packing school lunches?

[NHWX]

Our high school lunches are $2.50 each plus with all the not weather that we've been having my freshman really needs a second drink - that's $3.50/day. And realistically, the meals sound awful. Certainly the nutrition numbers are nothing to write home about. But, they have so much to carry, there's realistically no room in that backpack for lunch. My son seems to hate his locker so... I don't know about stashing stuff there.

I wish he'd pack a lunch; it would definitely be cheaper. Remember to check for coupons and buy juice boxes etc. when they good on sale. If you buy a selection, your kiddos won't get bored.

NHWX

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

My 9th grader buys lunch every day so that's $10 a week. His lunch period is very short and he says he doesn't have enough time to get to his locker and get the lunch and then get to the cafeteria to eat, plus he likes the school food. I still pack for my 2nd and 4th graders, though. I'm not sure how much it really costs, but they each get a sandwich on whole wheat bread, usually pbj for DD and light bologna for DS, a juice box, a fat free pudding or jello cup, a cheese stick, a fruit or veggie, usually carrots or grapes, and then some type of dry food like pretzels or goldfish or something like that to be eaten during their snack time.

 

[goinback]

This year I got all of my children FUNtainer drink and food thermoses. They are the stainless steel kind with pop up drink lids and they have characters on them. I CANNOT PRAISE THEM ENOUGH!!! They were a little pricey($14) , but they are so amazing. The drink thermos keeps the drinks super cold. The food thermos is awesome too. In the morning, I fill a glass measuring cup full of water, put it in the microwave for 2-3 mins until it boils, and I pour the boiling water in the food thermos and put on the lid. I then heat up the food (usually dinner leftovers). I pour the water out and put the food in , and it stays hot till lunchtime! They really are superior to any other thermos we have ever used. It makes it easy to send healthy, hot lunches for my babies! You can find them at Thermos.com or Amazon.com. Just search for FUNtainer.

 

[Alice's Mom]

This year I got all of my children FUNtainer drink and food thermoses. They are the stainless steel kind with pop up drink lids and they have characters on them. I CANNOT PRAISE THEM ENOUGH!!! They were a little pricey($14) , but they are so amazing. The drink thermos keeps the drinks super cold. The food thermos is awesome too. In the morning, I fill a glass measuring cup full of water, put it in the microwave for 2-3 mins until it boils, and I pour the boiling water in the food thermos and put on the lid. I then heat up the food (usually dinner leftovers). I pour the water out and put the food in , and it stays hot till lunchtime! They really are superior to any other thermos we have ever used. It makes it easy to send healthy, hot lunches for my babies! You can find them at Thermos.com or Amazon.com. Just search for FUNtainer.

The FUNtainers by Thermos are fantastic. I picked up the food funtainer at Target last year, and it really does keep food hot...I will usually put in leftovers from the night before if she particularly enjoyed that dinner.

My daughter would rather bring lunch most days, but will ask to buy if its pizza day.

 

[lisajl]

Walmart has their lunchboxes on clearance...if you shop at Walmart.

Our Target is pretty far away so I don't get there often.

 

[mjantz]

Just wanted to add a bit more:

-I've started doing a semi-bento thing with the kids lunches. I use a sandwich container with a lid & some sillicone cupcake liners. I can put 1/2 a sandwich, some dried cranberries & some cheese crackers (both in liners) & with a cheese stick, fruit snacks & a juice box, have a good lunch. The liners can be a bit expensive but Michaels, JoAnn fabrics & other stores have coupons for up to 40% off which can make them much more reasonable. They come in a variety of colors & shapes as well.
-Definately check out Bento lunches (there are lots of blogs & websites). They have lots of tips on packing & really making the lunches healthy & creative.
-Shop 'outside the box'. Is there an Asian market in your area? They have great snacks like Pocky, Koala cookies & milk candy. Our local Kroger will sometimes put these mini pitas on sale. I buy a bag or two & put them in the freezer. They're great for little pizzas or PB&J pitas. Fun napkins or stickers can make an ordinary lunch more special.
-If you have a Dollar Tree close by, check them out. They recently had some Hello Kitty lunch containers that are great for lunches. One is divided, one is divided with a fork in the lid & the 3rd is 2 tiered. They are good quality & just $1. My DD loves her & would use them every day for lunch if she could.

