Meal Planning and DIY

I try my hardest to make as many meals as I can that my LEO can take to work with him. IT. IS. NOT. EASY. He tires easily of sandwiches, salads aren’t “enough”, and he often can’t eat his meal in one setting if he has to go to a call. I got tired of opening his lunch box at the end of a shift and STILL SEEING IT FULL. So I had to change it up a bit and my girls LOVE to get involved in packing daddy’s lunch!

Let me just say, I don’t succeed everyday at sending my hubby off with a delicious, healthy meal. Life gets in the way. However, I certainly try.

Here is a list of ways I plan ahead of time:

• Meal planning for the whole week is a huge time/money saver. I know exactly what I am making for dinner for the week and what I am sending him off with (unless he prefers something different, of course). I normally do my shopping on a day that he is off for a week in advance.

• I start to pack hubby’s lunch about an hour before he leaves, if the girls and I are home. I leave so much time because I have 2 extra sets of hands that like to do most of the work.

• Most often, I make a crockpot meal in the morning then it’s ready by the time he is ready to leave. Dinner is done for everyone! We make sure to pack an EXTRA LARGE ice pack because his food could be packed for HOURS before he actually gets to eat.

• While I do pack a “dinner-like” meal, I also pack a lot of snacks! He is gone at least 12 hours at a time, so hearty snacks are a must for my LEO.

Keep checking the blog for my list of go-to recipes that work well for an LEO’s lunchbox- Coming Soon!