A Lunch Crisis

The Airplane Restaurant in Colorado Springs. Loved by kids, tolerated by adults. 

  Y'all, I need help. Normally I pride myself on making most meals at home, and I do...for dinner. However, since I've been sick and dealing with awful back pain lately, many of our dinners have been kind of thrown together at the last minute. That, however, is not the problem. The problem is what I have dubbed my Lunchtime Laziness. 

  I can't handle planning more than one meal every day (you mamas who plan every last meal your husband and kids to eat...hats off to you. I have no idea how you do it). I generally try to keep this in mind when I go to the store, and I try to pick up lunch-y type things my kids and I will enjoy; sandwich stuff, fruits, veggies, goldfish crackers, hummus, chicken nuggets for the kids, what have you. Normally I let the kids put in requests for lunch, because I generally have everything they like on hand, and since I'm a "eat it or starve" kind of mom when it comes to the dinners I plan, I don't want to make a big deal about lunch. All that being said...I'm slipping.

  It has become far, far too easy for me to just have the "screw it, there's a drive-thru" mentality when it comes to lunch. I HATE eating out. Really, truly hate it. Eating out with small children is, for the most part, unpleasant. It's hard to find healthy options on the menus, and holy cow does it add up after a while. Sometimes, at the end of a very long week, it's hard for me to say no when the kids beg for a Chik-Fil-A lunch, or offer up healthier suggestions when Tony sweetly asks me for a "pickle burger" from Culver's. I think a treat once in a while is fine, especially on Saturdays, when Will is home for the weekend and we can spend time together as a family. But after looking through our purchases last month from our checking account...wow. The occasional lunch out has gotten a little out of control.

  Suggestions? I'm open to them. Obviously what I'm doing isn't working, so I don't know if I need to *shudder* begin planning meals for lunches to keep myself on track, prepare a small "eating out" budget for us to use as we wish a few times every month, or just throw all my cards up in the air and hope for the best (note: this has not worked out well for me in the past). Help me out, ladies and gentlemen. It's getting a little ridiculous when you have most of the Chik-Fil-A menu memorized.