Simple, easy and fun: lunches ideas your children will love!

If you’ve been struggling to get a lunch together, or have run out of ideas on what to make for your children, we’ve got some solutions for you! There are many different tips and tricks that will help you and your children have ready-to-go lunches they can grab before leaving in the morning. However, lunches aren’t easy unless you take the time to plan, prepare and organize lunches ahead of time. It’s as simple as pre-cutting vegetables or throwing items in the freezer. Take a look at the suggestions below to help you plan an easy-to-make lunch that your children will be excited to eat:

Freeze ahead of time

Never underestimate the power of your freezer. So many food items and beverages can be made up to a month ahead of time, and pulled out whenever you need it. To save even more time, make sure you freeze items in individual-sized portions, so you don’t have to worry about defrosting items in advance.

For example, juice boxes should be stored in your freezer, not your drawer or cupboard. This way, the juice will stay cold until lunch time, and it will double as an ice pack to keep the rest of the lunch from spoiling or getting warm. Dishes like pasta, rice, and even peanut butter and jam sandwiches can be made up weeks in advance and stored in single portions. Keep these in plastic bags or containers, and pull them out the night before to make sure they’re not frozen for lunch the next day.

Set up a lunch station

Instead of making all of the lunches on your own, get your children involved in the process by setting up a lunch station. At the start of each week, cut up a variety of vegetables, fruits, cheese, and meat. Place these items into reusable containers or bags in individual sized portions, and have your children pick out what they want for lunch the next day. You can even purchase individual dipping sauces like hummus or guacamole, or make your own.

To make sure your children get the food they need, make up a list or chart of what they are supposed to have in their lunch. For example, identify that they need two different fruits, one vegetable option, a starch and protein option, a beverage, and a snack or dessert. This way, you can ensure your children make a balanced lunch.

 

Use the right tools

Another way that you can make lunch easy and organized is to use pre-set containers to store food. This will make space for fruit, vegetables, sandwiches and snacks, and ensure that your children get all of the different food groups for a healthy lunch. They also make lunches look fun and visually interesting.

For hot food, use a thermos instead of plastic containers. This will save your children time at school by not having to wait in line to use a microwave. Reusable lunch bags also work well, as they are always ready to go. Utensils and non-perishable snacks can be put into the reusable lunch bag the night before so only the items in the fridge have to be put into the bag the morning of.

Timing is everything

Don’t leave making lunches to the last minute. Even those these suggestions will make lunch easy, it will still make the process less stressful if you make lunches the night before. Make this a part of your evening routine by putting lunches together either right after your children come home for school, or right after dinner.

You will also need to make sure that snacks, vegetables, fruit and other food items are cut and ready to go. Set aside time each week, like on Sunday night, and prepare all the items your children will need to make lunch. Food like hard-boiled eggs can also be made ahead of time and used throughout the week on their own, in a sandwich, or in a salad. 

Goal setting for 2018

In January, many people set goals for themselves for the new year ahead, but more often than not, these goals are forgotten by the time February comes along. To make sure this doesn’t happen again this year, be smart about what goals you decide to set so you can see them through to the end result.

 The first step of goal setting, whether it’s short-term (something you want to get done in the next few days or weeks) or long-term (something you want to achieve in a year or more) is to look at the big picture. Decide what it is you want to ultimately achieve, without worrying about the details yet. For example, you might want to get your home organized. This is a major undertaking that must be carefully considered – just saying you want to get organized is not enough to fully realize your goal.

 A popular method for setting personal goals is the SMART method, which starts with setting specific goals. While it is important to have an overall idea of what you ultimately want to achieve, it is important to narrow this down to more manageable goals that have a specific focus. If you want to organize your home, you may want to focus on achieving organization in a single area of your home. Now, the insurmountable task of organizing your home in 2018, becomes organize the kitchen in February, and organize the office in March, and so on.  

