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 don’t even have kids in school (just one toddler) but I think we will love this. Thank you!!
Oh Mel. You just saved me! Thank you, thank you. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a million times more, YOU ROCK GIRL! And I think we’d be great friends. You are, after all, now only 3 hours away from where I live! 😉
These Menus are amazing!
These are great. On a side note, we live in Boise and are more than happy to volunteer as taste testers anytime you need 🙂 Welcome to the area!
You are a doll, Mel!! We love your recipes! We homeschool and are starting back up next week so this is perfect!
Amazing!! You are soooo sweet to share your talents with us!! I love you!! (In a non-stalking, crazy way!! Lol) you totally make me excited and looking forward to cooking and packing yummy lunches for 4 kids!! We just had baby number 6 (he’s 12 weeks) and the sad thing is I can count in one hand how many times I’ve cooked a homemade meal. 🙁 thank you for this!., AND ITS FREE!! You ROCK!
Thank you so much. This is super thoughtful and awesome.
This is incredible! Thank you , Mel! I can’t wait to try them all out. And I know my daughter will appreciate having something other than a sandwich for lunch 🙂 I don’t know how you moved, got kids ready for school and put all this together. You’re amazing!
Hey everyone – just popping in to say thanks for being so positive and excited about these menus. It might seem a simple thing but your comments back to me saying thank you and letting me know how you’ll use these menus completely makes my day (and all the effort of putting them together worth it). Now I’m off to clean the toilets that were neglected during the making of the menus.
you make me laugh and I love that you totally keep it real!!!! I had already kind of done a much less involved version of this from your recipes and lunch and breakfast ideas… because we started school last week and I have kids attending 4 different schools, (College, High School, Middle School, and Elementary.) Plus I have a 2 year old at home and babysit an 8 month old and a 4 year old 4 days a week… you have inspired me since I started reading this blog 2 years ago.. and all your 30 min meals, great breakfast & lunch ideas have become a major part of my life!! I love that you have put it all in one place.. it’s the perfect addition to what I had just started doing last week… the best part is that most of these recipes had already been printed off, and put in a binder, lists put up in my cupboards and shopping lists compiled your inspiration has been flowing thru me for a while now!! … thanks for all your work. I guess I should go scrub some toilets too… As soon as I make baked ziti 🙂
Once again, I love you! Anyone mom who has multiple boys, like myself, and can put together amazing meals is a rock star in my book. Good luck with unpacking.
you are seriously amazing. your blog has been my favorite for years – i have both the regular and chocolate versions of your granola bites in my fridge and freezer right now, and i literally JUST emailed the recipes for both to a friend – but your awesomeness factor just skyrocketed with these menus. my oldest just started kindergarten, and life has felt so chaotic as we adjust to the new school-induced chaos. these menus will be great!! thank you!!!
I just noticed one thing. The grocery list for week #4 says week #2 at the top. In case you want to fix that to avoid confusion. Thanks again!
Kristyn – Ah! Thanks! Just fixed and uploaded a corrected one (the grocery list was correct for ingredients so the only thing that was confusing was the # on it).
I can’t thank you enough for this! My kids start school tomorrow, I already have one job, and in two weeks I am also starting a Preschool! I didn’t know how I was going to keep up with meals for my family. I can do this!
Meal planning seemed so overwhelming to do on my own. You did all of the hard work for me, I just have to shop and cook. Your website is the best. I use it SO much and know that everything you make is tested, delicious, and perfected. And now perfect menus too! You’re an angel.
This couldn’t have come at a better time! We are about to take in our first foster child and having no clue what life will be like with 3 kiddos, this is a HUGE help! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
You are amazing. I can’t get over that you have done all this work in the midst of packing up and moving your family! Our family just recently made a big move too (with 6 kids) so I can relate to how much work that is. I can barely keep my head above water! Thanks so much this is going to come in very handy!!
Long time follower of your blog! Thanks for putting this together. It is awesome, and I’m sure it took quite a bit of work to assemble. Hope you have a great back-to-school season!
Mel- do you ever sleep? Seriously…you are one hard working, busy Mom! I can’t believe your little guys are back to school all ready. This is an awesome post. Thanks for taking the time to make our lives so much easier!
You are so awesome! Seriously, this is the best ever.
You just saved me from planning my meals for the month of September. You just hit rock star status in my world! Thank you, Mel!!
Wow! This is truly amazing!! Great job! 😀
What a talented, hard worker! You are the best! These menus are so easy to access and navigate. Thanks bunches and bunches.
Ok you get mom of the year you great cooker, you! Seriously thanks for all the ideas. I have one very picky daughter who would just eat apples all day (not a bad thing) but I like your ideas! I also have a great slow cooker chicken madera recipe yo send over. Yumo
Wow, this is amazing! I am so grateful to you for putting all of this together. I was just thinking about organizing for school, and you totally did it for me! I have had this open all morning, can’t believe how thorough it is!
