Meal Planning Simplicity

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This week’s Meal Planning Simplicity is about lunch time planning. With my children being older and having various schedules they can all eat lunch at different times. They also make their own lunches. To avoid having messes in the kitchen from several people in there during the day I try and do things ahead of time to make the process a little simpler for them and less mess as well. I’m also am conscious on keeping lunch meals inexpensive. With two teenage/adult boys in the house who can eat and eat I really need to make the choices that are healthy as well as easy on my budget.

Leftovers of course are typically always the first choice for me when it comes to lunch. However often times I don’t have any leftovers or my leftovers are “planned overs” that I intend to use for another meal.

Here is what I do. I change things up from week to week with different types of food. But here are the basics of what I do. Nothing earth shattering here, pretty basic.

Sandwiches are a quick and easy meal. At the beginning of the week I open up several cans of tuna fish and put it in the fridge. When anyone is looking for something quick this is an easy meal option.



The next thing I do is boil up several eggs, usually 1 to 2 dozen. I’ve found that the easiest time to peel and egg is right after cooking. I cook the eggs for about 10 minutes and then put them in cold water. As soon as they are cool enough to touch I run them under cold water and peel them. I put them in a bowl, cover them and put them in the fridge. My kids will eat them for breakfast (along with fruit and toast) or grab a couple and make eggs salad for sandwiches. We also like them sliced on top salad.
 



Bean soups are economical to make and are a good quick lunch. I will make up some bean soup every now and again and it will provide lunch for everyone for 2 or 3 days. I rarely put meat in it, just beans, veggies, salt. It’s simple food that is healthy, inexpensive, and easy to heat and eat.



Finally to round off these lunch items I set up a plastic container of cut up vegetables.
 


All these foods don’t take too long to prepare, will sit in the fridge for 3 or 4 days, and make it simple for a quick lunch, with minimal mess and easy on my budget.

 
 

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 7, 2014 at 5:10 AM

    Thank you for this post. Lunch is the weakest part of my meal planning!
    This is certainly a help for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JamieMarch 7, 2014 at 5:48 AM

    Thanks for sharing these ideas. Lunch seems to be harder to plan than supper for me. I love having healthy options without making too much of a mess of my kitchen.
    Blessings,
    Jamie

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 7, 2014 at 8:04 AM

    Great ideas! I am searching for things that I can have ready in the fridge or crock pot for my husband and our hired man to eat at noon. I work a job in town full-time and it's hard to figure out what I can have prepared for them. They are both big meat eaters and not big fans of soups. Do you or anyone else have any suggestions? Thanks!
    Kristina

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMarch 7, 2014 at 8:05 AM

    Those are all great ideas! We're down to just two of us at home for lunches since hubby takes leftovers from the night before for his lunch. We often go for either leftovers or something simple.

    ReplyDelete
  5. BUSY MOM IN AL March 7, 2014 at 11:05 AM

    Hi Crystal,

    I love boiled eggs! That is a great idea.

    I just started making a veggie tray for the week. It has been a great motivation to get more veggies in during the week, especially with homemade dip!

    Thanks for the new ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dawn- Blessed Beyond MeasureMarch 7, 2014 at 12:24 PM

    This is really simple to do but it so worthwhile- lunch is that meal in the day that I really just tend to 'go with the flow.' Thanks for the ideas- I like your blog!
    http://blessedbeyondmeasurefrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  7. AmyMarch 7, 2014 at 3:49 PM

    Thanks for the tips. These are great ideas. We get tons of eggs from a friend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. HotteaApril 25, 2014 at 1:20 PM

    This is great. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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