The Poor Mom Revolution

    One of my least favorite things to do is make lunches for the following day. Recently, I’ve joined a few different mom Facebook pages that are local and/or allergy focused. So many of the posts are about finding quick and easy meal ideas that their kids will eat. Everyone is struggling, running out of ideas and wanting to change it up. I know I don’t have all the answers, but our house is the master of quick and easy. We are constantly running from school to sports, homework and appointments with barely enough time to prepare dinner before 8pm let alone lunch for the following day. 

     I’m not sure why I began hating it, but always found it a necessary evil. Since we follow a specific diet, which excludes dairy, egg, and most meats, my kids and I aren’t able to purchase from school or get anything spur of the moment. I knew since they started daycare/preschool that I would have many more years of lunches in my future. I have always found making lunches to be daunting and a bit annoying, but we’ve come up with a few fun, easy, and cheap ideas that will hopefully help you in a pinch. 

Build your own taco/ Taco salad 

My kids absolute favorite lunch and dinner! We have tacos at night and turn it into a salad for lunch. With our allergies we change it up a bit. We have tofu with taco seasoning, black beans, rice, dairy-free cheese and salsa. My son adds jalapenos and hot sauce and my daughter enjoys it plain with a little taco sauce on top. Easy, simple and can look like a build your own lunchable but healthier.

Dairy-Free Quesadillas 

I know what you’re probably thinking, but beans are a staple in our house. Not only are they cheap, easy and have a decent shelf life, they are high in protein, fiber amongst other things. I grab two tortillas, black beans, Dairy-Free cheese, jalapenos (upon request) and a little olive oil spritz for proper browning. I either flip in on the stove or into the waffle maker. Kids love to dip salsa on top, packs beautifully in a lunch box and it’s so fun to pull them a part.

Spaghetti and Vegan Meatballs

We cannot go a week without a carb loaded night. The kids love spaghetti and meatballs and after a long day of soccer training, it’s cheap and easy to bulk make for lunch the next day. The kids go between spaghetti, penne and bowtie noodles. We’ve also tried and enjoy the chickpea pasta and vegetable ones, but those don’t last as well overnight as they taste better right away. We typically do pasta with red sauce, add some Italian dressing and mixed peppers for a cold pasta salad or add some tuna fish. Same simple meals, multiple ways. 

Nachos

As you can see, we are a family that loves Chipotle, Moe’s and Qudoba. Nachos are a staple when we don’t know what to make or we have 5 minutes to prepare. You need chips, salsa, olives, black/pinto beans, jalapenos or banana peppers for a kick, with salsa and cheese on top. Pop it in the microwave for about 2 minutes and comes out perfect every time. We also loooove them In the air fryer as well. Whenever we make this, I always think we could be indulging in something worse. Dinner for the win!

Vegan Sausage, Sauerkraut and Mustard

Our Opa is German and my husband constantly grew up with German style food and obviously we had to find a way to have those favorites for our lifestyle. The Vegan Brats and Sausage are delicious. The whole family enjoys them with warm sauerkraut, spicy mustard on ciabatta bread or a roll. Fun fact: Sauerkraut is just fermented cabbage and is filled with natural probiotics and tons of vitamins which can help with digestion. My husband swears by it and honestly you can enjoy it hot or cold. 

I have so many different meals ideas, but quick and easy tops the cake when we’re heading into soccer season and figuring out our back to school routine. I find that there is so much social media and info on the ‘right’ type of lunches. The above and beyond organic, custom crust less sandwiches, shaped fruit that looks like an edible arrangement that we always feel as though our cheap, easy, potentially processed meal comes second best. We are all incredible parents…surviving, enjoying and living each day to the best of our abilities… What’s better than that?