Please share your lunch staples in the comments below.

 Here’s what Table365 partners Kimberly and Sharon have to say:

From the outset, I will tell you that my main focus in terms of planning is dinner. I put my meal planning energy into making sure dinners are balanced and varied, while the lunch rotation has become much shorter. My girls don’t seem to mind, and the simplification makes me feel more relaxed. I use leftovers when I can, but I keep these other staples on hand.  I try to add veggies in the form of salads or leftover roasted veggies, which are super easy to prepare over the weekend.

• Grilled Cheese – We use whole grain wheat bread, or if we are splurging we use sourdough (yum!). I have a George Foreman grill I’ve had since college (!!) and it works great for grilled cheese.
• Tuna Salad served with crackers – One note about tuna: we eat it every other week to avoid any possible increased exposure to mercury, and we use Chunk Light Tuna packed in water. I don’t get fancy, just a few condiments and spices mixed in with the drained tuna: mayonnaise, yellow mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon pepper. My girls love pickles and capers, so I usually chop some up and throw them in, too.
• Soup – A favorite of mine since you can load it with veggies. I serve homemade when I have it, but a basic I always have in my pantry is Muir Glen Organic Low-Sodium Chicken Noodle Soup. (For little ones who can’t handle soup on their own, you can just serve them the soft veggies, noodles, and meat from the soup or puree whichever soup you want them to try.)
• Quesadillas – We use flour tortillas or corn, whichever is on hand. Sometimes I add mashed black beans to the cheese. You can try some white beans, like Cannellini, for a different flavor!
• Wraps – Whole wheat tortillas or wraps with cream cheese and thin turkey, or ham, deli slices rolled up and sliced crosswise. The pinwheel effect is fun for the kids, I think.
• Eggs – Not just for breakfast in our house. Sometimes an “omelet” or simple scrambled eggs are a quick and easy lunch option. If I feel a little fancier, I make a quick frittata (a lot easier to make than I had thought), chopping up stuff in the fridge to add to the eggs. A favorite in our house is cut up tortilla sautéed in a little oil, then cooked with chopped ham and eggs. Top with some shredded cheese and voilà. The tortilla adds a little crunch.
• The Indoor Picnic – This is what I call our lunches that are pieced together from stuff in the fridge. They can include:
  • cheese cubes
  • salami, ham, turkey (sliced or cubed)
  • edamame
  • roasted veggies
  • olives
  • bread or crackers
  • hummus

I make meal prep easier by making almost all dinner entrees large enough to feed our family for one dinner and one lunch.

I pack my husband’s lunch most days, and it is almost always with leftovers from dinner as the entrée and then an apple, almonds and raisins.  My kindergartener takes lunch two days per week (he’s in half-day) and a snack every day.

My standard lunch entrees for my kids include:

• Leftovers from the night before
• Sandwiches made with whole grain bread, pita, or tortillas (sunflower seed butter for nut allergies)
• Black bean burritos – healthy, easy, and quick, my boys love black bean and cheese burritos so we have them almost every week.
• Hummus with carrots, celery, cucumbers and pretzel sticks for dipping

I also do an assortment of snacks or “side dishes” with lunch – sometimes with an entrée and sometimes in place of an entrée:

• Sliced apples, grapes, oranges, melons
• Roasted veggies (served cold, room temp, or reheated)
• Hard boiled eggs
• Scrambled eggs