more eating, less dishes

so this friend i follow on instagram is always posting photos of muffin tin lunches and snacks for her four kids. now, i'm sure this is not a new concept. but i saw it and wanted to give it a whirl and see what i thought.

and now i've been doing it for a couple of weeks. it's genius. my kids used to get their own plate at lunch everyday (we do not use paper plates, paper towels, paper/plastic cups, or plastic cutlery) so i was doing dishes twice a day pretty much everday.

i also used to feed my kids three square meals a day, no snacks (except for B, because he's two and has a tiny stomach still).

now i do snack, lunch, snack. i usually feed them less than if it were on their plates. sometimes if the day gets away from us and we miss the first snack, i do a larger lunch. and now, i only do dishes once a day, at night after dinner. and i hand wash the tin whenever they finish up, takes a whole minute.

this could also be modified for one, two, or three kids. and i love that. now when greyson gets bigger, we will have to rethink this for sure.

also, to help my kids (and myself) consume more water, i add cucumber slices and mint leaves to their water. they drink more and it's more refreshing. sometimes i like to add sliced strawberries and a few blueberries. it's a great alternative to plain or lemon water.

*****

left: half wheat tortilla with pb, 1/4 granola bar, 1 square hershey bar. carrots, celery. apples with cinnamon.
right: pb + nutella. apples and pears with cinnamon. vanilla o's, blueberries.

left: pb. 1/4 apple, 1/4 banana. cheddar.
right: yogurt cup (i don't get these that often), 1/4 banana. carrots, ranch. 1/2 wheat tortilla with turkey, cheese, mayo.

left: vanilla yogurt, frozen blueberries and mango. 1/2 leftover meatloaf sandwich. carrots, ranch. pickle, mozzarella.
right: carrots, ranch. cheddar, apples and pears with cinnamon, blueberries, 1 square hershey bar. 1/2 ham sandwich.

left: wheat tortilla, turkey, cheese, mayo, 1 hershey bar square. cucumbers, carrots, ranch. apples with pb.
right: milk with cinnamon, 1/2 granola bar. vanilla o's, half strawberry.

left: apples, pears. carrots, celery, pb. pepperoni, mozzarella, crackers. christmas chocolate.
right: 1/4 granola bar, 1/2 strawberry,  1/4 wheat tortilla with pb, flax seed, banana. carrots, celery, ranch. apples and pears with cinnamon. milk with cinnamon.

left: 1/4 pear, 1/2 strawberry. cucumber. 1/2 wheat tortilla with turkey, cheese, mayo. pb, 1 square hershey bar.
right: ham sandwich, 1/2 graham cracker, mozzarella. carrots, ranch. apples and pears with cinnamon.

1/4 carrot, wheat tortilla with turkey, cheese, mayo. apple with cinnamon, popcorn (popped in the skillet). nutella.

 

they kids love it, too.