Despite our crazy busy life, we have managed to send our kids with a healthy school lunch every day. This isn't because we're some sort of super-lunch-parents spending hours making pinterest postable lunches. Quite the opposite!

Easy lunches comes down to:

1. Planning ahead
2. Having the right tools
3. Being efficient

Anyone can have a healthy lunch for their kids! Your kids will be healthier, feel better and maybe you'll even eat better lunches too!

My goal is to make sure that I make an extra lunch each day for myself so that I get healthier too!

Before you put the groceries away, get all of your produce and organize it.

This keeps the veggies and fruit fresh and tasty all week. While rushing to get the kids on the bus, you'll never want to sort through strawberries to clean off bad spots. Plus the kids won't eat it if the produce has gone half bad due to a lack of prep-work.

Berries and grapes

• Remove stems or greens
• Cut out any slight bruises on larger berries, otherwise avoid cutting
  
• Separate any with small blemishes to be used first (just put on top of container)
• Wash and put into the fridge ready to use (use their original containers with good air flow or crack open your storage containers)
• Store in low humidity fruit drawers or in a warmer part of the fridge

Veggies (cucumber, carrot, peppers, etc)

• Pre-cut and wash
• Store with a small amount of water in the container, can be fully sealed or veggie drawer with low airflow/high humidity.
• Cucumbers: only cut about 3 days worth and avoid coldest part of the fridge

Apples or pears

• Cut the morning of and keep in as large of pieces possible
• Put the cut side down so it touches the bottom of the stainless steel lunch box - this keeps it from browning. If you must cut more sides to make it fit, snug them up to the edge

Keeping some hard boiled eggs in the fridge or having extra frozen deli meat on hand ensures you'll always have the right food available.

Did you know all of our 'uncured' deli meat can stay in the fridge for 30-45 days if the package is still sealed?

Just keep a pack or two in the back of your fridge so it is always ready to use.

None of our deli items have any of the binders, phosphates or other chemicals used to boost fat and water content in the grocery store meat. We don't use the growth drugs that are used in the deli meats found at even the fanciest natural food coop -- ask your store to verify with the manufacture if their products use ractopamine or not.

These ingredients or drugs are often NOT on the label so unless it is certified organic, you should assume they are in their products.

What about Sugar?

If you feel your kids won't eat anything if it doesn't have some sugar or processed carbs in it (i.e. granola bars or treats), that is a challenge.

We have found there are times when we have to re-program the kids' tastes and get them 100% off sugar for a while. No syrup on pancakes - nothing.

Although it might take a month, it really helps reset their taste buds' expectations.

Here are some key benefits you'll notice once you slog through those first few weeks:

• Happier kids = happier parents: They'll have more energy since their mind isn't expecting the dopamine boost that suger has been giving them.
• Better focus - The up and down of sugar really affects their little bodies ability to focus at school and have enough energy to get through the day
• Better eaters - Once their bodies aren't expecting sugar, all the other food tastes better. Those cherry tomatoes taste SWEET again.

Dried Fruit

Instead of granola bars, juice drinks, or cookies, offer some dried fruit for snacks or the "dessert" at lunch. You'll be amazed at how well a handful of dried pineapple or mango will go. Even some higher quality raisins can be a huge treat.

Offering higher quality ingredients will teach your kids to enjoy whole foods and eschew the unhealthy processed stuff.

Having high quality lunch and snack containers will give you a lifetime of avoiding wasteful plastic bags and paper items.

We love the items featured in our No More Paper Or Plastic article.

They are all easy to throw in the dishwasher.

We just have one extra set for each kid so that we never have to rush and wash things by hand.

Key Items

• Insulated containers for warm foods
• Silicone bags for snacks or sandwiches
• Stainless lunch boxes
• Silicone muffin cups for a colorful look and easy clean up

Having a sharp knife is critical to getting the prep-work done fast.

I hadn't kept up with my knife sharpening because I was lazy, but yesterday I went through all of our knives and sharpened them so we were ready for school.

Then I cut through 2 pounds of strawberries - I was just shocked at how much easier and faster it was.

Hones are NOT sharpeners. If you think you have a sharpener, but it is long and pointy, it is NOT sharpening your knife.

If you want any chance of keeping up with prep-work for school lunches or want to enjoy cooking, you NEED a sharpener.

Sharpen Your Most Important Kitchen Tool

The most important tool is a sharp knife. A really sharp knife. Fortunately, there is an easy and inexpensive solution.

BONUS:

One other helpful tool is to use shelf liner under your cutting board so the board doesn't slip.