5 Tips For Painless Lunch Packing

August 28, 2013

Whether you’re boarding the back-to-school boat or slipping onto the return-to-routine ship, chances are the matter of packed lunches is looming large for you. The good news is that, following this post, the hardest part of the process is going to be dreaming up the actual lunch food combos. I won’t be offering a morsel of assistance on that front either, let’s get that clarified up front. But hey, what I can offer you are five tips for making lunch packing painless. You’ll save precious seconds in the AM, increase your kitchen’s orderliness, and probably manage to create better, more well-balanced meals as a result. I’m just hypothesizing here.

1. Prep

Things will zing along in the morning if you’ve taken the time to do the prep work the night or week before. Tasks like slicing up fruits and veggies, portioning out bags of snacks, and so on can all be done ahead of time to ensure that come the morning-of, all that’s left to do is spread some PB&J on a couple slices of bread and call it a packed lunch.

2. Keep a lunch bin in the fridge

Corral all perishable lunch items in a bin in the refrigerator. This will allow you to reach right for your lunch supplies, without having to search through the entire fridge abyss to locate that container of yogurt. You can also allocate one bin per lunch item; create a ready-to-go-sandwich bin by storing all refrigerated items you’ll need to compose said sandwich together: mustard and mayonnaise, deli meats, cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and so on. You can then easily grab all the contents at once, set the bin on the counter, get to sandwich-ry, and boom, you’re done.

3. Create a lunch bin in the pantry

This is the non-perishable counterpart to the lunch fridge bins. Lunch items like energy bars, pre-portioned bags of snacks, and so on should live together in one bin, basket or other container. Just as keeping all perishable lunch items together alleviates the need to search for ingredients, so too does the pantry lunch bin keep foods at the ready.

4. Set up a lunch packaging and container hub

Ensure that you have to consult only one spot in order to find all lunch packing containers and other supplies, including: lunch bags, lunch boxes, ziploc bags, small food storage containers, napkins, plastic or special lunch silverware, thermoses, and so on. You might also consider keeping some money in this location for any lunch time purchases, as well as some notecards and a pen, if you’re in the habit of including lunch love notes (my mom routinely did this, and I do believe the other children were always a little envious of the sweet deal I had going on at home).

5. Pack

When it’s go time, grab some fruits, veggies, yogurt, and cheeses from the lunch bin, scoop up some crackers and a sweet treat from the pantry bin, slap together a little sandwich here, a salad-in-a-jar there, pull out a bag or box and deposit the food, toss in the extra supplies and wham-bam-thank-you-MA’AM.

That there is lunch, packed. Tomorrow I’ll be back with some all-star lunch products that will make this whole process even more spicy, you just wait.

What are your favorite lunch-packing tips, hmmmm?

Image credits: 1. Babble, Girl Walks Into a Barbell, Snapware, 2. The Handmade Home, Raising up Rubies, I Heart Organizing, Blooming Homestead, 3. Bowl Full of Lemons, Blooming Homestead, 4. Living on Love and Cents, Wendolonia, unknown, 2 Little Hooligans, 5. The Handmade Home, Hi Sugarplum, Parents, Good Housekeeping

22 Comments

  1. carolqellis on August 28, 2013 at 5:37 am

    Love the organization tips – it looks so easy to do.

  2. Haley on August 29, 2013 at 9:48 am

    You’re awesome!! Thanks for posting this!!

  3. Sarita on September 4, 2013 at 11:38 am

    I get my two grandsons after school 2-3 times a week..this is something I’m going to do for after school meal!
    Thanks.

  4. Anneliza on November 18, 2013 at 1:30 am

    What good ideas for lunch especially in the mornings there is no time to prepare lunch boxes.

  5. […] and help you stay healthy during the week. Instead of grabbing whatever is available before work, follow Annie’s tips on prepping, storing and packing […]

  6. […] Tips for Packing Lunches from Live Simple by Annie […]

  7. […] to pack lunches, because that was me. I have found a solution that works. I found this idea off of Live Simply by Annie and although it’s directed towards packing school lunches for kids, I did it for a week […]

  8. Afshan Mansoor on December 18, 2014 at 3:36 pm

    Wow. Just loved the way u do it. Thanks for sharing. Loved the love note part a lot.

  9. Snack Basket in Fridge | April Abraham on January 18, 2015 at 3:33 am

    […] For my “Pinterest of the week” last week, I chose to start a snack basket the fridge for school lunches. I know this will be a simple post, but when you are trying to make better choices in life, sometimes it takes the smallest win to keep you going. To give credit where credit is due, here is the Pinterest Link. […]

  10. April on January 18, 2015 at 3:37 am

    Great idea- great instruction and layout of the post 🙂 This is totally what I need in my life right now!

