Take the STRESS Out of Fall: BEST Back to School Tips and Finds

It's fall, and you know what that means:  back to school!  Whether you're a homeschooling family like us, or your kids attend private or public school, it is time to to get back in the swing of the things and be sure you're ready to go.  I know it can be hard to find your groove after several weeks of lazy mornings, late fun-filled evenings outdoors, and your usual schedule thrown out the window, but have no fear, I will help you!

Evenings get crazier now too

Since back to school also means all the evening activities start up again too, first off, you may want to keep this “fast food at home” list on hand to prevent the tempation to go through the unhealthy drive-thru windows for stress-free dinners…

Here are a few of my best back to school tips and finds to keep on hand when throwing lunches together

I know the hardest part for me when my kids were still in public school, was getting back into the routine of making sure lunches were packed with healthy foods.  My kids always packed their own lunches (with my help), but the process becomes so much easier if there are choices that are ready to grab and go.  And even though most days we are no longer packing lunches here, I still try to have easy lunch stuff ready to go so the kids can serve themselves instead whining that there's nothing to eat.

• For tons of ideas, tips, and suggestions on great things to pack, be sure and check out my previous post here:  Healthy School Lunch Ideas.  And these tips aren't just for kids, I'll bet you'll find several good ideas for your lunch, as well.

• Kids (and adults) love to pack their lunches in these adorable LunchBots.  And who can blame them, doesn't the lunch in the picture looks amazing?  Or is it because everything looks better when packed in little cubbies?  I love how this one below is stainless steel, so no plastic.

• This lunch kit is nice because it's stackable and has fun colors.  (Find other options at that link, too.)  Yes, it's plastic, though, so be sure not to pack anything hot in this one.

• If you DO need to pack something hot, use these stainless steel thermoses:

• Getting kids to drink water is important, so make sure they have a water bottle that is BPA-free.  We like this brand.

• Chips can be a not-too-bad snack if they're not fried in nasty seed oils.  These potato chips are cooked in avocado oil!  They're even better dipped into this cucumber dip!

• We don't eat a lot of sweets around here, and when we do they are usually homemade.  But no one has time to do it all and these little cookies are a terrific standby choice because they only have FOUR ingredients (wheat flour, butter, sugar, and salt) and they are made with BUTTER!  I love that they are already packaged in sets of 2: perfect for a lunches and also perfect to make sure you don't eat too many.  🙂

• Grass-fed beef jerky is a great way to get a blast of mid-day protein.  US Wellness Meats has a whole selection of items your kids will love.  Look for the category “Kids Picks” on the left of their home page.  While there be sure and take look around their site.  They have great raw, grass-fed cheeses, hot dogs, and sausages.  You may even want to pick up a chicken or one of their awesome roasts to throw in your pressure cooker (here's my favorite) for those crazy, busy back to school nights.

More lists to get your brain rolling…

• Healthy Breakfast Ideas – many of these can be made ahead for busy mornings.

• Healthy School Lunches – try to avoid hot lunch if at all possible!  On the rare occasion that they want hot lunch, I take a breath and let them, but thankfully it’s not often.  To make things easy, we stay in the habit of making lunches the night before.  Even our kindergartener made her own lunch – they can do it if you just take the time to teach them. (I always check it, though, obviously!)  I just decided that each year a couple weeks before school starts, I need to sit down with the kids and go over this list, ask what their ideas are and what they'd like to take in their lunches, and then I can shop and be ready to go that first week of school.  🙂

• Our Version of Fast Food – we all know how crazy school nights are with homework and activities, these ideas can help you avoid the temptation to zip into the dreaded fast food joints.

• How to easily and quickly make big batches of cookies or other school lunch foods ahead of time!  (More tips on making extras is here.)

• Why come up with a Family Favorites Meal List? It’s very helpful, you’ll see why at that post.

• More real food sanity savers! (8 things I do and 3 things I definitely DON'T do)

Hopefully you now feel well-prepared to jump back into school mode.  Before you know it, you'll be a few weeks in and the school schedule will feel normal to you and then it will be time to start thinking about the holidays again.  (Too much too soon?  Sorry, pretend like I never said it, lol!)

More you might like:  

• Is there such a thing as healthy college dorm food?!

• Here's my Real Food for Rookies book to help you know which foods to avoid and what their Real Food alternatives are.  Many have told me that they want to buy better foods, but are confused as to what they are. Hopefully this will become your “go-to guide” to help you quickly and easily plan meals and work your way through the grocery store aisles.

• If you are a homeschooler, be sure to check out my homeschooling archives with our own experiences, information, tips and ideas.