Major Frustration: I need new ideas for my kid's school lunches... please help!

[luckey-lasvegas]

Do you use the microwave pancakes in the Thermos? Are they soggy by lunch time? My DS loves those mini pancakes, but won't eat them soggy.



Also, does anyone have any tricks on how to keep apple slices from turning brown without using lemon juice? My DS who is the pickiest eater on the face of the earth does not like the taste of the lemon juice - ugh!

Soak them in lemon lime soda like sprite, the citric acid keeps them from turning brown.

 

[Amyality]

Please keep the ideas coming. My DD is dairy allergic, and I found out the school is completely peanut free. I need all the help I can get.

Silk (by far the best soy drink, it is totally organic and the plant is wind powered) makes wonderful drink box sized drinks in strawberry, vanilla and chocolate. Unfortunately, I have yet to find plain which is the only one my little one likes. Thankfully, I don't need to pack his lunches yet. As for big brother, he is in 2nd grade and this is what I pack:

1 Horizon chocolate milk (at Wole foods they are occasionally on sale and we buy like 3 cases when they are)
1 Horizon String Cheese or Stonyfield yogurt tube
1 Assorted flavor of organic fruit leather or a clemintine or small apple
1/2 sandwich on wheat bread either ham with ketchup or (gross, I know) or pbj or a wheat wrap with taco type stuff in it.
1 dove dark chocolate miniature.
1 napkin with a special message from mom
1 miniature bottle of hand sanitizer

He buys lunch when they serve tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich and sometimes on upsidedown day (they serve breakfast for lunch).

This is a great thread, love the cookie cutter idea for sandwiches.

 

[kdtwiss]

oh how I wish my son's school were not peanut free! He is super picky and one of his only sources of protein is peanutbutter. It is awful!I do understand why it needs to be done - it just bums me out. With my ds - he is soooooo picky (older brother is autistic and he himself has severe self imposed food restrictions due to sensory issues) that I actually have to pay the $2 for lunch and all he eats is a yogurt, milk and crackers. Very depressing, but I can not seem to get the yogurt to be the right temp. for him at lunch time. Freezing it leaves it somewhat lumpy,just refigerate and it is not cold enough.....sigh....
Wait till the school sees how different his little sis is when she starts K this year! She will eat/try just about anything. At least I have one good eater! For anyone who has super picky kids like mine - those pediasure drinks are a lifesaver. I know it is not perfect - but it is better than nothing. He always has one in the am before school, and I think I will send a thermosful for snack this year too.

 

[Strings]

Thanks for the suggestion Amy, but Katie is soy allergic as well. We use rice dream rice milk. We have adjusted petty well, but lunches will be challenge.

 

[Amyality]

oh how I wish my son's school were not peanut free! He is super picky and one of his only sources of protein is peanutbutter. It is awful!I do understand why it needs to be done - it just bums me out. With my ds - he is soooooo picky (older brother is autistic and he himself has severe self imposed food restrictions due to sensory issues) that I actually have to pay the $2 for lunch and all he eats is a yogurt, milk and crackers. Very depressing, but I can not seem to get the yogurt to be the right temp. for him at lunch time. Freezing it leaves it somewhat lumpy,just refigerate and it is not cold enough.....sigh....
Wait till the school sees how different his little sis is when she starts K this year! She will eat/try just about anything. At least I have one good eater! For anyone who has super picky kids like mine - those pediasure drinks are a lifesaver. I know it is not perfect - but it is better than nothing. He always has one in the am before school, and I think I will send a thermosful for snack this year too.

You may want to try getting a lunch bag with a space for an ice pack in the bottom. My son has one of the rectangular ones (his happens to be spiderman) and it has a bottom that zips open. I place two ice packs in the bottom and when the bag comes home they are still partially frozen and any leftovers are still nice and cool. So glad your guy likes the pediasure drinks, as you said they are not perfect but, they are certainly better than nothing! You son will grow nice and strong with an the pediasure as an insurance policy.

Strings - that is a bummer that your daughter is allergic to both. That certainly limits her diet significantly. Frown. Though being aware of foods all her life will make her a more thougtful eater which is a real gift, especially in the land of plenty where many folks just seem to shovel whatever in! My nephiew loves the Rice Dream, he went on it when he was sick one time and now he mainly drinks it (he is 5 now so, they are not so worried about needing fat anymore).

