PB&J: It's What's For Lunch (part 2)

Photo from skinny food for life


We're exploring ways to ease the lunchtime burden this week--what to fix, when to fix it, how to fix it, and how to break out of the peanut-butter-and-jelly-every-day rut.

I'll be the first to admit that I ate peanut butter and jelly every single day in fourth grade by request except for the rare occasions on which I requested something else (ever tried cream-cheese-and-canned-crushed (drained)-pineapple? Yum.).

But I digress. One possible way around this dilemma is to create a lunchtime routine or rotation. This is similar to the "If it's Monday, it's Spaghetti" approach I've used frequently for dinner. It hasn't worked as well for me at lunchtime (probably because I'm lazy). But if you'd like to give it a try, you'd arrange some sort of repeatable, weekly routine. For instance:

Monday: Peanut butter and jelly, fruit, cheese sticks
Tuesday: Bagels and cream cheese, veggies and dip, fruit
Wednesday: Cheese and crackers, fruit, trail mix
Thursday: Lunch meat sandwiches (meat-and-cheese), fruit, chips
Friday: Smorgasbord (whatever you have lying around): pretzels, crackers, cheese, nuts, fruit, raw veggies, etc.


I did something similar when all three of my kids were home (and so was I). We always had mac-n-cheese on Fridays, for instance. It was just a fun treat, and I didn't have to think about it. But this year, perhaps because I have to think up TWO small meals/heavy snacks for three days of the week, one of which must be portable and one of which must be readily available as soon as we walk in the door, I had a hard time with the routine. I think it bothers me more than my children to eat the same thing every single day.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's revelation of my latest lunch menu solution--which is actually working out pretty well so far.