You’ve probably lined up your kids’ activities and plans for the summer, but have you come up with a plan for feeding them? It’s kind of essential, unless you like being interrupted dozens of times a day with snack requests or having your kids stare into the fridge and complain there’s nothing to eat, or ask you four times what’s for lunch.
If you want to work or get anything else done this summer while your kids are in the house, this summer meal plan can help.
- Create a school cafeteria lunch menu - Include your children’s favorite things to eat, giving them one or two main options and fruit or veggie sides they get to choose from. They’ll get to see what they’re having for lunch all week and you won’t have to answer that question every single day.
- Set up a self-serve breakfast - Having grab-you-own breakfast options can make mornings so much easier. Depending on how old your kids are, and whether they can operate the microwave or toaster, you can offer things like cereal, yogurt, muffins, frozen waffles and pancakes, oatmeal and pre-made breakfast sandwiches.
- Give in to snacks instead of meals - If you’re willing to let your kids eat according to what their bodies tell them, some days they may fill up on peanuts and pickles, so they’re not hungry for lunch. Having healthy options for them to grab is important and so is not stressing about when they’re allowed to be hungry.
- Purge the backlog with a snack tray - Kids tend to leave half-empty and not properly closed packages of food in the pantry, if they manage to put them away at all. To use up all that open food, put together a little snack tray. They’ll think it’s fun to get a handful of crackers, some cheese, three strawberries and the last two Oreos and you’ll be happy the odds and ends are eaten, not wasted.
- Make it a popsicle summer - Whether you buy those colorful plastic tubes to freeze or frozen fruit and juice on a stick, keep a box in the freezer at all times. Popsicles can make your life easier by keeping kids hydrated, plus, you can tell them they can have one IF they go outside. And you’ll be a hero for letting them have all those popsicles.
Source: Lifehacker
Scott's Thoughts:
- I pretty much let my kids make choices when they were home. But since me and their mother worked, it was paid childcare most of the summer.
- Just buy a lot of fruit!
- I did try to set specific eat times.