Schoolfamily.com - Helping parents help their kids succeed at school

Before school started, how many of us had resolutions to make school lunches work better for our kids this year? We certainly had/have great intentions this year, but -- wouldn't you know it? -- school's only a week old, and already reality has snuck in. Five days. Three kids. Fifteen peanut-butter-and-jellies. (Full disclosure -- I think there may even have been a peanut-butter-fluff thrown in there. Ouch.)

For those still fighting the good fight, this article from the San Francisco Chronicle is one of the best we've seen this year. Solid content. Variety. And multiple good recipes and options for healthy school lunches.

Several of the commenters on that article cite the same concern I have -- how do you balance no time and morning/night craziness with these kind of healthy options? Fact is that the biggest reason for our P, B & J binge is the convenience of it. Bus is coming, trying to get the kids dressed and fed in the morning -- just no time for mixing up a salad and mixed berries and a wrap sandwich. Never mind the time to shop for all those ingredients well ahead of time.

So my big question: how do you balance the time crunch with healthy lunches? I, for one, still need to know.