As you get ready for back to school time, make prepping lunches easier with these fresh must-haves and simple ideas!
Back to School time is in full swing here! In fact, my boys have been back for just about 2 weeks already! In addition to just getting back into the school routine and swing of things, one of the most stressful parts of back to school time for me is figuring out and prepping lunches every day. So to help with that, I’ve been making sure the house is stocked with a variety of wholesome options and have been doing just a little weekly prep in advance. All of that is making the daily lunch box prep smooth! 
Here are some of our must-haves that we’ve been including on our school lunch shopping lists each week:
- Lots of fresh veggies (the kids’ favorites are celery, carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes)
- Other canned veggies like olives and pickles
- Lots of fresh fruit good for lunches (favorites around here include apples, nectarines, peaches, plums, and berries)
- Dried fruit (bananas, raisins, dried cranberries, dried mango, etc)
- *Nuts (We include these only if there are no allergy restrictions at the school/in the classroom)
- Dairy products (like Horizon milk, string cheese, or even yogurt)
- Some fun snacky sides like Horizon Organic Snack Crackers
Picking up items like this has been super easy in the Natural Foods Department of our local Kroger chain! They have SO many wholesome products that I feel good about giving the kids and including in their lunches each day (as well as having on hand for afternoon snacks). My local store has a huge selection of Horizon products, making shopping so easy! 
Once I get home from the store, I’ve been cutting up the veggies and putting them all in a storage container. So, it makes them very easy to grab for lunches. Then we have a section of the pantry with all the school lunch possibilities. It makes lunch prep go quite quickly. With all of those items in the house, then really the only thing I need to worry about each day is just what the “main dish” is going to be – whether that’s a sandwich or something else. In a very short period of time then, I can have easy lunches prepared that look something like this and easily create variety each day: 
What are YOUR school lunch must-haves and easy prep tips?
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon, Silk, & So Delicious. The opinions and text are all mine.
