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A little planning ahead makes all the difference!
Mom of two, Shannon Carino of BentoLunch.net, shows you how:
“This is something I’ve been wanting to try for a while, packing lunches on Sunday night for the whole week, and this week, I finally went ahead with it!
F&B have a 4 day school week, which meshes well with what I hear a lot of people say–pack 4 lunches, pick a hot lunch on the 5th day. On the other hand, by the time you’ve packed 4 days of lunches, what’s one more? To keep things simple, I used EasyLunchboxes for all the lunches because they stack better in my fridge. I used the classic color lids for Ben, brights for Faith, and rainbow order to organize them.” – Shannon
See all Shannon’s lunches and read how she makes packing ahead work for her family:
More week ahead packers:
Facebook follower Eva recently shared the below with me:
Got Allergies?
Keeley McGuire packs ahead for her Little Miss – completely allergy-free!
Click on the image below to see how she does it:
Packing for a crowd?
Lunch Packing For 2, 4, Or 28. Here’s How!
Please tell me how you did the turtle lunch!!!
Sure! The turtle is actually a silicone muffin cup. I found them several years ago at Ross and had to have them. They were a set of four–turtle, frog, fish and bug. Inside the cup is a chili-cornbread muffin, basically a corn muffin mix with leftover chili added to it, then baked (just drain the liquid from the chili first). They also had carrots, ranch (in the Mini Dipper) and an orange in the main box, plus probably yogurt and Annie’s cheddar bunnies as snacks. 🙂
I love the colors in these lunch boxxes!
Hi. Where did you buy the lunch boxes?
https://www.easylunchboxes.com/products/order_now.htm
This is great!! If u have just one kid but multiply that times three and suddenly it’s a lot more time consuming. Any suggestions??
Hi Denise!
I have two kids, so that’s 8-10 lunches/week. I just stack them wherever I can find space in the fridge (which is why I color code, so they know Monday=pink/red, etc).
Other than the initial container cost, it’s really not any extra food or time or water. 🙂 We just put everything in the dishwasher and run it as usual. It probably saves a bit since I don’t have to hand wash containers nightly. The ELB sets of four are great for this, since they stack well, are dishwasher safe, etc. I have one set for each kid (so two official sets of 4), and my original set is several years old! Well worth it. 🙂
Thank you again for this Shannon! Confession alert – I’m still working on being organized enough to do this many lunches at once … that’s why I look to you for true inspiration 🙂 Love it!!!
Oh yes and also refrigerator space consuming!! And expensive!!
Hi Denise – It doesn’t cost any more to feed 3 kids if you do it at the last minute or if you plan and pack ahead of time (they still have to eat), so I’m not really sure what you mean by it being more expensive… HERE‘s another post from my friend Rachel (mom of 3) who is using some great tips from MOMables to help her pack and store lunches ahead of time. Hope that helps a little more!
Thanks ill check it out. what I meant by more expensive was mainly all the containers u would have to have for three kids ( and all the washing and water to wash that would ensue). Also, my fridge would have no room seeing that I would basically have at least 21 containers in my fridge at once!! Guess I would need a second fridge lol!
Oh yes, I see what you mean Denise – and of course, you do have to find what works best for your family (and fridge!). But even prepping ahead and packing for 2 days at a time can help cut down on time spent making lunches 🙂
Do you find that food stays fresh until the end of the week? Does bread get dry or fruit get mushy? I love this idea!
The bread stays fine, but I recommend leaving the spot for crackers or cookies empty, then add them when you take them out of the fridge. I have yet to discover a way to have non-mushy cookies.
For fruit, I precut mine at the beginning of the week anyhow, so there isn’t much of a difference between keeping them in individual containers or in a compartment of the ELB. I would definitely recommend putting the fruit in one of the smaller sections, rather than in with the other foods.
Hello
Ms Kelly Lester
i have got few queries regarding preparing food in advance for the week and it would be very grateful if could clarify.
1.once the food is prepared should i deep freeze(frozen) it or not?
2.Does the nutritional value of the food changes?
3.When carrying the food for work (all 6-8 meals) should i use a thermal bag or normal bag would do?
Hi Mandar – some items freeze well and some don’t. It really depends upon what you make/what you like to pack… The nutritional value of the food doesn’t change any differently whether you eat it or pack it, or let it sit in your fridge or on your counter for a few days. That’s going to vary with each individual food. You should always keep food cold if you are transporting it/it won’t be eaten for a few hours. Pack cold items from the fridge or freezer into a thermal lunch cooler and be sure to include an ice block.
Thank you Very much Ms Kelly Lester
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