How to Make Lunches In Bulk

Making sack lunches in bulk ahead of time for yourself and the rest of your family or preparing a large lunch for many people can seem like a daunting task. Nonetheless, making a large meal in advance or preparing lunch for an entire week can save you a lot of time during the middle of the week when things might get hectic. Making bulk lunches is easier and goes a lot faster when others in your family help out and contribute to the preparation. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Instructions

Preparing Multiple Individual Lunches

1

Clear your kitchen counter and set out a lunchbox or a brown paper lunch bag for each person. Label the bags with everyone's name or initials and line the bags up in a row. If you're making multiple lunches just for yourself, label each bag with the day of the week you plan to eat that particular lunch. Set out everything else you might need to make the lunches, such as bread, cheese, drink boxes and plastic sandwich bags.

2

Gather your family and have a lunch-packing party. Assign each person a different task to make the bag lunches in timely manner. For example, start an assembly line and have one child place a drink box in each lunch bag and another child place a piece of fruit or a yogurt in the bag while you assemble all of the sandwiches.

3

Place all of the prepared lunches in the refrigerator so that they are easy to find each morning. This will help save time as you and your family are busy getting ready for school and work.

Preparing One Large Meal

4

Find out how many people will be eating the lunch you are going to make. Consult your recipe or the food package to see how many servings it makes and plan accordingly. For example, if you know that one box of macaroni and cheese serves four people and you will be making lunch for 12 people, plan on making three boxes. If you don't know how many people your recipe serves, estimate how much each completed dish you are making will weigh and plan that each adult will eat approximately 1 total pound of food.

5

Buy all the ingredients you will need to make the lunch in bulk. Make sure you have enough plates and cutlery for each person to use and that you have adequate seating. Take stock of your cooking gear and confirm that you have enough to make the entire bulk lunch. Consider using disposable plates, cups and cutlery if you are serving an especially large amount of people.

6

Make the bulk lunch with assistance from a spouse, relative or friend, if possible. Prepare the main dish while the other person makes a side dish or prepares a dessert. Have the person help you serve the guests and also help clean up after the lunch, if he is willing. Save whatever food you have left after the lunch and divide it up into small containers to eat for lunch and dinner in the days following.