Sunday Lunch/Dinner Prep

Last Spring, I finally wised up a bit. I started spending my Sunday afternoons making lunches for the week and doing lots of meal prep. It saved us so much time during the week, and I was much happier for it. 

This year, I'm following in my wiser-way footsteps, and working on lunch and dinner prep on Sundays. I thought I'd share a bit about how this works. 

After Sunday lunch, I just leave my kitchen a mess- ha! Usually, we already have out bread, veggies, etc. so I just need to portion some out individually. 

I start by making several pb&j sandwiches. My girls love these, and they never complain of a soggy sandwich. Then I start to portion out lunches. 

We have several small lunch containers that I've found at various places. And, I just start to fill them up! I've found that my girls enjoy lots of little things for lunch, rather than just a few big things. Plus, this makes lunch a little more fun for them!

Here are some go-to lunch ideas at our house:

Cut up Red & Green Bell Pepper

Cherry Tomatoes

Carrots

Hummus

Snap Peas

Cheese Cubes

Cheese Sticks

Drinkable Yogurt

Yogurt Tubes

Applesauce

Assortment of fruits (blueberries, oranges, strawberries)

Apples w/ Peanut Butter

Celery w/ Peanut Butter

Pirate's Booty

Pretzels

Granola & other Snack Bars

Pepperoni

Spinach

Lunch Meat

At least once a week, my girls go to school with a sandwich-less lunch. They have plenty of protein in their yogurt, or with a lunch meat or peanut butter, but I don't make them sandwiches. It's just lots of fun little finger foods for them. 

I recently found the Simply Good Jello and I'm so impressed! It has absolute no artificial coloring or preservatives, and I've been thrilled to find a fun treat for the girls that I feel good about giving them. 

Let's chat about dinners..... 

On this particular week, I went ahead and defrosted chicken that I had in the freezer. Because DJ isn't eating dinner with us, I can fix smaller meals and still have enough for the four of us. 

Chicken-Rice Teriyaki.

I cooked chicken on the stove, added bell peppers, broccoli, and cooked rice. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic, and teriyaki sauce. We ate this for a quick dinner one evening!

Chicken Pasta

This is just cooked chicken seasoned with Italian seasonings. Spinach, a can of tomatoes (drained), and spaghetti. 

Later in the week, we picked up garlic knots, and had a quick dinner at home. 

I made a huge batch of Taco meat one week, so we could make taco salads, or soft tacos for the girls- they love building their own tacos! 

And before we go, can we just talk about these Pumpkin Pie Toaster Pastries. Yum!!! I refused to buy the girls "real" pop tarts, but several months ago, we found the Nature's Path brand at Target. We've been fans ever since, and these are perfect for fall and pumpkin season!