How To: Organize a School Lunch Drawer

Packing a school lunch for one, two, or many each day can create a tornado of chaos in the kitchen. A little organization can keep the job simple (and easy enough for most kids to do themselves). Here are some great tips to keep your school lunch sanity intact:

• Designate a drawer in the kitchen to contain all of the supplies needed for a school lunch, except for refrigerated items. Designate a drawer or section of the fridge to keep those. (The smaller "deli foods" drawer in most fridges is perfect.)
• Use shoe boxes to divide the drawer into sections, keeping like items together. Consider color coding each box for different categories (proteins, starches, sugars, etc.), so that kids know to choose one item from each colored box instead of filling their lunch bag with seventeen goldfish cracker bags.
• Individually packaged items can be pricey, so buy large packages of chips and snacks, then divide them into snack-sized bags. Individual portions are then packaged and ready to go.
• Include napkins, plastic utensils, different sized sealable bags, and toothpicks in your drawer.
• Take inventory on Fridays and re-stock over the weekend to ensure that there are no surprises Monday morning.

HINT: Looking for a great, reusable lunch bag? How about this one_it's insulated and arrives full of gourmet cookies, my preferred lunch! HINT: These are also great ideas for adults who brown bag it every day. Do you have any other ideas or methods that work when it comes to packing lunches? Share them in the comments section! (Image via pinterest.)