You know those cool instagram feeds by the parents who make the adorable lunches throughout the school year? I’m talking so cute I’d hate to to eat it. Yea, well that’s not me. Not in the least. You can ask my son’s preschool teacher how many times I out leftover pizza cheese sticks in his lunch box. It’s a little embarrassing.

When it comes to packing lunches or having snacks ready for our on-the-go lifestyle, I’m still learning. I have a few tips but I knew you guys would have even more. So I polled my readers on Facebook and boy did you guys blow me away with ideas.

Let me share some of the favorites.

Portable Snack Trays

Grace Lindgren said she spends long weekends at the baseball fields so they keep reusable trays on hand with divided compartments to store all kinds of foods. From olives and cucumbers, to berries and deli meats. She said she’ll keep two trays on hand so she can have a dip and cracker on one side. All of this prep work keeps them from diving into the concession stands.

Hit up the grocery stores

I don’t mean just raid the samples. Ok, well sort of. Martha Grondin said she likes to keep almonds and sliced apples on hand, but when worst comes to worst, several grocery stores offer a free piece of fruit while you shop. I hadn’t heard of this at first but a few other Cherish 365 readers chimed in saying their stores do the same.

Pre-packaged snacks

Ok jumping in to add a tip from yours truly. I’m all for the ready-made, pre-packaged goodies like Yoplait Mix-Ins. Something I can grab out of the fridge with absolutely no prep when we are in a really tight time crunch (which seems to be almost always) and pop open before the kids have a chance to get hangry. There’s creamy yogurt on one side and in this case, salted pretzels and chocolate bits on the other. Pour, mix and enjoy!

Freezer sandwiches

Say what? Ok this may be a game changer for us you guys because I didn’t realize this was a thing. But two or three of you mentioned mass-prepping PB&J or even ham and cheese sandwiches, freezing them, and just grabbing a bag to thaw on the go. Lechelle Hendricks said she does this with all kinds of sandwiches and makes a bunch at one time to save time later.

Raw foods

The other thing I do that seems like a lot of you do as well is just pack some raw fruits and veggies. Also easy to pack and little to no prep involved makes it a win in my book. Our favorites are apples, bananas (though they don’t travel well for long) and grapes. Carrots seem to be the main veggie they’ll consistently eat, and now and then I’ll get them to try some nuts too.

And look, I even got creative in the packaging for once! What can I say, you guys inspire me!

Hopefully these tips from fellow readers help make your adventurous fall evenings running from place to place even more fun and a little more manageable. I’ve already started using some of the tips you’ve shared with me and our lives are looking a lot less greasy and a whole lot tastier.

I love working with brands that help bring us together while making life a little easier. That’s why I’ve partnered with Yoplait for this post. Big thanks to Yoplait for sponsoring this post and bringing us delicious snacks we love. 

Tags: ad, snacks, yoplait