School lunch ideas

[southernbelle20]

I have deceided that this year I am packing lunches instead of buying from the school. Also, our school has gone peanut free. I could always get by with a PB&J, but my kids are very picky. Now without PB&J, what do I pack? Any suggestions?

 

[DisneyNutMic]

I'm subscribing for ideas too. My son is changing schools so he is a little concerned about their lunches. He is an eater so food is a big priority for him.

 

[pat fan]

You could still do a pb&j, just adjust the pb to an alternate item. There are all kinds of things out there....sun butter(made from sunflower seeds, almond butter, cashew butter and I'm sure there are more. Start testing now and see if he likes any of them. Personally, I hate the sun butter, but I can live with the others. Or maybe even Nutella?

 

[Justsyd2]

Use (a) cold pack(s) in a lunch bag:

Hummus and veggies
Cheese, crackers, grapes
Veggie wraps
String cheese, fruit

Tuna/Chicken Salad kits

 

[CowboyCO]

Why are they banning PB? My DS has a kid in class that is allergic to peanuts, so they they have banned it in his classroom, but why the whole school? That's a pound of prevention when an ounce would do....

 

[CowboyCO]

Use (a) cold pack(s) in a lunch bag:

Hummus and veggies
Cheese, crackers, grapes
Veggie wraps
String cheese, fruit

Tuna/Chicken Salad kits

Yeah, my kids would be all over the hummus -- NOT... LOL!!!

 

[taymaesmom]

My dd insists on taking her lunch every day instead of buying. I hate it because she doesn't not eat sandwichs at all, so I have been very creative over the years (she also doesn't eat chips either). I have found that a small thermos has been my saving grace. She often takes soup, easy mac, ramen noodles, leftover pasta (spagettie, fettucine, lazanga), she has even taken meatloaf. The trick is to heat the thermos too, I fill it with very hot water and let it set while I am fixing the rest of the lunch, then I dump the water and dry the thermos. It will then keep the food warmer. She also takes salads alot too, I put the salad in one container and the dressing in a different one, it gets soggy if you mix them in the morning. She also will take carrots sticks with ranch dressing in a small container. She takes a baggie with just lunch meat in it almost every day, so she would have soup and a few slices of turkey. A normal lunch for her is a some kind of pasta, turkey, a juice box, yougurt, and some kind of snack.

I also work in a school cafeteria and let me say I have seen it all! Kids bring in all kinds of things. I see lot of sandwhichs and chips, with fruit cups, pudding, fruit snack etc. I see lots of leftovers like pizza, pasta and even hamburgers and tacos! I have seen odd things too like a sandwhich made from two waffles with jelly smeared between them, one girl brings lots of pasta salads, edamame, and cottage cheese (they make little single serving sizes). I often see Vienna sausages too. Really anything your kids like can be brought. Except soda and peanuts at my school!

 

[SSDonut]

Just entering our 3rd week of a peanut-free daycamp with my DD who is very picky and almost always eats something with PB for lunch!

Vanilla yogurt, a nutri-grain bar and fruit
Cheese and crackers and fruit
Cheerios in the single-serve "bowl" and fruit

She was asked why she was eating Cheerios one day, and she replied: "Breakfast for Lunch!"

I will be glad when we can go back to PBJ and PB crackers, though, that's for sure!

Good Luck!

 

[m3retired]

When my kids were little, they would eat almost anything that I rolled in a tortilla...for a while anyway. Then I had to get creative again! Worth a try.

 

[southernbelle20]

Why are they banning PB? My DS has a kid in class that is allergic to peanuts, so they they have banned it in his classroom, but why the whole school? That's a pound of prevention when an ounce would do....

This particular child is so allergic, that even if someone eats PB and then touches them, or even touches a door handle and then this child touches, it could kill them. I personally, if my child was that allergic, I would not send them to school. Too scary!

 

[sweetdana]

I put in Cherrios, (the disposible bowl pack) and milk in a therm.
I also buy a 5$ pizza once a week and she ets cold pizza for a day or 2 sometimes. I use an ice pack in her lunch box works perfect.
Cottage cheese in her therm.
chick soup, or spaghetti in her therm.
Cheese cut up with salami.
Single serving cream cheese with gold fish to dunk in it. (For the record, this is her fav. Disney breakfast as well.. 40 cents (at Artists Pallet) for cream cheese and we bring our own goldfish and breakfast is done.
strawberries, blue berries, and apple sauce.
raisan bread, with butter

 

[sweetdana]

double post

 

[charming23]

One of my favortie lunches my mom used to make for me was when she would get summer sausage and cheese and cut it up into cubes and send some mustard for dipping the sausage in. She would also add cut up fruit and veggies with dips as well. I loved it because it was nice and different from a sandwhich.