My younger son was milk protein intolerant as a baby but, luckily he seems to be growing out of it. He is almost 4 and seems to tolerate home made yougurt and Stonyfield yogurt pretty well. Thankfully, he is not attracted to dairy products (perfers sherbert ice cream and picks the cheese off pizza). Isn't amazing how many people do not understand there is a difference between lactose intolerance and milk protein intolerance?

 

[Zandy595]

Just picked up 2 wide mouth but short Thermos brand thermos' for $14.99 each. Can't say it's a great deal , but they had them at Target, and they were small enough to fit into the lunch bag.

I found, probably the same, thermos at Walmart for $14.99. Then when I went to Target they had the same exact thermos, but with a Star Wars design on it for $9.99. It was with the school supplies. DS9 is in 4th grade and they don't "do" characters anymore, but I talked him into it anyway.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

I remember a recipie that I saw in Family fun for pizza poppers. You take a refrigerator biscuit , flatten it , spread a liitle sauce and place a piece of sting cheese in the center. Then you fold the sides up to form a ball and bake. I never tried it because DD doesn't care for pizza very much but it would be a fun Sunday activity to bake them for a Monday lunch.

Also DD like to take an apple sliced, with peanut butter for dipping , I also include a few mini mashmallows and semi sweet chocolate chips to sprinkle on top. She thinks she getting a real treat that way.

 

[grlpwrd]

oh how I wish my son's school were not peanut free! He is super picky and one of his only sources of protein is peanutbutter. It is awful!I do understand why it needs to be done - it just bums me out. With my ds - he is soooooo picky (older brother is autistic and he himself has severe self imposed food restrictions due to sensory issues) that I actually have to pay the $2 for lunch and all he eats is a yogurt, milk and crackers. Very depressing, but I can not seem to get the yogurt to be the right temp. for him at lunch time. Freezing it leaves it somewhat lumpy,just refigerate and it is not cold enough.....sigh....
Wait till the school sees how different his little sis is when she starts K this year! She will eat/try just about anything. At least I have one good eater! For anyone who has super picky kids like mine - those pediasure drinks are a lifesaver. I know it is not perfect - but it is better than nothing. He always has one in the am before school, and I think I will send a thermosful for snack this year too.

I don't know if you know it or if you'd consider it, but places like Trader Joe's sell other nut butters, like almond butter. That might be an option, but then again it may be an acquired taste.

BTW powellrj, thanks for posting that link. I bought a new computer and didn't transfer all my bookmarked sites like that one. Thanks for posting it as I found my way back to it .

 

[btass]

I just got an email from Nick Jr.com with brown bag lunch ideas - the link is below:

http://www.nickjr.com/food/meal_finder/lunch/brown_bag_lunch_ideas.jhtml?_requestid=16572

I am not that great at adding links so I hope it works

 

[ceecee]

Sorry but that info is not accurate. The food guidelines state that foods that are in the temperature zones of between 41o and 140o for more than 4 hours are dangerous. And that does not mean it starts getting dangerous at the 4 hour mark. The longer the food is either too hot or too cold the bacteria multiplies by the thousands and hundreds of thousands.If something is supposed to be hot then it needs to remain over 140o. If it is supposed to be cold it needs to be under 40o. Someone might get by for years eating lukewarm food but there is always the chance you can get sick. I am not trying to pick but as a lunchroom manager this is always a BIG concern of mine. I do not send any hot food with my dd and cold food gets 2 or 3 of the freezer "blue ice" things. Next year she will be at my school so if she wants something hot I will be able to help her heat it in the microwave.

At my previous employers....Once a week, we would order supreme pizzas at work (boss paid) and we would have half left over. We left it in the staff lounge on the table (not refrig) and my boss would have it for lunch the following day (24 hr later). He said during Med School everyone did it and no one got sick! Ugh...room temperature pizza though?

 

[Zandy595]

At my previous employers....Once a week, we would order supreme pizzas at work (boss paid) and we would have half left over. We left it in the staff lounge on the table (not refrig) and my boss would have it for lunch the following day (24 hr later). He said during Med School everyone did it and no one got sick! Ugh...room temperature pizza though?

eewww!

