Need Lunch Packing Advice for Obstinate Son!!

[DisneyDmbNut]

Maybe buy him one of the soup thermos..my DD also likeswhn I make shaped sandwiches...can you make tuna or chicken with Ranch dressing instead of mayo...I don't like mayo and use ranch...makes it yummy

 

[Christine]

Maybe buy him one of the soup thermos..my DD also likeswhn I make shaped sandwiches...can you make tuna or chicken with Ranch dressing instead of mayo...I don't like mayo and use ranch...makes it yummy

Hmm...I'll have to experiment with that.

He also may very well be trying to be cool. One of his complaints is that, by lunchtime, he sandwich is mushy. This, despite the fact that I put the sandwich in a hard container and away from moisture. So, yesterday, my husband had him wrap his bread separately from the meat (it was homemade roasted chicken breast). He did eat the meat, but gave his bread away. That doesn't really bother me, just confuses me? What's up with that?

 

[CEDmom]

I have to say that my DD complains that some things she loves at home just don't taste good in her thermos although they're still hot. Periogies are one of them. If your DS likes pancakes I've been successful sending these in a thermos for my DD. I have to cut them up but they do stay hot. I make them from scratch and add things like wheat germ and oatmeal. Also, does he like soup? That would be an easy and fairly healthy thing for him to have. Honestly, my DD eats a lot less at school than she does at home because she's a chatterbox. I just make sure she has a healthy filling breakfast.

 

[tw1nsmom]

DD likes it when I make her homemade lunchables. I bought a square plastic container (it's really for sandwiches), and I fill it with whole wheat crackers, turkey pepperoni (I know, it's high sodium, but at least it's low fat), a couple of pieces of low fat cheddar or string cheese, and either grape tomatoes or grapes.

 

[debaudrn]

If he likes bagels then how about a bagel for lunch as well. My DS is 12 and that's what he does if he doesn't like the lunch at his school. I figure it is better than if he buys an order of fries!
Debbie

 

[skiwee1]

My DD, 6 y/o, is the same way when it comes to eating food in school. She eats sandwhiches at home but refuses to eat them at school. She says they taste terrible after sitting for so long. I can't say I blame her as I still will not eat a packed lunch. I think the stuff tastes nasty after sitting for even an hour. I pack DD a yogurt, cheese crackers, and a small treat every day in her lunch. She usually never eats the treat but does eat the yogurt and crackers. She comes home pretty hungry from school so she gets a good meal then. I don't worry about it. If she gets hungry enough in school then she will request more food.

 

[Christine]

If he likes bagels then how about a bagel for lunch as well. My DS is 12 and that's what he does if he doesn't like the lunch at his school. I figure it is better than if he buys an order of fries!
Debbie

Boy, I almost cringe at posting this because I'm painting him to be SUCH a prima donna, BUT, he likes his bagels almost BURNT. He doesn't like them soft and chewy. Weirdo, huh. So, sending an untoasted bagel would not work for him.

 

[minkydog]

Of course! Where do you think he gets it from!

I do think I'm balancing. I don't like giving him chips and a Ho-Ho everyday, but I do--I just want him to eat his sandwich and there must be one sandwich on God's green earth that he can like??? So, if he won't eat the sandwich or the thermos pasta, then I don't want to put the Ho-Ho in the lunch bag.

I have a DD12 who despises sandwiches. She is the only child on earth that never wanted a PBJ, I think. She also hates school lunches, so I put her in charge of it. Her favorite homemade lunch is Greek Salad(I kid you not!) She makes it herself. She sometimes takes ham & cheese and rolls them up together. She likes grapes & cheese cubes, with olives and wheat crackers. She's kind of a mediterranean girl It doesn't seem to bother her to eat the same thing all the time.

 

[mom2boys]

He *will* eat a Lunchable but I've heard those things are awful.

My kids also like lunchables but I can't buy them in good conscience. I do let them have "homemade" lunchables. Crackers, ham or pepperoni, cheese - all from home. Mine tend to make one giant stack of it all & eat it. Add some fruit and a juice (not flavored corn syrup) and it looks like a lunchable but isn't AS bad for them.

We too have one with peanut butter allergies. Both of mine are on a jelly sandwich kick. My oldest has to have a mandarin orange fruit cup daily.

I would definitely put him in charge of the lunch. Give him parameters to ensure that it is balanced. I believe in natural consquences. If he tosses it, he will be hungry. He'll eventually figure it out & if he's eating at home, he will be fine.

 

[georgina]

My 13 year old DS has taken the same lunch to school for a year and a half - grape jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread, packaged cheese/peanut butter crackers, an oreo, grapes, and lowfat chocolate milk. It is not ideal, but is what he will eat, so we go with it.

