Make Summer Lunches easy by creating a lunch menu you can use all summer long.
Do you struggle to get lunches on the table during the summer time? Do you find yourself feeding your kids the same two meals every other summer’s day because you just don’t have a plan? Let’s create a plan to help you fix these situations.
Creating a Summer Menu Plan
A summer lunch meal plan will help you narrow down meals you can make without feeling like lunch is failing everyday. You’ll know exactly what you’re going to have on the table daily for lunch. Of course, you could move things around but at least you’ll have some kind of plan. Also, you’ll avoid eating junk too or randomly spending money to buy things to eat.
I was inspired by a fellow Instagram-er who had a Summer Lunch Matrix for her kids (can’t remember who she is) but it was such a great idea. Now, I’ve always had lunch menus plans for our children that I’ve pretty much followed, but I guess calling it something fancy and sticking to the same one plan all summer long was not something I thought of. However, I can’t do the one week plan, I find that I’ll need more variations like I’ve done. But I think it’s awesome to have a base plan for the summer that will help with lunches.
How to Create a Summer Lunch Plan
- Decide whether your plan will be weekly or bi-weekly (you could even make a month’s plan)
- Decide whether your plan will be a rotating plan (same meal every week, or ever two weeks, or a month’s plan rotation)
- Choose foods your kids enjoy
- Choose Healthy
- Add in 1-2 optional ideas for when you just want a switch, or for some reason run out of an ingredient and cannot get to the store at the moment
- Don’t make it complicated
My Summer Lunch Plan
This is the menu plan I created for us. It’s a two week rotation plan. I like that better than a 1 week plan so we don’t feel like we’re eating the same things over and over.
Summer Lunch Ideas for Kids
Monday
- Bread Pretzels/Fruits – (We have frequently made our own but Frozen Bread pretzels come in a box we also heat up in the oven).
- Burgers/Fries/Fruit/Veggies – (Usually, I make cook the burgers patties and will make extra for the freezer)
Tuesday
- Pizza – (Yes, I know…but again, the kids and I enjoy making pizza together; but they also enjoy frozen pizza we bake ourselves)
- Tacos – (This does not have to be a full out taco extravaganza – it could be as simple as Chips, salsa, ground beef or chicken and some cheese)
Wednesday
- Grilled Chicken Strips/Corn – (Natural Chicken that’s fully cooked and heated up about 7 mins).
- Crunchy Chicken/Fries/Fruit & Veggies – (Crunch Chicken also comes fully cooked but needs to be baked about 20 mins)
Thursday
- Baked Sweet Potatoes – for two kids (pasta for other kid)
- Easy Pasta
Friday
- Picnic Tray
- Nibble Tray
Extras:
- Sandwich for Girls – Peanut Butter for one, Nutella for the other/Nuggets, fruit, veggies (only my boy eats nuggets)
- Cup Noodles
- Occasional Take-Out – (Listen, some days you just want something different or want to take the kids out for a lil treat)
You could also move days around depending on what you have available and what you made for dinner that previous evening or what you plan for dinner that day. So if you plan to make Tacos for dinner that night (with all the fixings), I probably would not serve it for lunch that same day. That way no says, “Didn’t we already have Tacos for lunch?” Y’all know how that goes. It might make more sense to serve it as leftovers for lunch the following day.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness (Proverbs 31:27).
