Back to School: Let’s Talk Fast Dinners, Easy Lunches and Wholesome Breakfasts
A complete guide to Back to School Menus- look no further for a list of fast dinners, easy lunches and wholesome breakfasts.
In honor of it being the first day of school where I just recently moved to (don’t even talk to me about how the summer sped by in a warped fashion leaving me wondering where on earth time went, don’t even), I want to talk about three very important things as my family and I catapult toward school schedules and structure and sanity (the keeping of):
I touch on these things all year long: a whole section dedicated to 30-minute meals, waxing poetic about our love for hearty, warm breakfasts and posting once or twice in the past about school lunches.
But today, I’m doing something a bit different and I’m combining the whole kit and caboodle into FOUR very free handy dandy menu plans.
I don’t know about you, but having it all laid out in front of me like this actually makes it seem manageable and totally doable. As in, I might succeed at keeping my sanity for at least the first four weeks of the school year.
Keep in mind that if you don’t want to use the entire menu plan, just pick and choose those meals that fit your schedule and style. And I promise, I won’t even bat an eye if you sub in cold cereal for a morning or four. If there’s anything I understand, it’s real life. So do what you have to do to make these menu plans work for you, your family and your schedule.
You can download the menu plan as a PDF for a simple ready-to-print-and-use option or as a Word document if you want to change it up and edit it a bit.
Here’s to a great, new, stress-free, perfect school year! (Please don’t burst my bubble…a girl can hope and think positive, right?)
I love your guts! I am normally an expert meal planner but this start back to school has been nuts! I have decision making fatigue and don’t even want to decide what to make. I now know what we are having for dinner for the next 4 weeks. Thank you for doing all of this amazing work!!!
Haha, I think I have the same type of fatigue!
Well this is absolutely the most amazing thing and perfect timing as well. What a fabulous way to reduce stress and get some nutritious, easy meals in during the first few weeks back to school. THANK YOU!!
Thanks, Erin! I’ll be posting an update to this (with tons more menus and tips) next week, too!
You are AWESOME Mel!!! Menu planning is a little overwhelming for me. I don’t know why….it should be easy, but it’s not. THANK YOU!
Thank you, Sarah! I think menu planning can be overwhelming for all of us at times!
This is AMAZING! You just saved my mom-of-six-and-new-RS-Pres LIFE. Things have been so crazy and I appreciate this help more than you can imagine. I’ve used your recipes tons of times and they are winners every time. Your pizza recipe tips revolutionized my pizza making. We love our Friday pizza nights!
AND PS – I bought your cookbook and it’s fabulous!
Craziness! Hang in there! (So happy you are loving that cookbook…thank you!)
Thank you! Great info
This is a great article Mel! These meals healthy, they make for easy prep and clean up. Getting your kids up and at ’em in the morning, while trying to prepare a healthy and wholesome lunch can be quite a task, but who says it has to be? We have a great article that can help parents prepare lunches for their kids. You might enjoy it! http://www.organwiseguys.com/blog/how-kids-can-help-with-school-lunch-prep/
Thank you thank you thank you! This is AWESOME!
These menu plans are amazing. We loved week one and are now onto week two. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thanks for putting this all together Mel! I swooned when I saw the attached grocery lists. I use your other meal plans, but this is totally spoiling me. Hope you have a great weekend.
Do you ever have trouble finding lunchboxes that fit the Goodbyn Bynto Boxes?
Alisa – I’ve been using these lunchbox “sleeves” for a couple years and they fit the Goodbyn boxes really well (I flip them inside out and run them through a gentle wash in my washer to clean them out every once in a while):
http://www.reuseit.com/lunch-bags-and-lunch-boxes/goodbyn-goodbyn-arctic-zone-insulated-lunch-bag.htm
I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You’ve blessed a slightly stressed working mother today!
You are BEAUTIFUL, Mel! Truly. I already love so many of your recipes, my neighbor and I share them regularly. When she mentioned the menus my heart did a flip. You have given a splendid present to your fellow mothers-in-trench. Thank you!