 

[disykat]

My 13 year old is the same. He has learned to eat lunchmeat sandwiches (though I do buy fresh from the deli instead of packaged) because otherwise he will go hungry. I gave up on sending fruits and vegies a few years ago - they don't get eaten at school. He'll eat them at home for a snack after school though. Every day he gets a sandwich roll (he likes that better than regular bread) with deli meat and a slice of cheese - no mayo or anything else on it- and a bag of pretzels or crackers.

It's easier now that he's in jr high and can order lunch sometimes (they weren't safe for peanut allergies at the elementary school). My son was the same about eating things at school - he'll eat things at home, but not the same things at school. Drove me nuts until he reached the point (at about 11 1/2 or 12) where he was just too hungry to gripe much.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

How about a bagel with cream cheese or butter? My DS is also picky and will eat bagels. He also likes a slice of pizza if we had it for dinner. I have also heated up chicken nuggets in the morning and sent them in his lunchbox. To me it is yucky to eat cold but he likes it and Ive seen other kids do this at lunch duty. I also try to make a fresh grilled cheese and bring it to him when I do lunch duty.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

I second the bagel & cream cheese, yogurt or gogurt, cheese & crackers. How about fruit salad? Granola bars. Or even toaster waffles..my kids always loved those and they don't seem to mind if they're not hot. Or a "quesadilla" type thing where you just microwave some cheese in a tortilla and wrap it up in tin foil. It won't be hot but it will be melted. I guess you have to try to think "outside the lunchbox" HAHA! Good luck!

 

[Calliaz]

If he wants warm food, you might buy something like this:
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/index.cfm?skunum=26402

Here are some ideas I thought of while reading through this thread:
*Whole grain pretzel sticks and hummus or bean dip
*Grilled cheese sandwich wrapped in foil to keep warm
*Tostadas (give him the tostadas with hot beans and cheese in the thermos)
*Make your own pizza (give him a boboli-style crust and cheese with hot sauce in the thermos)
*Chili in the thermos
*Teriyaki chicken (give him the noodles and chicken cold with hot sauce and veggies in the thermos to warm everything)
*Pasta salad with whole wheat pasta and veggies (cold)
*Nachos (chips, chicken, beans, salsa cold with hot cheese sauce)
*Spaghetti (pasta cold with hot sauce but no meat--that's what usually tastes bad in the thermos to me)

 

[mum4jenn]

One of the lunches they sell at the Middle School here consists of a Yogurt...mini carrots w/ ranch dip....piece of fruit...and sun chips. This is a nutritionally balanced meal (Sunchips count as a bread) The manager at that school says it is VERY popular with mainly the male students and even the teachers will eat it.

 

[2BigKIdz]

I'm an adult and I can sympathize with your son. I don't eat lunchmeat either, it's "wet" and I just can't stand to touch it I will eat Boar's Head brand deli turkey though and turkey from a few Sub places (Subway and Zero's). How about a BLT sandwich, or bacon and cheese sandwich? Does he have access to a microwave at school? He could pack some soup. I also don't like leftovers too much, or stuff kept in a thermos, and am picky about what brand of sandwich bags- some of them make the food taste funny.

 

[rascalmom]

My dd has a strange lunch that she likes - might try something like it for your ds.

She takes leftover chicken breast (I always cook a little extra for this purpose), cuts into strips, about a 1/3 of a piece of string cheese & a little ranch dressing & wraps it into a lettuce leaf. She'll make a couple of these & stick them in a ziplock bag. Some yogurt & some grapes or a banana - that's her lunch. She does do deli turkey or ham if we don't have chicken breast.

 

[Christine]

Does he have access to a microwave at school? He could pack some soup.

Well, the only kids that get to use the microwave are the kids whose parents work at the school. Their parents fix their lunches in the office, heat them up, and then bring them out. All while the other kids look on. I'm not crazy about that, but hey, what am I going to do? He's mentioned that a few kids get to eat Lean Cuisine's or heated leftovers because their parents work at the school.

 

[aprilgail2]

. She likes the go-gurt stuff too (don't know how she eats that crap) but at least she getting a little calcium.

Pick your battles.

I can't stand eating that stuff either but my daughter is VERY picky and doesn't eat much at least I know if I send in 2 gogurts for lunch she will eat them as her meal. Otherwise the only thing she will eat is peanut butter...and she does not like bread so basically I send her the squeeze tube of peanut butter and a spoon and she eats that. I really don"t care anymore what she eats for school lunch....she has fruit and a waffle for breakfast and then I make sure I get her to eat some kind of meat and another fruit for dinner ( she doesn't eat any type veggie) and she is good to go.

 

[Sparx]

You'd think if he was hungry enough, he'd eat whatever he had! Could it be that he's just not hungry at lunchtime, but then gets hungry later and is starving by the time he gets home?

This is what I was gonna say. I've got first lunch period at my school, and thats at like 10:15 am. I dont' eat anything more than a cup of hotchocolate in the mornings, so I'm hungry by then. I eat "breakfast" at 10:15, and 'lunch' when I get home from school at about 3:30.

When is his lunch? You might want to try what I did?