I love meal planning and prepping , but I have found that one of the hardest parts about doing it is that I always end up with a fridge, freezer and pantry full of leftover odds and ends.
I would spend hours at the end of the month cleaning it all out and reorganizing it, only to have to turn around and make meals for my family and buy even more food. The process seemed never-ending. Then, one day, I was too tired to cook and clean and all of my kids (there are six of them!) were home for a school holiday. I told them to fend for themselves with whatever was in the kitchen.
"This is like making a weird Lunchable," my oldest son declared. It was a lot like a mixed-up charcuterie board —and it was fun.
Suddenly, all of those foods they didn't want seemed appealing, especially if it was the last item. My kids raced to be the one to grab it, and before the day was through, most of my pantry and refrigerator had been cleared. We've been doing Weird Lunchable Day monthly for three years now, and during that time we've learned a few things.
Related: I’ve Been Meal Planning for More Than 20 Years—Here’s What I’ve Learned
What I Learned from Weird Lunchable Day
1. There's only one rule: you have to clean up your messes. If you want to make a smoothie with the frozen fruit, go for it, but you'll be cleaning the blender when you're done. Want to empty the box of Gogurt? Great! Throw the box in the trash. My kids don't mind following this rule because they chose to make the mess, so they know they can clean it.
2. My kids are kind. If there's one pudding cup and one apple sauce left, the kid who likes both will let his sister have the pudding cup, since she doesn't like apple sauce. The sister who knows how to make scrambled eggs will cook some for the younger siblings, and the kids who can reach the foods higher up on the shelves will help the smaller kids.
3. They like more foods than they let on. When they get to choose what they eat, and they know mom isn't cooking for them, they will try new things—and find out quickly that the thing they swore they didn't like before isn't all that bad.
4. I learned better shopping habits. Weird Lunchable Day taught me that I buy too much of some things, too little of other things and there are some things I don't ever need to buy again because no one eats them.
5. I learned to relax. I grew up in a household where we had a protein, a starch, a vegetable, and a carb with every dinner. My husband didn't grow up like that and he thinks I overcook and that I'm a little too uptight about healthy meals. While I won't completely agree with that, I have learned that a day (or two) of letting your kids eat whatever they want won't kill them, and it gives you some time to relax.
Weird Lunchable Day is now one of the days my kids look forward to the most, and the beauty is that you can tailor it to suit your needs. In the summer, we usually do one day like this every other week. During the school year, it's once a month. The rules are up to you!
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