 

[Zandy595]

My DS just decided he likes to dip his apple slices and strawberries in vanilla yogurt. We got the idea from McDonald's fruit salad.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

My DS just decided he likes to dip his apple slices and strawberries in vanilla yogurt. We got the idea from McDonald's fruit salad.

My DD likes that too and also dips her bannanas.

 

[mum4jenn]

At my previous employers....Once a week, we would order supreme pizzas at work (boss paid) and we would have half left over. We left it in the staff lounge on the table (not refrig) and my boss would have it for lunch the following day (24 hr later). He said during Med School everyone did it and no one got sick! Ugh...room temperature pizza though?

That is so disgusting!!!! I would imagine that probably at one time or another someone had a stomache ache or ....ummmmm bathroom problems but they just never figured it was because of the pizza. Most of the time floks think they have the flu when it is really having something to do with bad storage of food. I know growing up when I was old enough to work and I would get home late my Mom would save a plate from dinner and it sat on top of the stove(not heated) and I ate it and I don't think I ever got sick from it but then again I just might have had a "bug" of some kind but never thought about it being from the food! I DO NOT do it anymore though since I learned all of the things that can happen and how extremely fast those bacteria grow!!

 

[lamb1022]

My children love anything left over from dinner, so I warm it in the morning and put in a thermos. Some Examples:

aw: Red or Black beans and rice
aw: leftover Spaghetti
aw: home made soup or stew

How about homemade tuna, chicken, or ham salad, with no bread but crackers for dipping?

Good Luck to you. I know it is incredibly frustrating to have done the grocery shopping and then have the kids change their minds on the fly...

 

[PinkCinderella]

well i am 13 and in 8th grade. i usually pack my own stuff, when we have anything. i took ham sandwiches and chips and now im really sick of it. sometimes in previous years i would take some pasta that i cooked the night before and put it in a thermous the next day after i heated it up. the pasta is like rice and roni brand or something like that. its the kind that has flavors like chicken, beef, garlic and butter, parmesean, and all that. i love them!! i take leftover sometimes too if it something good, like lasanga. i also make soup but i HATE chicken noodle soup!!

 

[jillybeanjo]

Whenever I make steak, chicken, pork chops, roast beef, pork tenderloin, etc. for dinner, I make extra and send leftovers in DD's lunch. Sometimes I send the meat cold and cut into strips along with other items, like carrots and fresh fruit or yogurt; sometimes I make a salad (eg., steak, romaine, mandarin oranges, chow mein noodles, dressing); sometimes I make a regular sandwich or a wrap. Taco salad and chef salad are other favorites of my DD.

 

[musicdude]

I love this thread, our daughter is 4 and in all day preschool 3 days a week. Her class is peanut free which really puts a kink in my lunch planning. Can't wait to try the mini pancakes and apple sauce. Here are some ideas I use.
we love our sandwich cutter from pampered chef. I picked mine up on ebay for around $3 and it has paid for itself many times over from not having to buy uncrustables anymore. I use it on bologna and cheese sandwiches also, you just don't get a perfect seal.
The sprite works great on apples, I couldn't believe it the first time I tried it, so I left one slice out at room temp overnight and it was still perfect in the morning (kind of Scary, but true).
I also buy mini bagels at Costco in a huge bag. I cut out small circles in ham or turkey with a round cookie cutter, add a little low fat cream cheese and you have a healthy perfect sized sandwich.
My son 8 loves corndogs, even cold, so I just send one in a ziploc bag with some packs of ketchup left over from fast food places. It's his favorite special lunch that he get's occasionally.
I am a big fan of those blue freezer packs. With kids being so picky and only having so little time for lunch I like for their lunch to be cold so it tastes better and if I'm lucky they may accually eat it.

 

[momoftwins]

Ok, told you my DS was picky, picky, picky. When you send sliced bananas, how do you keep them from turning that blackish color?

Thanks and have a great day!

 

[mum4jenn]

If anyone gets the Kraft Food and Family magazine they have several lunch box ideas. I have not been to their site to see if the same info is on there or not.