With the start of the new year always comes new goals. Focusing on better health is actually something that we look at almost quarterly in our home, but especially at the beginning of January. After months of birthdays and holidays, our bodies are sluggish and noticeably less healthy than they should be. One step that I always take to manage our health better is to lessen the amount of processed or convenience foods that come into our home. Notice I did not say eliminate. That's just not me. But, we do try to cut out many excessively processed items such as boxed mac and cheese, frozen fish sticks or chicken tenders, and snacks such as Oreos. Malachi doesn't always like this step, but he does appreciate the yummy, flavorful variety of foods that start showing up on his plate. This is especially difficult for me at lunchtime when convenience foods are perfect for the middle of a busy school day. I have to get creative, search online, and plan ahead to find simple, quick lunches that are hopefully cost effective as well. For this post, I decided to share some of the ideas that I've come up with. Let me know if you decide to try any of these and how they worked out for you! 

Tuna Salad/Chicken Salad Over Greens or on Whole Grain Wraps/Bread

I'm lucky to have kids that actually like salad.

Lunchmeat and Veggie Wraps (use cream cheese, hummus, or dijon mustard as a spread)

For the lunchmeat, we prefer Boar's Head meats. Malachi likes these sliced into pinwheels or "kid/prairie sushi" as Pioneer Woman likes to call it. 

Spaghetti with Meatballs

I used Pioneer Woman's recipe for homemade freezer meatballs so that these were prepared well in advance. We prefer homemade marinara sauce, but will use jarred sauce if it's yummy enough. Mezzetta Homemade Marinara is one of our favorite jarred sauces. Of course we use boxed spaghetti noodles. I'm not that good. 

Bean and Cheese Burritos with Sliced Bell Peppers on the Side

Both of our boys love black beans and cheese! We tend to grab a can of black beans, but will use dry if we have them on hand and can prepare them ahead of time. 

BLTs

Again, it helps if I have the bacon cooked ahead of time and can just warm up quickly.
*I know that bacon is considered processed, but IT'S BACON! We can overlook this one. 

The foods listed here are the basics. You can get creative and change up these ideas for varied options. I don't know about your kids, but my kids do not like having the same meals day after day. Sure, they like sandwiches. But if they are served sandwiches more than twice in a week, they start rebelling. We also usually have dinner leftovers on hand. 
I'd love to hear your ideas and what works for you! 

Happy eating!