  11. So how’s that working for ya? | April Abraham on January 20, 2015 at 2:28 am

    […] click here to see livesimplybyannie.com ‘s lunch strategy. I Bought two new bins. Kept sandwich meat, cheeses, and condiments in one. The other I used for the individually wrapped cheese snacks and bagged baby carrots. I put the Danimals yogurt and pudding in my middle drawer that I think is supposed to house meats in the fridge. The rest of the week I will devote to getting the hooks to hang the lunch bags and creating a “lunch packaging and container hub”. […]

  12. Pierina on March 11, 2015 at 5:45 pm

    I love these ideas! When I can’t think of what to pack I usually go to my favorite lunch blogger. She posts healthy meals for kids and includes recipes. Here’s the link http://kidsmenuhealthyyetdelicious.blogspot.com/?m=0. Maybe it’ll give you ideas!

  13. […] Source: livesimplybyannie.com […]

  14. […] 5 Tips for Painless Lunch Packing at Live Simply By Annie […]

  15. Heesoon on May 30, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    I love these ideas!! I can totally use it now that my older son is going to be a first grader! By the way, where did you buy your wire lunch bin for pantry? I love it!

  16. […] SOURCE […]

  17. […] 5 Tips for Painless Lunch Packing […]

  18. […]  Source: Live Simply By Annie […]

  19. […] about planning for the week, having a lunch organizer in your fridge can take a lot of the stress out of packing lunches.  If there are choices, your […]

  20. […] scurrying. Have your kids help! Fill bins with different snacks and foods so they can easily pick options from the bins to get their own lunch […]

  21. […] morning packing rush less painful, a lunchbox station is helpful.  Annie at Live Simply did a great post on organizing your mornings.  Her organization will blow you […]

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22 Comments

  1. carolqellis on August 28, 2013 at 5:37 am

    Love the organization tips – it looks so easy to do.

  2. Haley on August 29, 2013 at 9:48 am

    You’re awesome!! Thanks for posting this!!

  3. Sarita on September 4, 2013 at 11:38 am

    I get my two grandsons after school 2-3 times a week..this is something I’m going to do for after school meal!
    Thanks.

  4. Anneliza on November 18, 2013 at 1:30 am

    What good ideas for lunch especially in the mornings there is no time to prepare lunch boxes.

  5. […] and help you stay healthy during the week. Instead of grabbing whatever is available before work, follow Annie’s tips on prepping, storing and packing […]

  6. […] Tips for Packing Lunches from Live Simple by Annie […]

  7. […] to pack lunches, because that was me. I have found a solution that works. I found this idea off of Live Simply by Annie and although it’s directed towards packing school lunches for kids, I did it for a week […]

  8. Afshan Mansoor on December 18, 2014 at 3:36 pm

    Wow. Just loved the way u do it. Thanks for sharing. Loved the love note part a lot.

  9. Snack Basket in Fridge | April Abraham on January 18, 2015 at 3:33 am

    […] For my “Pinterest of the week” last week, I chose to start a snack basket the fridge for school lunches. I know this will be a simple post, but when you are trying to make better choices in life, sometimes it takes the smallest win to keep you going. To give credit where credit is due, here is the Pinterest Link. […]

  10. April on January 18, 2015 at 3:37 am

    Great idea- great instruction and layout of the post 🙂 This is totally what I need in my life right now!

  11. So how’s that working for ya? | April Abraham on January 20, 2015 at 2:28 am

    […] click here to see livesimplybyannie.com ‘s lunch strategy. I Bought two new bins. Kept sandwich meat, cheeses, and condiments in one. The other I used for the individually wrapped cheese snacks and bagged baby carrots. I put the Danimals yogurt and pudding in my middle drawer that I think is supposed to house meats in the fridge. The rest of the week I will devote to getting the hooks to hang the lunch bags and creating a “lunch packaging and container hub”. […]

  12. Pierina on March 11, 2015 at 5:45 pm

    I love these ideas! When I can’t think of what to pack I usually go to my favorite lunch blogger. She posts healthy meals for kids and includes recipes. Here’s the link http://kidsmenuhealthyyetdelicious.blogspot.com/?m=0. Maybe it’ll give you ideas!

  13. […] Source: livesimplybyannie.com […]

  14. […] 5 Tips for Painless Lunch Packing at Live Simply By Annie […]

  15. Heesoon on May 30, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    I love these ideas!! I can totally use it now that my older son is going to be a first grader! By the way, where did you buy your wire lunch bin for pantry? I love it!

  16. […] SOURCE […]

  17. […] 5 Tips for Painless Lunch Packing […]

  18. […]  Source: Live Simply By Annie […]

  19. […] about planning for the week, having a lunch organizer in your fridge can take a lot of the stress out of packing lunches.  If there are choices, your […]

  20. […] scurrying. Have your kids help! Fill bins with different snacks and foods so they can easily pick options from the bins to get their own lunch […]

  21. […] morning packing rush less painful, a lunchbox station is helpful.  Annie at Live Simply did a great post on organizing your mornings.  Her organization will blow you […]

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