Is anyone but me NOT ready for school to be out?  My youngest brother texted me last Friday, full of glee, that “school is out for summer!”  Yikes.  I can see my routine crumbling…

Right now, I fill the boys full of breakfast, pack their lunches, send them off to school, and get on with my day.   That’s about to end.  They’re going to stay up late, sleep in, and have their own plans.  If I’m going to get anything done, the menu plan needs to be full of easy choices that the boys can make themselves so I’m not constantly in the kitchen.

Breakfast is easy – pancakes and waffles from the weekend store nicely, and breakfast casserole reheats very well – not much intervention from me at all (I love the leftover feature!), I’ll just make extra of everything over the weekend.

Lunch is more problematic because it tends to be more of a grazing experience.  To avoid queries about what they should eat, I’ll populate (and prominently post) the menu with choices like peanut butter and pretzels, turkey, cheese, and crackers (they don’t really like sandwiches), and fruit and veggies – which are kept in bowls in the fridge.   These things also pack quickly and easily for a day at the pool.

We make it a point to have  dinner together, but I’m already thinking about light and easy things like pasta salads, chicken caesar salad, or even some cheese steak sandwiches that are warmed on the grill instead of in the oven.

Guess I’m more ready than I thought…