School Lunch Ideas from Parents Across Canada

Next week kids in our city go back to school. Supplies are bought, clothes picked out and the only thing left is to prep yourself for another 10 months of making school lunches. DREAD.

Monotony can set in fast and before you know it, you are making the same thing day.after.day. Let’s call it ‘sandwich, snack and repeat’ syndrome. Over and over I need some great School Lunch Ideas!

I learned a couple tricks in my state of lunch-making woes last year. They really helped me, so I’ll be doing the same this year:

• Don’t make lunches daily! By that statement I don’t mean skip sending your kids a lunch {big no-no}. I mean, if you make one sandwich, go ahead and make 2 so you’ll have one for the day after. That way you get a day off from making lunches a couple times a week and that will really help beat the boring routine. Better yet, make use of the dinner leftovers and use for lunch the next day.
• You really don’t have to get fancy with people-shaped vegetables throwing edible confetti when your kid opens their lunchbox. Think of tiny ways to change up your kids’ favorite lunch! For instance, don’t always buy the same bread or lunch meat, try bagels, wraps or just adding a different cheese. They can really change up the ‘tried and trues’.

I shared my two lunch solutions at the #SchoolLunchIdeas Twitter Party with Butterball. This very popular twitter party with fellow Canadian parents was so helpful as we all shared ideas {it was also great for motivation and support, a ‘you can do it’ squad. School-lunch-blahs, we’ve all been there!}. Here’s a little of what other parents had to say:

Great ideas, right?

Lets talk about the ‘nuts and bolts’ of school lunches, the meat. Kids {and adults for that matter} need protein for energy. Butterball has many delicious products to help keep variety in lunches {while also keeping down the fat content}.

So, one day I was making cooking Butterball Original Bacon Style Turkey. Mmmm, turkey bacon.

The girls and I enjoyed our delicious {Turkey} Bacon and Tomato Sandwiches for dinner one night…

… And, I had leftovers {don’t judge, having left over bacon style turkey is a possibility!}.

It got me thinking, how can someone use Butterball Original Bacon Style Turkey as leftovers for next-day lunch? Here’s a list of ideas, lunch solutions to mix up the routine {can be applicable for lunch at home, work or school}:

• Make a wrap: Egg Omelette with Bacon Style Turkey and Cheese
  {add more veggies if you wish}
• Crumble the Bacon Style Turkey and use in fresh Salads
  {store meat separately to keep salad fresh}
• Crumble Bacon Style Turkey to comforting Potato Soup
• Sprinkle Bacon Style Turkey bits on a Baked Potato
• Great addition to Baked Beans with cheese
• {my daughter suggested this one} … just eat it by itself, Yum!

Did I miss any other ideas?

Speaking of mixing it up…

I need to tell you about Butterball’s “Mix it Up!” Facebook Contest, it’s pretty awesome.

“Mix it up for your chance to WIN! Butterball wants you to provide us with your kid’s favourite lunch ideas using Butterball products! Submit your recipe and you’ll be entered to win $500 in gift certificates that you can use towards purchasing Butterball products. You also have the chance to win some of our weekly prizes, by simply registering and rating some of your favourite Mix it Up with Butterball recipes!”

Make sure to enter, I’m sure you’ve learn a trick or two in your lunch-making days as well. Good luck, a $500 GC would come in very handy this school year! And remember, if you need turkey recipes, check out the Butterball website!

This post is sponsored by Butterball Canada. In exchange this review, I have received special perks in the form of
products and monetary compensation. All opinions on this blog are my own.

.