Giving Thanks!

My goal when I started Little Lunches was to get and share ideas about making easy, fun, healthy lunches for my kids as they grew from tiny babies into actual eaters. Four years into this I am still in awe of the inspiring lunches I see other moms making. I am grateful for the feedback and suggestions I get from the nearly 1,000 other parents who have joined the conversation.

The next seven weeks of holiday madness can make us crazy. Here are a few tips to make things a little smoother in the lunch department:

• Baking cookies? Do a couple of batches of muffins while the oven is going and freeze most of them for popping in the oven on rushed mornings or sticking into school lunches (they will thaw by noon).
• Speaking of cookies - use those cookie cutters to make some fun themed lunches. See what our friend Shannon is whipping up over at What's For Lunch at Our House.
• Keep a bowl of mandarin oranges on the counter (they are usually easy to find this time of year) - great to toss to a hungry kid for a snack, easy to include in a lunch or to take the edge off your hunger while baking those yummy holiday treats.
• When you are baking your holiday dressing - scoop a few extra servings into silicone baking cups and freeze for lunches later in the season.
• Stock up on your basics while you are at the store anyway - big holiday meals require big shopping trips, don't forget to get some lunch stock while you are out. It's easy to get too focused on the big meal and forget to get things for the next week's lunches.
• Stick more fruits and veggies in the kids lunches than usual...they are going to be getting plenty of baked goods, try to encourage a little bit of crunchy, healthy snacking.