Mel, thank you ever so much for all the work you put into making these menus. I can’t tell you how much I needed something like this put in front of me because I was just not able to pull it together on my own. My kids started school last Wednesday, we moved into a new home on Saturday and then my 5 year old started Kindergarten on Monday. The house is being painted and recarpeted around all my boxes, and let me tell you, it doesn’t help that this is our third move in 10 months. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for putting this together. My family thanks you too. One more dinner of scrambled eggs or frozen pizza or cheese quesadillas and I would had a major mutiny on my hands.
These are amazing! You are a rock star to do this for all of us. Just an FYI – the grocery list for menu #3 says it’s for#2. I printed them all out and they got mixed up and I got really confused putting them together. Easy fix:), and thank you so much!!
Shara – Fixed. Thank you!
This? Just changed my life. I didn’t know it was possible to love you any more but really…I love your guts.
These menus are so helpful! Thank you! I started menu 1 tonight. Lunches and breakfast are all set for tomorrow! I have loved all of your other menus that we’ve tried. It is great to get me out of the cooking rut that I can get into sometimes. Thanks again!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Seriously an answer to prayer. I’ve been struggling getting excited about menu planning or making dinner. THANK YOU!!
I have been using your blog for many years now and I have never commented. But I just have to say how much I APPRECIATE YOU!!!! This meal plan is fantastic!
You are seriously the best!!! I can’t wait to give these a try. Maybe, just maybe I can really cook every night or every other night. I always seem to busy! Thanks Mel!!! You are truly an awesome lady!!!!! 🙂
Melanie!!!
You are SUCH a rock star!!! When on earth did you find time to make these awesome menus?? You are a finisher! Your blog is so super cool it’s not even funny! And YOU are hilarious!! I love love reading everything you write. Make sure to try the Raspberry chicken nut salad at the Kneaders there in Boise and the rasp. bread pudding. To die for! Hope you guys can stay put for a long time! So happy for you guys!
Oh my, these are fabulous! Is this how you live your life? I need to do this all the time, and with four weeks done for me, maybe I can get in the habit. We are so doing this! Thanks a million!!
Wow and Wow! YOU are totally awesome. Such an answer to my prayers of how I am going to handle simplifying my life. I love every single thing you make that I’ve tried. Thank you!
Grocery list #3 also says #2 on it. 🙂
I love you. The end. 🙂
These menu plans are awesome! Thank you! Do you prefer to make the lunches after school / before dinner or after dinner is cleaned up? I want to get in the habit of making lunches the night before but I seem so tired (&full) from dinner i get lazy & never make them. I am curious what you have found works for you. Thanks!
Barbi – I almost always make the school lunches right after dinner while the child who is in charge of dinner cleanup is (hopefully) cleaning up dinner. If I wait until bedtime, I usually am too lazy. 🙂
Bless you!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Oh my gosh! You just saved my life and the little bit of sanity that I have left. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have been trying to compile some plans like this for a while, and it gets so overwhelming to me that I never get anything completed. You are amazing…wish you still lived across the street in Utah!
I can’t believe how thorough and fabulous these menus and shopping lists are! The dinner leftovers for packed lunches is brilliant. I don’t even remember what we ate before I found your site a few years ago. Love your guts!
Mel you really are a rock star. Thanks so much!!!
I don’t know how you do it, but you are amazing!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing these menus/list. Very very very helpful! I also love knowing how you plan ahead for the next day and what you do in the morning/evening. I think these tips the most helpful thing for staying organized and on top of life. 🙂
You are soooo amazing. Taking time out of your busy life to help us. Thank you sooooo much. This is so helpful. I think I have a womance 😉
You outdid yourself with these menu plan extravaganzas, Mel! I preach the wonders of your blog to anyone who mentions dinner dilemmas.
These are just wonderful Mel! I hate menu planning but I am going to use yours to help me do it better. Thanks!