Good Eats

Once a Month Lunches {20 minutes: 35 sandwiches}

Design + Build

Crafty Projects

Business + Life

Holidays

The Weekender Series

As Seen on TV

Room Makeovers

All DIY Projects

Search...

blog Categories

hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

learn more about ME + MY BIZ

So, this isn’t a DIY or design post, BUT it will save you so much time that you can work on projects to your heart’s content!

lunches intro

Pin It
Confession Time: I don’t make the lunches in our house… my beyond awesome husband does.  Yup ladies, sorry he’s taken! Anyhow… being the thoughtful wife that I am, I wanted to find a way to make it easier on the hubs so I suggested we try making a whole weeks’ worth and freeze them.  Eric was skeptical, but it worked like a charm… i.e. the kids didn’t notice! Since I’m a wild woman, I suggested we get a little crazy and the next week we made an entire months’ worth! It’s a small change that has rocked our making-lunches-with-four-kids world! Lunches are now as simple as grabbing a sandwich and snacks- easy peasy (or so it seems when the hubs is doing it!)
The Once a Month Lunch Secret!
Make a Costco run and buy lots of supplies.  (It really doesn’t take two peanut butters or anything, but you never know when Michelle Duggar is reading our blog! Hi Michelle!)

ingredients collage

 Lay out all your bread.  We divide it up because we have one fluff lover in the house.

DSC_0015

Okay ladies, do your husbands do any simple tasks so weirdly?  Now, Eric is a dreamboat for making lunches, but he holds the knife and slaps the peanut butter on in such a strange, caveman-like way!
Oh well, I guess I can live with caveman PBJs.

DSC_0019

Here’s the most important step… you have to peanut butter both sides! The one time I did the lunches, I of course didn’t see the importance of this step, so I skipped it and we had soggy sandwiches.  Mommy fail!

DSC_0027

 The hubs tells me that squeeze jelly makes the process even faster!

DSC_0040

You might notice some of the sandwiches only have peanut butter in the middle… well, here’s why!

crust

This tool from The Pampered Chef is so inexpensive and awesome! It turns our normal sandwiches into homemade uncrustables! I pick my battles and I guess I’m still not convinced the edges are any more healthy! If you want to order one, contact our Pampered Chef blog sponsor Jen.
Ta-da! Awesome, complain-free sandwich!

punch sandwich

 We are left with a lot of crusts, and there are some times that we use them in meatloaf, and I’ve debated trying them as a french toast bake… although, my logical husband reminds me that it’s only about $1.89 worth of waste, so sometimes they just become duck bread!

DSC_0054

DSC_0052

Another important detail… Get really good freezer bags.  It makes a difference and keeps them nice and fresh!

DSC_0034

Pack ’em in and you’re done! Yup, it’s that easy!

DSC_0036

We keep a few bags in the freezer and all the rest in our deep freezer in the basement.  Eric’s new favorite midnight snack is grabbing a frozen sandwich and eating it cold.  Weird if you ask me, but he loves it!

freezer shot

So there you have it.  Our little family secret revealed! Maybe everyone has been doing this all along, but it’s rocked our world and I strongly suggest you give it a try if you haven’t.  Who knows, maybe your hubs will think it looks so fun that he’ll take over!
PS- We can’t believe it, but we were nominated as one of  Apartment Therapy’s DIY blogs of the year.  However, we need some serious votes.  We’re kind of getting smoked by the big blogs! It definitely takes a minute or two to vote, but we’d sure appreciate it.  Go HERE to vote! Thanks so much!
Linking to: TipJunkie

The comments +

  1. whoa! You ladies just made my night….or maybe my month!

    Great idea,
    –Katie
    @ Creatively Living

  2. I can’t wait to see Jess’ kitchen and Monica’s stenciled wall!!!

  3. Dharma says:

    Can you believe my kid’s school is peanut free? Argh! Maybe I could do bologna? Jam only? cheese? Off to think on this…..

    Good luck on the votes 🙂

    • Sue says:

      Try Sunbutter. I have a child who is allergic to peanuts and use Sunbutter in my house. It really is pretty good, a little pricey though.

  4. Laurie says:

    pretty awesome! I don’t mind packing Nick’s lunch everyday, I actually enjoy coming up with new ideas lol but I could see how some moms would totally appreciate this and I think it’s a great idea!

  5. Sounds great in theory, however, for those of us with kids allergic to nuts this is virtually impossible! You are one lucky lady being able to give your kids the same food each day. I think I have spoiled my kids too much, because they never get the same lunch within a two week window, then I start the cycle all over again.

  6. Kara F. says:

    Great idea! Do you let them defrost in the fridge first or put them in their lunch bags to defrost throughout the day?

  7. Anonymous says:

    I do this as well but use frozen bread.. it makes spreading the peanut butter that much easier

  8. Awesome idea! I don’t have any kiddos yet but this is a perfect idea for my own lunches! do you put marshmallow cream on them? never tried that before!gonna have to try it! Thanks for making my life simpler!

  9. love this idea! thanks for sharing. and i love that pampered chef gadget! might have to get me one of those:).

Leave a Reply to brittany.kuhn Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Make a Kid's Mud Kitchen and Produce Stand

DIY PROJECT

Work From Home Corner Office Makeover

VIDEO MAKEOVER

Yard Game Ideas ASO Live! with Kelly + Ryan

DIY IDEAS ON TV

Today Show Nursery Makeover

MAKEOVER

Outdoor Living Space Makeover : Home Becomes

VIDEO MAKEOVER

Must Reads

Get updated on what we're working on

Follow along!