 

[*BTMRR*]

This particular child is so allergic, that even if someone eats PB and then touches them, or even touches a door handle and then this child touches, it could kill them. I personally, if my child was that allergic, I would not send them to school. Too scary!

Yikes!! Poor kid. How scary.
My friend's kids went to a school where there was a little boy with this type of allergy. Not only was the school peanut free, the parents of kids in the boy's class were sent a note asking if they could try to avoid serving PB to their children for breakfast, so that no residue would be brought into the school! The allergy was that severe.

As for lunch ideas, my kids don't attend peanut-free school, but we send in a lot of "homemade lunchables" (healthier turkey or ham and cheese cut into squares along with crackers and a side of fruit), yogurt with a baggie of granola (make sure it's peanut free) to sprinkle on, turkey or ham slices rolled up with cream cheese in the middle, chef salad in a tupperware bowl with a baggie of salad dressing, Nutella sandwiches on whole wheat, bagels with cream cheese and/or deli meats.

Also on Fridays for a treat, sometimes I'll put in a corn dog (baked in the a.m. and then wrapped in foil), or a slice of pizza (it stores in the freezer pretty well and makes good cold pizza leftovers). These kinds of things break up the sandwich routine.

 

[SYDCOLEMOM]

Im a parent with a child that has a severe peanut allergy. I always feel like I have to apologize to all the parents in her class. Trust me it tough !! There are 3 kids in her school with the Nut allergy and they group them together in the same class. Her class is peanut free but not the whole school. Its scary. She starts 1st grade next week and Im already dreading field trips etc. People just don't understand. Lunches are hard for us as well. She loves fruit and veggies so I stick to mainly that plus string cheese, lunch meat with crackers. Its hard to think of new things. The cafeteria lunches at her school are awful. We might try the thermos with soup this year. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[dismom301930]

I love this thread because I am always looking for new ideas for my three girls! I bought a new lunchbox system last year that worked out great for us and made packing so much easier. It comes with perfectly sized little reusable containers (including a little one for salad dressing or dip) and an ice pack. I also bought a thermos that fits perfectly in the box and keeps the food very warm.

The system I bought can be found at http://www.lunchsense.com/ I did a lot of research and I am very happy with my purchase. I also know someone who has http://www.laptoplunches.com/ and they like them as well. There are also lots of bento sytle boxes (do a google search to see lots of cute pictures). Having a great box/container system made packing a lot easier this past year!

Here are some of the things we do:
Make your own taco (meat in thermos, tortilla, shredded cheese, lettuce)
Homeade lunchables (crackers, cheese, meat, etc.)
Salads (either pasta or green w/ dressing on the side)
Hot "easy" main dishes (soup, mac and cheese)
Hot leftovers (pasta, meatloaf, pizza, etc.)
Yogurt with crunch topping on side (like Yo Crunch, but I crush up my own cookies or other topping)
Veggies and dip
Apples and Peanut butter on the side to dip
Mini whole wheat bagel with PB or cheese
Cereal with dried fruit
And of course we also do the typical lunch stuff such as sandwiches, fruit, snacks (pretzles, etc.)

Hope this helps! I look forward to hearing some other ideas!

 

[PixiePlanner]

I make chicken, tuna and ham salad wraps and freeze them. I make enough to last 3-4 weeks. DH takes them too. Let me know if you want the recipe. I'd be happy to share.

I also take string cheese and wrap lunch meat around it. Stick it with a few toothpicks and slice into bites. DD loves anything on a toothpick. She got mad at me one time for not packing an extra one for her fruit. She had to use a spoon. Imagine!

Whole grain tortillas with cream cheese. Cold pizza & other leftovers.

 

[DisneyNutMic]

I make chicken, tuna and ham salad wraps and freeze them. I make enough to last 3-4 weeks. DH takes them too. Let me know if you want the recipe. I'd be happy to share.

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I would love that recipe. You can PM me with it if you would like. Thank you.

 

[mommyoeo]

I make chicken, tuna and ham salad wraps and freeze them. I make enough to last 3-4 weeks. DH takes them too. Let me know if you want the recipe. I'd be happy to share.

Me too! Great idea!!

 

[jennifermae]

I'd also like that recipe....sounds like a great easy lunch idea!