A Touch of Easy - Premaking Lunches for the Week

I suppose "organization" can take on many different forms.  Organizing our spaces, our finances, our time....I'm sure the list goes on.  I love finding new little systems of organization.  If the organizing takes longer than the time it is saving me, then it probably isn't worth it in the end.  However- I have found a little something that truly makes life easier on quite a few levels. 

Mornings in our house can be a little crazy, as I'm sure they can be in many.  Lunches packed, backpacks packed, appropriate clothing for after school activities, my sneakers for walking at lunch, two adults off to work, one child onto the school bus and another to daycare.  The mere fact that everyone ends up where they are supposed to be, I sometimes find to be a miracle in and of itself. 

In order to make life just a tad bit simpler, I decided one weekend to make my daughter's lunches for the week and freeze them.   We "practiced" on the weekend.  I often "practice" new things.  I'm great at the second time around.  It's one of the greatest parts of being a teacher.  I always get to do it again, and do it better the next time.  Anyway-we practiced.  I made lunch, I froze it, I defrosted it, she ate it.  She knew no difference, it worked, and it has become my new Sunday activity.  I make five sandwiches, bag them, put them into a container, and freeze them. 

My daughter loves PB&J which are fabulously easy.  I spread half the peanut butter on each side of the bread and then put the jelly in the middle so that the bread does not get soggy.  I have also done ham with mustard adopting the same idea.  Ham on each side with the mustard in the middle. 

After making the sandwiches I bag them, put a drinking straw in the corner of the ziploc bag, zip it all the way to the straw, suck out the air and basically make an air tight container. 

I put them all in a container with five Gogurts and put them in the freezer.

I also pack all of the "sides" for the week.  This is extremely beneficial in helping me make my grocery list, and not waste food.  Sides and snacks are based on what is in the house and needs to go before it ends up rotting in the fridge or going stale in the pantry.  We have a terrible habit in our house of opening pretzels, Pirate Booty, Goldfish, whatever it may be when the box/bag enters the house from the store  without first finishing anything that was open from last week.  This way I package all of the sides/snacks for the week, clean up the pantry and the fridge and then can better assess what we need, or what the kids can dive into next. 

The frozen gogurt goes with lunch and is defrosted by the time lunch rolls around.  In the meantime it helps to keep lunch chilled (as does the frozen sandwich) without having to use a freezer pack. 

This helps organize in a few ways-

1) Lunches are made

2) My six year old can assemble her own lunch box in the morning

3) I know that I have enough of everything to get through lunches for the week

4) It helps me to plan my grocery list

Simple, easy, fabulous!!!