I am re-posting this awesome way to save money by doing make ahead cold lunches! Not only will this save you time but cold lunches can also be a lot more healthy too than the cafeteria mystery hamburgers. Before I tried this method I always had a tough time with packing a cold lunch for my kids. Even though I always WANTED to pack the kids cold lunches it was a lot of time and work each morning. I would usually get excited, do cold lunches for about 2 weeks and then get lazy. I found that if I didn’t prepare the night before, it was a mad rush in the morning and it was just so much easier to say – “You’re getting hot lunch today!”
Last year I tried out making ahead a weeks worth of cold lunches all in one day. And it worked! This idea is kind of like freezer cooking but for cold lunches. Once a week I chop and bag up all the fresh fruit, vegetables, crackers and any other lunch items all at once. Then I add them to a cold or dry lunch bucket to store in my fridge or pantry. The kids can quickly grab the items to throw in their lunches when they prepare them themselves in the morning or evening before.
The cold lunch bucket is just a tub I purchased at Walmart. It fits perfectly in my fridge. Once a week I will separate grapes, chop oranges or apples (if I did apples I would first soak them in pineapple juice or fruit fresh so they keep longer), chop carrot or celery sticks and even make up some sandwiches to freeze.
Some of the items I have kept in my own personal cold lunch bucket this past year are:
- String Cheese, Baby bel cheese
- Yogurt smoothies or other yogurt cups
- Carrots ( I found little cups with lids at Cash n Carry that I add ranch dip to them sometimes)
- Apples
- Sliced Oranges
- Mandarin Oranges, whole
- Green Peppers, sliced thinly
- Celery sticks
- Grapes, Cherries, Cantaloupe or other seasonal fruit cut up
Dry Lunch Bucket
The dry good lunch bucket has all the other dry type items such as bagged pretzels, crackers, homemade granola bars, trail mix, treats and more. This bucket sits in my pantry.
Some of the dry items to consider:
- Crackers or Pretzels
- Homemade Granola
- Granola Bars
- Beef Jerky
- Trail Mix
- Chips
- Graham Crackers
- Brownies or Homemade Cookies ( I bake up a bunch and individually bag them up)
- Special Treats ( usually for a holiday – like a single candy on Halloween…)
Sandwiches & Wraps
I have found that the easiest way for me to make the sandwich part is to take a large roll or sandwich bun, add in meat and cheese, wrap and freeze individually. My children will take them out in the morning frozen and by the time it’s lunch the sandwich has thawed. If they must have the condiments on their sandwiches you can always add them in between the meat and cheese, so when it thaws it won’t sog your bread. Wraps will also freeze really well as well as quesidillas. My kids will eat them cold. By the way – my kids favorite is pepperoni + provolone cheese on a hard roll or bun.
How many to Make?
I count out the number of days for cold lunch that week times how many children. Here is my own personal math: 4 kids x 5 days = 20. 20 bags of various chopped vegetables, 20 bags of various chopped fruit, 20 bags of chips/crackers, 20 string cheese or even treats if I feel nice that week..hee hee. 20 Sandwiches, quesadillas, or other main dish options. So I make everything all in one day and get it all prepared.
other suggestions:
also i started making jello and putting in containers i get a weeks worth out of one box so essentially it costs me .50 for a weeks worth of jello or pudding and i finally found a use for those mini containers that came with the rubbermaid set
Our kids love having roast beef sandwiches. We buy a HUGE roast from Costco, shred it up and make 75-100 sandwiches at a time! (Use whipped dressing, not mayo-as the egg in mayo separates.) Whipped dressing, roast beef, mustard and cheese-they taste fantastic when they thaw! We always make up a whack of paper bag lunches with a granola bar, fruit snack, fruit cup, or little packages of crackers, etc. and store them in our pantry. Then all the kids have to do is grab one of those bags and put a piece of fresh fruit and a frozen sandwich in and their lunches are done! This has saved my sanity so much!!!
To help not get soggy pb&j’s spread the peanut butter on each piece of the bread, making sure to cover all the bread, and then put the jelly in the middle. This “protects” the bread from soaking up the jam or jelly. Also we use whole grain wheat tortilla shells for sandwiches too. I have made Cesar Chicken Salad Wraps for the kids lunches the Sunday before and they never get soggy. I will make up a batch and my husband and I take them for lunches all week too, and they are healthy and taste great. Also, we have a recipe for Asian Chicken Salad that can be packaged in tupperware and taken in lunches too. There is nothing that gets soggy in it and it holds up well all week. Other than that I just pre-bag the side stuff and throw it all together the night before.
Another good idea i do for my kids lunches is use a flatbread or tortilla could work too spread it with cream cheese and cucumbers and roll into a wrap… kids love it!
One of our favorite quick lunch ideas are mini bagels and condiment sized cream cheese or cream cheese in a mini Tupperware. The kids spread them at school so they are fresh and they love them.
To help not get soggy pb&j’s spread the peanut butter on each piece of the bread, making sure to cover all the bread, and then put the jelly in the middle. This “protects” the bread from soaking up the jam or jelly. Also we use whole grain wheat tortilla shells for sandwiches too. I have made Cesar Chicken Salad Wraps for the kids lunches the Sunday before and they never get soggy. I will make up a batch and my husband and I take them for lunches all week too, and they are healthy and taste great. Also, we have a recipe for Asian Chicken Salad that can be packaged in tupperware and taken in lunches too. There is nothing that gets soggy in it and it holds up well all week. Other than that I just pre-bag the side stuff and throw it all together the night before.
Another good idea i do for my kids lunches is use a flatbread or tortilla could work too spread it with cream cheese and cucumbers and roll into a wrap… kids love it!
One of our favorite quick lunch ideas are mini bagels and condiment sized cream cheese or cream cheese in a mini Tupperware. The kids spread them at school so they are fresh and they love them.
A little tip in the cheap-and-easy vein: Bottled lemon juice will work great for preserving apple pieces. Put a little bit in a baggie of apples and shake/knead it until the juice has contacted all surfaces, then dump out any remaining juice (I also use a little bit of lemon juice in my palm to rub on the cut surface of a head of cabbage to keep it from greying when I leave it in a bag in the fridge for a few days). This might be cheaper and easier to get hold of than pineapple juice (unless you use a fair amount of canned pineapple in its own juice), and it’s great for people who like a tart/sour kick, though it only gives a slight tang unless you let the apples *sit* in the lemon juice for a while to soak some up.
The first time I tried lemon juice, I left the apples to sit for ten or fifteen minutes, unsure of how long it took to get whatever chemical reactions might be needed; I felt the experiment failed because they ended up tasting so strong, but they were a HUGE hit with my husband and his friend 
I cut apples in fours and then sprinkle them with cinnamon. It hides the brown and tastes yummy!
One thing I do is make cupcakes and use a filler to put the frosting in the middle. That way the frosting is inside the cupcake – otherwise what a mess!
One of my daughters favorites is pasta salad, won’t go bad in the lunchbox and very filling:
Large shell pasta
pepperoni
cheddar cheese
green bell pepper
green onion
Italian dressing – I make extra to add the next day as it drys out a little overnight.
I cut apples in fours and then sprinkle them with cinnamon. It hides the brown and tastes yummy!
One thing I do is make cupcakes and use a filler to put the frosting in the middle. That way the frosting is inside the cupcake – otherwise what a mess!
One of my daughters favorites is pasta salad, won’t go bad in the lunchbox and very filling:
Large shell pasta
pepperoni
cheddar cheese
green bell pepper
green onion
Italian dressing – I make extra to add the next day as it drys out a little overnight.
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