I am excited to invite you into my kitchen with our first ever professionally made video, or “vlog” as some call it! There was just no better way to show you how we set up for school lunch around here to ensure school mornings go as smoothly as possible. So enjoy (and be sure to check out the video notes just below).
P.S. In the video you’ll also get a sneak peak of our new logo coming soon!
How I Set Up for School Lunches
Planning ahead is key!
The Night Before…
- Pack lunches: For loads of ideas check out our most recent “School Lunch Roundup” post.
- Set out lunch bags: We love our “soft-sided” lunch bags from Lands End…they fit our divided containers perfectly. We also go ahead and put in a cloth napkin, any necessary silverware, and a Lunchbox Love card (use coupon code “100Days” for 20% off).
- Fill drink bottles: Our girls get water every day.
- Get out breakfast items: We keep it simple at our house – whole grain cereal!
- Set out snack supplies: Another daily repeat…oatmeal kept warm in a thermos container, by request.
The Morning Of…
- Serve breakfast: We just add fresh milk and berries to the cereal we set out the night before.
- Make & pack snack: We add the finished oatmeal to little drawstring bags with a reusable napkin and spoon.
- Add lunches to bags (with ice packs): With 3 to 4 ice packs everything stays plenty cold until lunch time!
How do you set up for school lunches?
Real Food Tips: Advice and Recipes from Our Team
I thought the breakfast or snack would have been overnight oats.
Hi, this isn’t a question about this particular video, but I looked around and couldn’t find if there are any recommendations for cookware. It probably doesn’t do much good to eat real food if your cookware is leaching chemicals or coating into your food. Does Lisa have a recommendation? I need to buy a set of pots and pans.
https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/12/09/real-food-tips-my-favorite-kitchen-tools-and-appliances/
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/08/equipment-the-all-clad-vs-tramontina-skillet.html
I would direct you to that link after she recommends the all-clad pan. It’s extremely expensive to get that set. This professional food blogger/chef would recommend the Tramontina set and you get all 5 of the essentials with lids for only $140, not bad. 1 all-clad pan would cost $100. I’ve looked it up. These would probably serve all of your needs.
Love all your ideas Lisa!
One way to save time with oatmeal is to use a rice cooker that has a setting for porridge. I put the ingredients in the night before and set the timer for the morning and it’s all ready to go.
I was wondering about the draw string bags also. Where did you get them?
Hello. Those are from Lisa’s own crafty hands. ~Amy
Love the draw string bags! Where are they from?
Hi Kelly. Lisa made those. :) ~Amy
I was wondering if I heard wrong, but I thought that cutting the produce ahead of time causes it to lose some of its nutritional value. Is this true? Thanks.
Hi Nancy. This will answer your question: http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/cutveg.htm. ~Amy
Lovin the videos! It’s so helpful and really makes me feel less intimidated!! We are on our journey but still have a few processed food items that we’re working on deleting. This also really helps my husband visualize how easy this can be! Thank you so much!
That was awesome!! You did a great job with the video. I agree with you preparation is the key to eating well and to avoiding problems in the morning. What kind of dry cereals do you use? Like which brands and types.
Hi Shelby. Lisa buys 100% whole shredded wheat, 100% puffed wheat, but most frequently uses her won granola: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/04/recipe-granola-bars-cereal/. ~Amy
Your video was well done and the ideas were great. My concern is the PLASTIC lunch containers. They can leach toxins over time and some can’t be recycled. Even if they are recyclable, they still create demand for petroleum products (plastic are made from oil). Perhaps you could use glass, stainless steel, wax paper/parchment paper (can be composted), or just reusable cloth wraps for sandwiches.
Good luck!
You can’t take glass to school! The plastic lunch containers can be used over and over and over again. I used the same ones all year last year.