I have partnered with Kraft Heinz to review their products, I have been compensated for my time, however my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.
I bet we all can agree that things are a little strange these days. I know for our household, to say things are crazy and chaotic would be a bit of an understatement. We are working longer hours, the kids are feeling cooped up and unable to do normal kids things, and they feel like they don’t get to have a say in anything anymore. We as their parents are making all decisions for them based on what we feel is the best and safest, which is making them feel like they have lost their independence.
Back to school is looking a lot different this year - kids are learning remotely, going to school or doing a mixture of both. Our family will be remote learning, and while I am a frontline health care worker and my husband works in essential services, the task of homeschooling three kids is a daunting and scary one. There are not enough hours in the day, and while my husband works a fairly typical Monday-to-Friday job, my long 13plus-hour shifts are all over the place. We have come to the conclusion that we are going to have to make a school schedule that while not standard, works for our family. We sat down with the kids and agreed that on the days I work, they will not do schoolwork other than some reading and printing practice, things that can easily be led by the 13year-old while we are not home. What this means though, is that on the days I am off work, we are going to have to stay focused and put in long hours with few breaks While our days may be a little mixed up, the kids still need lunch.
I think that the key to quick and easy lunches is finding meals that the kids can easily make on their own with minimal mess, as these are the days I also need to work on Macaroni Kid. Kids will feel more independent (“I did it myself!”) and parents can take one thing off their to-do lists for the day. Lunch and snacks are a perfect way to allow kids to make choices for themselves, with a little guidance from mom, as we all know how kids are - mine would eat candy at every meal if we allowed them to. Sometimes I feel like I am constantly fighting an uphill battle when it comes to meals everyone can agree on; I am sure you all know the feeling. I grew up eating typical bagged lunches, and they were the same old boring things every day. A kid can only eat so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples and cookies. Often bagged lunches come home pretty much uneaten, with most of the food wasted. So we decided to head off on a group trip to Walmart, the first in months as the kids have been stuck at home, to find quick and easy lunch options we could all agree on.
I have to admit I was really concerned that this Walmart trip could become a gong show, as I needed three kids to agree on lunch ideas, and my 13-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with celiac disease. As we started walking the aisles, and I have to admit it really wasn’t as bad as I thought, we noticed Kraft Heinz offers a lot of quick and easy lunch options that the kids were excited about. We were able to stock up at Walmart on back-to-school lunch solutions with easy kid favorites. We decided on the Velveeta Shells & Cheese cups, Ore-Ida Easy Fries and Capri Sun juice pouches, and headed home for a trial run.
I was shocked at how easy and mess-free lunch was. Lunch was ready in less than 5 minutes, and there was literally no mess to clean up - all of the products came in their own ready-to-eat containers, every mom’s dream. The kids loved all of our choices, and the best part of all is that the Ore-Ida Easy Fries are gluten-free. Having a child with celiac disease makes shopping and meal prep a lot more time consuming, so having quick and easy lunch options on hand that she can make on her own and also meet her dietary needs are a must!
Make your life a little easier during these crazy times and take the stress out of planning back-to-school lunches by turning them into fun, teachable moments. Load the kids in the car and head on over to your local Walmart where you can pick up some Kraft Heinz delicious lunchtime solutions that are kid-friendly and easy to access.
