Breakfast and Lunch Menu Planning

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I received a question after posting my menu yesterday about menu planning with breakfast and lunch. Here is the question with my reply…

Just curious. I have big menus for all my meals and I get very tired of cooking all the day long... seems all that I do at times! Just curious what your method for those other meals is... 


Well I am pretty lazy when it comes to breakfast!  And.. my kids are older now and have different schedules so breakfast around here is a pretty simple affair. I don't plan these meals like I do dinners. 


During the summer I make granola.  I quadruple the recipe and it fills up 4 gallon size jars.  My 4 teenagers and 1 one pre-teen go through this in about 4 to 6 weeks.  I also have kefir always in the fridge that is used to make smoothies.  I use kefir, fruit, and a little maple syrup to sweeten. My older girls sometimes just like to have a piece of peanut butter toast and a smoothie or a piece of fruit.  My younger ones will eat the granola and fruit, and a smoothie.  Once or twice a week either I or one of my daughters will whip up a batch of scrambled eggs and bacon or maybe some pancakes.   Occasionally we will make a coffee cake or muffins.  In the winter we eat lots of oatmeal (instead of the granola) and the rest of the menu stays about the same.   


For lunch, the main rule is..  leftovers..  if there is anything left from last nights dinner it needs to be eaten up first.  And most of the time there is, in fact often I will make a little extra of whatever it is we are having for dinner (soup, chili, spaghetti, etc) so I will have some for lunch the next day.   


Other lunch time food:


Whole wheat tortillas used to make wraps
Sandwiches: egg salad, tuna salad, ham salad, pb&j, etc..
Hot dogs (yes I am guilty of buying these unhealthy things now and again..  )
Nachos (tortilla chips topped with cheese and served with homemade salsa)
Homemade soups: Chili bean soup (meatless), taco soup (meatless), corn chowder, vegetable soup, tomato soup.  Soups can also be frozen so if you make one batch it can last for a few lunches.  


I also add fruit to the lunch meals..   


I guess I have always been of the mindset with breakfast and lunch that “variety is NOT the spice of life”..  haa.. haa..  I think simple, simple so I can get on with my day.  My time spent in the kitchen is usually focused on bread baking and making dinner or other projects like making fermented veggies and so on.


Any other thoughts on how you plan breakfast and lunch to share with this mom?? 


Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 8, 2009 at 1:55 AM

    I make waffles and crepe on week end and I keep some in the fridge and some in the freezer.

    During the week, the children pop them in the microwave one at a time and put nutella or jam on them. They eat a piece of fruit too.

    It takes me 1 hour the weekend to cook but I am free the rest of the week (I work outside)


    For lunch, the older children take their lunch box at school, the little ones eat whatever is left over, or from the freezer.

    The older ones make PB sandwich or cheese sandwich, with carrots, and fruits.

    The little one eats veggies mixed with couscous, rice, pasta leftover. Some sliced turkey or cheese and fruits.

    I eat whatever, the winter I eat beans chili with chicken. Summer it is usually salad with left over or veggies from the garden

    I always have sliced frozen bread, frozen veggies and staples if I need a quick meal.

    Hope that helps.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SarahJune 8, 2009 at 4:34 PM

    I do daycare and I have to do a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. To keep it simple I usually do an easy breakfast of cereal (I know it's bad but I have lots of kids on school schedules), pancakes, instant oatmeal and I pair all of these with a fruit and milk to drink. For lunch it is simple things like taco's, sloppy joes, meatloaf, baked chicken, chicken nuggets. I pair these with a fruit (usually canned because we are overseas and not a great selection of fresh fruit) and a veggie and milk to drink. You can google daycare menus because providers don't have a ton of time they usually have some good quick ideas. We also have to follow the USDA guidelines which helps me with having the fruits and veggies at all meals. I am working towards more homemade things for my kids. Hope this helps :)


    -Sarah

    Naples, Italy

    ReplyDelete
  3. LorettaJune 9, 2009 at 12:45 AM

    Your breakfast is a lot like ours... not too demanding. Our children are old enough to do for themselves, but sometimes they will ask me to make them something.


    I have been working on a Homeschool Notebook so I very much enjoyed looking through the pictures of the Notebook you created. I hadn't thought of putting my menu and chores all into one book. LOL! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJune 9, 2009 at 2:04 AM

    it's only the two of us so Sunday & Tuesday (the best newspaper days) we go to the cafe and eat exactly the same thing every time. Saturday is often waffle day and the rest of the week we either eat cereal with fruit & yoghurt or I make doctored oatmeal depending on the weather and how much we have to get done.


    Lunch is soup & a sandwich in winter and fruit & a sandwich in summer unless we have company... then I make lunch the big meal because I know we won't get properly moving until afternoon anyway.


    Leftovers are for dinner when I'm exhausted. Lots of leftovers in planting season!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJune 9, 2009 at 9:23 AM

    I am a mom of three small kids, 1 1/2, 2 1/2 and 5 1/2. When they wake up, one especially, says "breakfast me now," I don't have much time to whip up something healthy everyday. Usually on the weekends, or when time permits I too make a batch of granola that lasts us a week. I also like to make a batch of waffles and keep them in gallon freezer bags, simply pop in my toaster and done. I found a great recipe on sarasnow.com for breakfast bars. They are quick, easy and very healthy. I make a batch of them on the weekend and they too last me all week. There is some effort that goes into my healthy breakfasts, but not on a daily basis. I am willing to share any recipes. Just ask. Lunch is more of a struggle for me. Allyson carter918@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJune 18, 2009 at 5:18 AM

    egg & cheese biscuits.

    Make biscuits, scramble eggs, put in biscuits, top wit your fav cheese, makes a quick filling breakfast and not a ton of dishes

    ReplyDelete

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