
There are a lot of things you can do on the weekend (and some you can start doing now) to make school day mornings a little less hectic.
- Organize the night before:
- Have backpacks packed and sitting next to the door
- Prepare as much of the lunches ahead as you can (obviously, the cold parts will wait until the morning, but anything that doesn’t need to be refrigerated can be in the bag, as can all of the containers you will need)
- Have breakfast ready to eat. Don’t try to cook an elaborate breakfast from scratch unless you enjoy getting up an hour or two before your kids.
- French toast sticks, waffles, and pancakes can all be made ahead and frozen. Microwave or pop in the toaster oven in the morning for hot, homemade breakfast.
- Make peanut butter sandwiches ahead of time using this quick tip from Amy at MomAdvice:
- Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on two slices of whole grain bread or a whole grain mini bagel (this will prevent the other stuff from making the bread soggy)
- Spread jelly on top of the peanut butter on one side of the sandwich and cover the other side with thin slices of peach, pear, or apple.
- Assemble the sandwich, place it in a resealable bag or little sandwich-shaped plastic container and freeze until you’re ready to use.
- In the morning, take the frozen sandwich out of the freezer and put it into the lunch bag. It will be thawed by lunch time.
- Get individually packed yogurt sticks and keep them in the freezer. Like the sandwiches, these will thaw by lunch time (but will stay cold enough to be safe).
- Freeze grapes to keep them cold. If you freeze them in resealable bags or small containers, it will be simple to pop them into the lunch bag in the morning.
- The night before, fill a stainless steel or BPA-free thermos 1/3 full with your desired beverage. Freeze it over night. In the morning, fill the thermos to the top and pack it in the lunch bag. The frozen drink will thaw by lunch time, but will still be icy cold for your child to drink.
What are your tips for easier lunches?
Happily submitted to Mouthwatering Mondays, Homemaking Monday, Make Something Monday, Make Do Monday, I am Blissfully Domestic, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Tuesday Toot, Tasty Tuesday, Tackle It Tuesday, and Works for Me Wednesday
I really like the Peanut Butter sandwich tip!!
Felicia´s last blog ..The Best FREE iPhone Apps for Your Preschooler!
Fantastic!!!
rachel-asouthernfairytale´s last blog ..Lemon Rosemary Chicken
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We were just talking about this today, how we can plan ahead to avoid tears, stress and frustration at the back door when we’re scrambling around for things we forgot.
All must be at the launch pad, as FlyLady calls it, ready to head out the door.
Great reminder–supports our plans to prepare for the few outings we have each week.
Ann Kroeker´s last blog ..Make-Do Mondays: Drying Clothes on Humid Days (without resorting to the dryer)
Even though we don’t take lunches, it is always best to take the time in the evening to make sure everything is ready for the morning. All papers, items, backpacks, signatures, etc, are packed and ready for a quick grab on the way out the door.
Thanks for sharing.
Shari
Sharinskishe´s last blog ..Make Do Tips in the Kitchen
Thank you so much for this post! I love to come across people who have taken the time to organize themselves, then share it with others! Thank you for linking up with us today at Homemaker Monday and I hope to see you again next week! Have a great day!
Mom2my9´s last blog ..Homemaker Monday: A Super-Cool Way to Make Letters With Photos of Architecture!
Great tips for the early morning. I know you are sad about returning to school. You had some real ups and downs, this summer… the car wreck(down) and Blogher(up). Through it all, you are such a great mommy! Grace is blessed to have you as her mother!!
Lisa@Blessedwithgrace´s last blog ..Tempt My Tummy Tuesday…Fill my Bowl with Some of That Goodness!
Really great ideas!
Ave @ Made In Canarias´s last blog ..Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Great tips! I prepare pretty much everything the night before so that mornings will fun as smooth as possible. With 3 little ones, it takes forever just to do breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth and get out the door. So, preparing the night before has made it so much easier and given us more time to get out which we really need.
DAWN
Dawn (Painter Mommy)´s last blog ..It’s Official! Baby #4 is Going To Be a BOY!
Great tackle tips:-)
Susie’s Homemade´s last blog ..Tackling the State Fair
A good start makes all the difference. Great tackle!
Christy´s last blog ..Tackle It Tuesday – 8-11-09
Great ideas!
Brenda´s last blog ..Black Bean Feta Tacos/TMTT
When the kids were young, I used to make both pancakes and waffles and freeze them. Then in the morning, just pop into the toaster and instant hot breakfast.
Audrey´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday – I Love Cookboooks
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