 The next step to this process is measurable, because in order to clearly understand what it is you want to achieve, you must be able to determine that you have actually achieved it. Here, the goals you set become a bit more focused. Now that you have the organization narrowed down to a room of your home, you can further determine what you want to do to get organized. For example, you may want to set a goal to organize your kitchen so you can eliminate clutter in your cupboards and drawers, clean out old food items and condiments in your fridge, and get rid of the pile of unused cookbooks.

 Your goals must also be achievable. Think carefully and be honest with yourself when you are setting goals. Is this something that you are able and willing to dedicate the time to? Getting organized is a big commitment that not only involves spending the initial time to declutter, sort through, and put away – it involves changing your lifestyle and habits to ensure you stay organized in the long-term. Once you consider your goal of getting organized, this may need to be rethought if you aren’t going to be able to dedicate the time need to get organized.

 Not only do your goals have to be achievable, they also have to be realistic. If you’re busy at work, involved in a lot of evening and weekend activities, or have other events happening in your life, this may not be the time to focus on a home organization goal. Goal setting requires time and dedication, and although you may want to take the time for them, life may not always make it easy.

 Lastly, it is important to determine a time frame for when you want your goal to be achieved. As it is still the start of the new year, many people will be planning on what they can achieve within the year. It is important to be realistic with this step – wanting to achieve a goal within the year is different than actually being able to do it. Be practical, and give yourself ample time to achieve your goals. You will only end up disappointing yourself or causing unnecessary stress if you rush the process.

 Goal setting is not as easy as it may seem. It requires careful planning, time and dedication to the ultimate goal you want to achieve. Be specific with your goals, and make sure they are measurable so you can better determine if you are on the right track to achieving your goal. It is also important to make sure that your goals are achievable, realistic, and can be completed in a specified time frame. This process requires you to be honest with yourself, and really think about whether or not you are able to fully dedicate yourself to the task.

Get SMART! Achieving your dreams and aspirations for the future can be possible!

Junk or not junk? Know the difference before you donate!

Decluttering is a major part of any organization project – but once you’ve sorted through your items and decided on what to keep, what do you do with the rest of it? How can you tell what items are junk, and what items can be donated?

More often than not, people donate their used items to charities (especially during the holiday season), but the items they donate are actually junk. When this happens, volunteers and charity organizers have to sort through and dispose of these items, which is a waste of time and very limited resources. Before you bring over a box of items to donate, make sure you remove anything that is broken, torn, rusted, or no longer works. Ask yourself what made you decide to get rid of it in the first place – is it just because you have grown out of it or grown out of love with it? Or is it because it is in disrepair or bad condition? If it’s the latter, it probably means that the item should be tossed.

There are organizations that will accept donations of items that are not in good condition, but make sure that you look up the donation guidelines before bringing anything that is old and worn. For example, Clothing of a Cause has old clothing drop-off bins at most landfills, where the clothing is sold to international recycling companies and repurposed in a variety of ways. However, most charities are looking for items that will be given to people in need. If the items aren’t good enough for you, they probably aren’t good enough for someone else either.

However, there are some items that can break and be repaired, like most furniture, appliances, and even some clothing. With a small investment of time or money, you can breathe new life into items that can be reused or donated to organizations who can find a meaningful new home for them. This will take extra time and effort, so make sure that you are willing to put in the extra work before you decide to repair something.

Not only do you need to consider if it is junk or not, but you also want to make sure that any items that have multiple parts or pieces are kept together. For example, some toys have multiple pieces that should be grouped together or put into one bag. Some items won’t work unless all the pieces are used, and it won’t do any good for charities to receive an item that doesn’t function properly.

Everyone wants to be able to help others and prevent more items from going into a landfill. However, there are some items that cannot be reused or repaired, and should not be donated to a charity. When this happens, more time and work has to be undertaken by the charity to sort through the items. It might help to think of the item this way: would you pay money for this? If not, that probably means the item belongs in the garbage bin, not the donation box. Before you donate, make sure your items are worth donating.