Integrative Family Medicine of Iowa
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Services >
      • Mental Health >
        • Ketamine Therapy
        • Alpha-Stim®
      • Family Practice >
        • Men's Health
        • Pediatrics
        • Urgent Care
      • Aesthetics
      • FemiLift
      • Health Coaching
      • IV Infusions
    • Providers >
      • Kara Dobelis
      • Sarah Lee
      • Dianna O'Neill
      • Danielle Fitch
      • Kala Jurno
      • Spencer Elmer
  • Blog
  • Book Appointment
  • PATIENT
    • Patient Portal
    • Patient Forms
    • HIPAA Privacy Notice
    • 2025 Practice Updates
  • Billing
    • Pay My Bill
  • Contact Us


8/22/2022

Making Lunches That “Stack Up”: Lunchbox Time Savers

0 Comments

Read Now
 
Picture
Making Lunches That “Stack Up”: Lunchbox Time Savers​
by Sara Lynn, RN BSN

I don’t know about you, but I have no time to waste during the week. I’ve found that through a little preparation, I can create healthy, affordable, and quick sack lunches for school, work, picnics, or even a road trip. These tips also double as great grab-and-go snacks. These time-saving tips will offer a fresh perspective on packing sack lunches that “stack up” to carefully curated lunches made by those moms with too much time on their hands. Wherever they are.

I don’t know about you, but I have no time to waste during the week. I’ve found that through a little preparation, I can create healthy, affordable, and quick sack lunches for school, work, picnics, or even a road trip. These tips also double as great grab-and-go snacks. These time-saving tips will offer a fresh perspective on packing sack lunches that “stack up” to carefully curated lunches made by those moms with too much time on their hands. Wherever they are.
Picture
Use Your Freezer
Frozen additions to a lunch bag add versatility to the options you can pack and increase food safety. Kids love sandwiches. Try making ahead some peanut butter and jellies or meat and cheese sandwiches (mayo and mustard can be added later). This is a huge time saver, since you can make an entire week's worth (or month’s worth) at a time and you only need to clean up once. Your children may even be old enough to help! For adult meals, try freezing leftovers in glass resealable containers. It will double as an ice pack and start thawing before being reheated at lunchtime. Remember to label the lids with the contents and date, so you can rotate options. 


​
Picture
Organize Your Fridge
The fridge is a great place to store tons of grab and go items: apples, oranges, cheese sticks, you get the idea. However, when everything is stored in a different location, it can get a bit daunting to open 3 different drawers to find what you’re looking for. My recommendation is to store all items that are “lunchbox approved” in one area of the fridge. This will encourage little helpers to pack their own meals. In this photo, I have veggies portioned out into stasher bags, a collection of cheese sticks, and pre-portioned apple sauces. The options are endless for what healthy foods you can portion out in advance. 

Picture
Create a Snack Drawer
So often I hide food out of my children’s reach and eyesight. (Maybe I do this on purpose…. hmmm 😉). However, it means they will definitely need my help, or risk breaking something (themselves or the house) trying to get it themselves. While I do know where to take them should they get hurt (IFM of course!); the goal is to save time in the first place. Creating a snack drawer that is within reach and filled with those “lunchbox approved” items is a true time saver and independence builder. Pre-portioned nuts, dried fruit, granola bars, and fruit leathers are a great addition to any snack drawer. 

Picture
30 Second Lunches 
Now, you have all the necessary pieces to create satisfying lunches for kids and adults, from ingredients you likely already have. Simply add a frozen entree, grab something fresh from the fridge and supplement with a treat from the snack drawer. To save even more time, try putting everything together the night before. For an added special touch, consider adding some “Lunch Mail.” A simple note found at lunchtime can help with back to school jitters and separation anxieties.

Picture

Bon Appetit!


Sara Lynn, RN BSN
“If you don’t invest in your health, no one else will.”

Share

0 Comments


Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

Blog Info

    Archives

    May 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020

    Categories

    All
    ADHD
    Aesthetics
    Aging
    Alpha Stim
    Anxiety
    Baby
    Back To School
    Baking
    Banana
    Bipolar Disorder
    Birth To Three
    Brain Development
    Brain Health
    Breakfast
    Child Attachment
    Children
    Chocolate
    Chocolate Spread
    Cooking
    COVID-19
    COVID Testing
    COVID Vaccine
    Depression
    Dessert
    Detox
    Diet
    Digestion
    DIY
    Eggs
    Family
    Family Rules
    Family Vacation
    Fear
    Feeding
    Food Dehydration
    Food Treats
    Garden
    Gut Health
    Health
    Health Coaching
    Healthy Choices
    Heath
    Holistic
    Holistic Medicine
    Homemade
    Homeschooling
    Hormones
    Hunger
    IFM
    IFM Caregivers
    IFM Experience
    Immune Function
    Immune System
    Individualized Care
    Infant
    Inflammation
    Informed Choice
    Insomnia
    Integrative Medicine
    Interruptions
    Intimate Health
    IV Therapy
    Kids Travel
    Kids Yoga
    Laser Treatments
    Medical Tests
    Medical Treatments
    Men
    Menopause
    Men's Health
    Mental Distress
    Mental Health
    Metabolic System
    Migraine
    Mornings
    Neurological Health
    Northgate Cafe
    Nutrition
    Pacifiers
    Pain
    Parenting
    Parent Tips
    Pediatric
    Pediatric Sensory Development
    Postpartum
    Pregnancy
    Preventative Medicine
    Primary Care
    Primary-care-provider
    Ptsdtrauma
    Quality-of-life
    Recipe
    Reduced-sugar
    Rest
    Rhubarb
    Rich-soil
    Routine
    Safety-rules
    Sauerkraut
    Services
    Skin Problems
    Sleep
    Sleep-disturbance
    Snacks
    Stories
    Stress
    Suicide
    Teething
    Testosterone
    The-brain
    Thumbsucking
    Toddler
    Vacation
    Vegetables
    Vitamin
    Vitamin-b12
    Vitamin-d
    Water-safety
    Weight-loss
    Women-in-wellness
    Womens Health
    Worry
    Yoga
    Your Body

    RSS Feed


Picture
Picture
Send us an Email
[email protected]
Picture
Give us a Call
515-218-1399
​515-217-4695 (fax)
Picture
Visit our Locations
IFM | West Des Moines 
475 S. 50th St., Suite 600
West Des Moines, IA, 50265


*Temporarily Closed*
IFM | Ankeny
​207 NE Delaware Ave. Suite 20
Ankeny, IA 50021

Office Hours


​Monday:  9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday :  9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday:   9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday:   9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday:  by appointment.
Sat & Sun:  
Closed


Picture
© 2024 Integrative Family Medicine of Iowa, PLLC.
​All rights reserved.
Photos from shixart1985, wuestenigel
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Services >
      • Mental Health >
        • Ketamine Therapy
        • Alpha-Stim®
      • Family Practice >
        • Men's Health
        • Pediatrics
        • Urgent Care
      • Aesthetics
      • FemiLift
      • Health Coaching
      • IV Infusions
    • Providers >
      • Kara Dobelis
      • Sarah Lee
      • Dianna O'Neill
      • Danielle Fitch
      • Kala Jurno
      • Spencer Elmer
  • Blog
  • Book Appointment
  • PATIENT
    • Patient Portal
    • Patient Forms
    • HIPAA Privacy Notice
    • 2025 Practice Updates
  • Billing
    • Pay My Bill
  • Contact Us