 

[mrs.beast]

i have to just say i am shocked at how inexpensive the lunches are that you are paying. i pay $5.50 a day for the school lunch with milk. the food is organic, but the price goes up as he gets older(he is in 1st), and so do the portions. I did not know we were paying so much. i teach at a public school and our lunches are $5.00 also, but have bigger portions, so i thought it was fair to pay the same for organic and smaller portions.
my son gets school lunch 3 days a week and i make him a lunch in the laptop lunchbox 2 days a week. i buy all organic foods for the lunch and spend about 20 every 2 weeks for lunch supplies.

 

[rach2674]

My daughter loves Uncrustables, but they're so expensive. My mom found a cool "tool" from Pampered Chef. It's a sandwich cutter that basically makes an uncrustable. It's great and I send a sandwich everyday now. I hate sending the same thing every day, but that's always what she wants. And I do have a hard time sending other healthy things, because she's so picky. I at least don't send potato chips or other greasy things.

I was the opposite as a kid. I never wanted to take lunch. Probably why I still would rather go out to eat, than cook! LOL

Rachel

 

[IDoDis]

I hate packing lunches but my kids won't eat the school lunches except for on pizza day. The lunches are $1.40 per day for DS and $1.65 for DD. I usually pack a sandwhich (PB&J for DS and Turkey on toasted bread for DD), a snack sized baggie of grapes, either some carrot sticks with Ranch dressing (I put the dressing in the tiny round condiment Tupperware holders) or a dill pickle, a bag of chips for DD (not DS), and a Juicy Juice or Hi-C juice box. Once in a while I'll pack a dessert.

Sometimes they get bored with the same stuff so I alternate the fruits and drinks. I get everything ready the night before except for the sandwiches which I make in the morning. I'm soooo happy on Thursday night because I don't have to pack a lunch for Friday since that is pizza day.

I'm sure I spend more packing lunches than having them buy them at school.

 

[kimmtd]

My daughter loves Uncrustables, but they're so expensive. My mom found a cool "tool" from Pampered Chef. It's a sandwich cutter that basically makes an uncrustable. It's great and I send a sandwich everyday now. I hate sending the same thing every day, but that's always what she wants. And I do have a hard time sending other healthy things, because she's so picky. I at least don't send potato chips or other greasy things.
Rachel

Mine love the Uncrustables too, and I get them, but they only get one a week, usually the morning we are running late Other days for sandwiches, I use my large Wilton cookie cutters, the ones with the soft grip handles. They are just right on a slice of bread, and have different shapes. Our faves are the heart and a square one with wavy sides (we call it our "uncrustable).

We use a mix of pre-packed and me-packed stuff. That way, they can help me pack their lunches and pick their choices/flavors. I can usually do well at BJs and sales and at $2.10 for a school lunch, I'd rather buy & pack. DD comes starving the days she buys!

 

[tiff211]

Thanks all! Tomorrow they start bringing their lunch and I will use whatever we have in our pantry/frig. I bought some insulated containers from Walmart, that were only $2.88. If they don't work well, I will invest in the FUNtainers. They eat lunch really early, around 11 so hopefully the food will still be warm.

 

[AMaloy314]

Our school lunches are $2.00, but I know from looking at the menu that my kids are only eating about 1/2 of what they buy. For example, on Pizza day, they will throw away everything except the pizza and snack. So I don't normally let them buy lunch.

Here are some of the things my kids love:

1 Make-your-own lunchables (pepperoni or other lunch meat,Ritz crackers, sliced cheese)

2. Microwaved Kraft Mac-n-cheese- Market Day makes a fantastic frozen version that I can get a little hotter than the regular stuff to put in a warmed Thermos.

3. Sliced apples- found in the veggie section at Wal-mart. (I tried everything to keep my home made slices from turning brown and it never worked. These are great!)

4. Toaster waffles cut into dipping size and sent in Thermos along with container of syrup

5 Mini bagel with Laughing Cow Lite cheese

6 Dried cereal in a bag with a Thermos of milk

7 Not as healthy, but still easy- Pizza Rolls in a Thermos

8. Left overs work pretty well, with pasta and casseroles doing the best.

9 I've not tried this, but the singles Hamburger Helpers look intriguing.

10. The kids also like the dried fruit like banana and apple chips, craisins, etc. The way my boys bang their lunches around in their backpacks, the fresh fruit has a tendency to get bruised.



