*This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com
When it comes to back to school tips, I always have a unique perspective since I am not only an educator, but I’m also a mom! Believe me, I know how overwhelming this time of the year can be when it comes to getting the kids ready for the new school year and making sure you purchase all of the school supplies that they need.
As a Working Mom who juggles a career and a family, meal planning during this time can be especially stressful because I just don’t have the time to plan elaborate meals or go shopping for elaborate ingredients. So I’ve decided to get smart about how I’m going to prepare our family’s meals and my sons’ school lunches this back to school season. Thank goodness I have the help of 4 Lunchbox brands to help me keep my hungry family fed well! Here are some of my back to school meal planning tips:
Prepare Big Meals To Last All Week:
My mother is Italian so we grew up eating bit Italian dinners when I was a kid. One of the things that I have realized is that making big meals during the week really makes meal planning that much easier. One my family’s favorite meals is meat lasagna. But not just any ground beef will do when I’m preparing my Mom’s famous lasagna recipe. EAT PRE offers 95% lean Ground Beef.
As a mom, I feel great about feeding my family EAT PRE beef because it is grass fed and finished, as well as sourced from nutrient-rich pastures and raised with care. It reassures me that their beef does not contain added antibiotics and no added hormones.
EAT PRE also offers 85% lean ground beef, chuck roasts, top sirloin steaks, ribeye steaks and other beef products. This busy mom especially loves that they offer online meat delivery which means I can buy all of our grass fed beef online!
*Make sure you take advantage of their Back To School Special! Use code BTS40 at www.eatpre.com for 40% off 85 and 80 lean ground beef.Code expires 9/21.
** Use my unique discount code for EATPRE to receive 10% off your order now through October: TOUGHCOOKIE
Provide Healthy On-The-Go Snacks:
Let’s be honest, sometimes there is no time to make a healthy breakfast in the morning. Some days, we are lucky if we make it out the door in time for work and school. As an educator, I know how important breakfast is to helping kids succeed academically.
MadeGood organic snacks make me also feel good about giving them to my boys in the morning. They offer yummy and healthy granola bars, granola minis, crispy squares, and soft baked cookies that are free from allergens as well as being gluten-free and non- GMO project verified.
Both of my sons really liked the Chocolate Chip Granola Bars. As a matter of fact, they liked them so much that they refused to believe that they not only tasted great, but that they were made with all-natural ingredients. Talk about a Mom-Win!
Make Sure The Adults Eat Healthy:
My husband and I also need to make sure that we have easy and healthy meal options during the work week. When you are running around to pick up the kids from extracurricular activities and taking them to basketball games, it can get really hard to eat healthy. Lundberg White Rice and Quinoa Entrees are so easy to make that you forget they are made with quality ingredients like organic white rice and organic American-grown quinoa.
After a long work day, it’s so easy and convenient to prepare and cook them in less than 20 minutes. Their Rosemary and Olive Oil Quinoa Blends not only taste great but it literally only takes boiling some water and oil in a saucepan and waiting 18 minutes for the meal to be ready. They are vegan-friendly, USDA Organic, non-GMO, and gluten-free verified so I don’t feel like I am trading healthy for convenience.
Same-Day Shopping:
Let’s be honest, I just don’t have time to spend hours in the store grocery shopping. The truth is that there just aren’t enough hours in the day sometimes for this Working Mom. I love the convenience of using Shipt! their same-day shopping which allows me to browse, search and shop all at the same time!
They offer an in-store assortment of grocery delivery products online and I can use their app to note my preferences, choose a one-hour delivery window and pay for my order in a few easy steps. It’s really affordable too because their annual membership grants access to free, unlimited delivery on orders of more than $35.
Shipt does have an annual membership fee that costs $99 which, as I shared above gives you free delivery on all orders over $35, which is an amazing deal in it of itself. However, for a limited time, you can click this Shipt Promo Code to get their annual membership for only $49. That’s less than $1 an order if you use their services at least once per week!
These are just some of the ways that I stay sane when it comes to meal planning and planning school lunches during back to school. Like my husband likes to tell our family and friends, “Happy wife, happy life…”
Let’s Discuss: What are some of the ways that you make planning your family’s meals easier during back to school?
© 2018, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.
I would gives these a try. I think everyone in my family would like them. We do try to eat somewhat healthy when we can!
I want to try the rosemary rice. My boys do love those granola bars
I think meal planning is difficult all the time — not just during school. I save time by buying rotisserie chickens, and storing the shredded meat in meal-sized portions in the freezer. I do the same thing with large portions of ground beef. I cook it, then bag it up. When it’s time to prepare dinner, the meat for a casserole is already cooked and ready to add. It saves a ton of time.
I think I should try them out because I won’t be disappointed. Healthy food is necessary.
I love a good subscription box, especially ones with food! Meal planning makes the back to school season so much easier for sure!
I’ve been so tempted to use Shipt, it can get hectic at my home and grocery shopping can sometimes feel like a drag. The lasagna looks delicious, I usually do three big meals it gives me more free time for other things.
I love the idea of cooking big meals to last the week. I also love to cook a few smaller ones on Sunday to be warmed up through the week too. It gives everyone some options so they aren’t eating pasta for three days in a row. lol
Love good finds for school lunch boxes. Thanks for sharing!
Meal planning can be difficult, but i love all of your mom wins with the healthy food alternatives. Those granola bars look amazing, I bet my child would love one!
Those MadeGood granola bars are my favourite and love that they are vegan! I just purchased a bunch for my upcoming trip 🙂
Meal planning can be difficult because the kids don’t know what they want from day to day. So we prepped a bunch of food on Sunday and here it is Tuesday and they want none of it.
We love meal planning, it helps not only with time but it helps us avoid eating junk by having healthy meals ready to go. I had never heard of SHIPT I will check them out, thanks for the promo code!
Meal planning can be so hard, but is totally worth it. Those snacks look like a great way to send kids with a snack that you can feel good about.
My kids are such picky eaters that I find tat we stick to like the same four or five meals each week. I’m hoping that they’ll grow out of it. My eight year old is doing better at eating what he’s given.
Yummy these are some great healthy lunch options. I’d love to eat these lunch for work 🙂
I am intrigued with that rosemary rice! Looks delicious and am not sure if we have it here.
Those granola bars sound so tasty! Omg I love rice pilaf! What an interesting box of goodies!!!
This is the toughest job to decide what to cook. That granola bars looks awesome. Hope kids will love it. Thanks for sharing this.
I do love a good meal plan, so easy and saves you money in the long run.
I am eating more healthier and I love organic snacks and always searching for tastier snacks. I would be interested in these granola bars the strawberry minis granola sounds delicious!
OOO looks like some very yummy and healthy options for back to school eating! The granola bars sound super yummy.
All of this food looks like it would be amazing. I have never used Shipt before but it sounds like a really great program.