Lunch: A weekday repertoire.

I do lunch at home for the kids the same way I do breakfast, which is to say, I decide at the last minute fro a limited repertoire of really easy meals.  

Here are the things that I can make any day in a few minutes from stuff that's always in my house.   I balance the meals with milk and with fruit or baby carrots if necessary.

• Peanut butter sandwiches.
• Cheese, and sometimes cheese-and-bean, quesadillas on corn tortillas, with salsa. 
• Simple tuna salad (tuna/mayo/pickle), on bread or with whole wheat crackers.
• Toasted cheese sandwiches.
• Canned vegetable soup with whole wheat crackers. 
• Pasta with tomato sauce (leftover or canned -- I don't make it from scratch for lunch) and Parmesan.  
• Mini pizzas (on whatever I've got -- tortillas, pitas, mini bagels, or English muffins) with tomato paste, shredded cheese, and sometimes olives or pepperoni. 

That's Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Like my breakfasts, all are meatless, the kids accept all of them, and I can make any of them with what's on hand.  (Me, I tend to eat leftovers, salads, steamed vegetables, and cans of kippers or sardines.)

On Thursdays, Hannah and Melissa come to my house for the day with their children, and they are in charge of bringing lunch  for all the kids.  So I don't have to worry about it.

On Tuesdays, I go to Hannah's for the day, and I am in charge of bringing lunch for six kids.  

• Warm weather:  Pre-made sandwiches and pre-cut fruit. 
•  Cold weather:  Three-hour crock-pot stuff that isn't soup, like chili-cheese casserole,  mac and cheese,  sloppy joes.  Plus applesauce or canned fruit.

  The only lunch I have to plan is the one at Hannah's, and you see that none of them are very hard to do.  The crock-pot lunch is always something I can put together in the crock the night before, which is no harder than making a half-dozen sandwiches.