Thank you!
How awesome is this!!! This must have taken a lot of time, but it is so fabulous! Pinning!
You’ve done it again! I feel inspired and hopeful about our meals (I’ve been in a HUGE food slump). I can tackle this plan and know my family will be well fed and happy. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much, Mel! You are positively AMAZING!
Thank you Mel. This is so very helpful!
Bless you
Mel, thank you so much! It must have been an incredible amount of work, and I am so impressed since you are dealing with a recent move on top of it all! The school lunch ideas are fantastic. Thinking of something other than the same old sandwiches has been a challenge. I am going to follow in your footsteps and write up a list of options to tape inside a kitchen cabinet door so I can streamline this process. With four kids who all have their own likes and dislikes, it will make it so much easier! Thanks for the great ideas and tips! All the best to your kiddos for a great school year!
Thank you so much for providing the menu plans in a Word file for editing!!! There are only a couple of things that I need to adjust for our tastes but it makes it easier to follow without having to think about the changes I need to remember to make. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK!!!
Have I told you lately how much I love you?
Thank you so so much!
This is truly awesome! Thank you. You have put together a plan that I have been thinking about but have not attempted because of the magnitude of the task. With hesitation, I had just pulled up my own menu-planning forms to start planning when your post popped into my Inbox. Literally. What an amazing thing you have done! Thank you.
For some reason I can’t pull up the shopping list and prep. What am I doing wrong? ; ) I can pull up the menu.
Nevermind! Got it! Thank you! This is so great!!
Wait, are you still in Wisconsin?
k – nope, we moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota two years ago and just recently moved from Minnesota to Idaho. 🙂
Thank you so much!!! Happy first day of school! 🙂
Mel! This is awesome! Thank you for putting this together! Hope your first day if school goes well!
Excellent. Although we homeschool year round this year I am feeling the pressure since I’m still not into any sort of a routine in our new home. This will be very beneficial. Thank you.
Karen – yes! I meant to make mention of homeschooling parents in the post, too, since I know your lives are just as crazy (if not crazier) than us public schoolers.
How awesome are you?!! These menu plans are full of great ideas! (And don’t talk to me about how the summer sped by either! It’s just plain crazy.)
Your planning is incredible and your recipes are SO delicious! If only you were a generation older! I could have really used a resource like this when my children were growing up and I was a working (well – ALL moms WORK! I also worked in an office) single mom of four. Sigh. My grown children and 13 grand kiddos love your recipes.
You rockstar you! This speaks to my heart!
Thanks for all your hard work!
School starts here in one week! Hockey practice officially started last week and dance starts next week. I am printing these out now and getting things organized!!! You are awesome Mel! Best wishes for a smooth start to new schools for your kids!
You are a “kitchen genius”!
Thank you for taking the time of putting this together. My son started 4th grade today. He’s my only so I am having a little bit of a hard time with that, but I like the idea of fast dinners and the cook once eat twice idea. Have a great day and I hope your kids had a good start at their new school(s)!
I can’t believe this is real. You are so organized, generous, and all-around amazing! Thank you for this! I am so excited to try it out. Only question is which one do I start with first? Haha. Thank you for sharing your talents with the likes of me. You’ve helped me feel more confident in the kitchen and also more conscious of what is really going in to the mouths of my dear family. You are wonderful!
This is amazing! Thank you!!
Very handy and easy to read. Thanks for putting this together. I am new to the school lunch thing, so this is helpful. Do your kids eat leftovers cold for lunch, or do they have access to a microwave to heat things? Are they happy to eat cold foods that are typically heated? I love the idea of doing that if kiddos will go for it!
Hi Megan – that’s a good question! No, they don’t have access to a microwave but my kids are really good at eating {some} things as leftovers without warming up (pizza, sandwich-type things like a little sloppy joe, and a few others). Not all kids may like that so I guess if not, the lunch items would need to be slightly adjusted. I didn’t include leftovers for lunch that would be downright nasty (in my opinion) not warmed up. 🙂
I’m not sure what my kids would think. I guess I should try and see what they say. I also saw your post from a while ago about lunches, which also really helps. Is it silly that I’m excited about packing a school lunch for them??? Thanks so much!
This is unbelievable!!!!!! Thank you SO MUCH for all of the hard work you put into these meal plans/tips/ grocery lists!!!!! You are THE BEST!!!!!!
Wow, the time warp sounds terrifying but this makes it seem easy to manage!
Mel, this. is. AWESOME!! I really appreciate all the work and organization you put into the weekly plans, and the cook once, eat it twice concept is SO useful! 🙂