A trick that I learned on one of these threads a year or two ago; recycle and reuse the milk containers from fast food places. Wash them well, and you can put drinks in, freeze them, and they double as a cold pack. In our case, we use water or juices, but only freeze them at 1/3 full. Kids were complaining they weren't thawed enough to drink all of it when I sent it fully frozen in the mornings. (I like the McDonald ones the best.) It's cheaper than juice boxes and much less messy for the little ones who have to battle the straw in the box.

 

[Gymbomom]

I sold my children on packing their lunch instead of buying by adding to their Disney savings money what I save on paying for their lunch.
Another way they can add $$ to their funds.

 

[medalla74]

Wow!!! My DD8 school lunch form for November is due tomorrow and thanks to this thread, I will not be ordering lunch for November. Luckily, my daughter doesnt care either way but is a picky eater so, it was always easier for me to just "buy" her lunch but, thanks to you dis folks , I have some lunch "ideas" to keep her happy for a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the way, her lunch costs $2.50 a day plus I have to send a snack everyday as well. My only question is how do you keep juice boxes cold in a a lunch bag?

 

[rach2674]

3. Sliced apples- found in the veggie section at Wal-mart. (I tried everything to keep my home made slices from turning brown and it never worked. These are great!)

I found something at our grocery store just to keep that from happening. I tried it and my daughter said they weren't brown. Of course she said they were a little slimey, but that could be because maybe I put too much on them, since I wasn't sure how much would do the trick.

I of course love using lemon juice to keep them from browning, but she doesn't like it.

Rachel

 

[tiff211]

Wow!!! My DD8 school lunch form for November is due tomorrow and thanks to this thread, I will not be ordering lunch for November. Luckily, my daughter doesnt care either way but is a picky eater so, it was always easier for me to just "buy" her lunch but, thanks to you dis folks , I have some lunch "ideas" to keep her happy for a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the way, her lunch costs $2.50 a day plus I have to send a snack everyday as well. My only question is how do you keep juice boxes cold in a a lunch bag?

Good question, I don't think they will be thawed if frozen by lunchtime. They should be at least a chill still to them if really cold and in an insulated lunch bag.

 

[Princess Tink]

I found something at our grocery store just to keep that from happening. I tried it and my daughter said they weren't brown. Of course she said they were a little slimey, but that could be because maybe I put too much on them, since I wasn't sure how much would do the trick.

I of course love using lemon juice to keep them from browning, but she doesn't like it.

Rachel

Try using Pinapple Juice. I use to work for a produce company years ago and this is what we used on the pre-cut fruit items to keep them from browning without effecting the flavor. I think Lemon juice works better esp for bananas, but pinapple juice ussually works just fine for apples.....my picky DS9 doesn't complain one bit.

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

digital camera=$240, 4 new polos=$36, xmas cards=$20, stamps=$15, getting all 4 girls to look and smile at the camera........PRICELESS!!

Priceless! Got that right!! I remember when we used to go thru 5 rolls of film for a decent Christmas picture. And we only have 2 kids! Gotta love digital cameras! BTW, the photo in your signature is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

 

[amberdansmom]

DD7 informed me yesterday that she no longer wants school lunch. So, starting week after next I will be packing lunch for DD4 and DD7. Just wondering if budget wise that will save me money or add to the budget. School lunch for the 2 is $13.50 a week.

Hopefully, I can find school lunch boxes on clearance.

My DD9 has been bringing her lunch since she was 4. We were looking over the menu calander each month and picking the days she wanted to buy from school, but those buy days started becoming very few so now it's everyday. She gets a plain peanut butter sandwich, 1 bag of mini pringles (whatever falvor she picked out on the Friday before when I went shopping) 1 treat (fruit roll up, Zebra cake, or Oreo cakesters) and a caprisun or Kool aid jammer. It costs me on average about $9.20 if you add the loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter. Some weeks she'd rather have turkey and colby/jack cheese sandwich which would up my bill by about $2.

 

[amberdansmom]

Good question, I don't think they will be thawed if frozen by lunchtime. They should be at least a chill still to them if really cold and in an insulated lunch bag.

My DD9 doesn't care if her capri sun is room temp or cold. sometimes I put in a blue ice like when she's having turkey though. I guess I'm lucky in that case so if I need to use a regual paper bag (which I like to use the cheap colored gift sacks they sell atr WalMart for .50) she will be fine with the room temp juice box.