What do you pack for your kids' lunches? Post your ideas here!

[DawnM]

This was started on the other thread about buying vs. packing your kids' lunches.

Some posted that they had great ideas so please share with the rest of us!

We are not all as creative so help us out!

Thanks,

Dawn

 

[Soulsearching]

Pasta salad is cheap and healthy. I use whole grain pasta, cucumbers, olives and italian dressing and they love it. I make it the night before and it doesn't go bad because I don't use mayo.

Yogurt when it is on sale. I top it with granola and diced fruit.

When chicken is on sale, I make chicken fingers and send that with honey mustard. I make a lot and freeze the bag and take out what I need.

Cold pizza.

Sliced cheeese, apples and crackers or pretzels (whatever is available).

celery with peanut butter and raisins.

Leftover meatloaf sandwiches. (really any left over dinner on whole wheat bread with either mayo, mustard or ketchup, which ever they prefer).

 

[left210]

Typically DS takes a peanut butter & honey sandwich with yogurt. Sometimes he takes hot food in a thermos like chicken nuggets, left over spaghetti, etc. We make our own lunchables with cut up sandwich meat and crackers, cheese, etc.

 

[feedindy]

I try to pack healthy lunches, but it is challenging since my kids are gluten free.

We do a lot of fruit-apples, clementines (much easier to peel than oranges), grapes, bananas, applesauce. They also like cheese cubes. I'll buy them on sale or cube them myself from fresh cheese if they aren't cheap. I allow a bag of chips as something "normal" since their entrees are unusual. They also sometimes take granola bars. One of my daughters loves fresh veggies too so she'll sometimes take carrots or celery. My oldest wouldn't touch a vegetable to save her life.

Today DD is taking leftover roast beef. I warmed it this morning and put it in a thermos. Sometimes she takes mac & cheese this way too. We will also warm a hot dog and wrap it in foil. It's never "hot" really, but warm enough for her. Other things she takes are meat rollups-no more bread so she rolls a piece of cheese into lunchmeat and holds it with a toothpick. She likes this lots better than the sandwiches she used to take. I think it makes her feel special since it is kind of a gourmet-looking food.

Sometimes she will take chips & salsa. Items she loved before we went gluten free: grilled cheese (I just made it in the morning and wrapped it in foil), spaghetti-os, pizza (for some reason my family likes this cold anyway) and sandwiches.

 

[Samar]

DS is in pre-k so he just needs a snack but when I was in elementary school my mom would pack:

Heart-shaped sandwiches (usually peanut butter)

1 little fruit

1 dessert (pudding cup, cookie or pretzels)

Juice box (or $ for milk)

A love note (I was embarrassed then but now that I have kids, I think that was pretty awesome.)

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

Bagels, yogurt, fruit salad, tossed salad (get one of those containers where the dressing goes on the top and the kid releases and shakes )

 

[grlpwrd]

* tortilla wraps, bagel or made-with-wheat-bread sandwiches (use Pampered Chef Cut n Seal), or pita - different fillings for different days
* veggies or fruits - sometimes with homemade dip
* homemade muffins
* chicken strips with a veggie salad and dressing - they prepare the greens the night before and they also use one of those salad containers that you mix the dressing in right before you eat it
* homemade snack-type foods like pita pizza, bbq snack muffins, pizza muffins, etc. - I have cookbooks like the Vegan Lunchbox (even though we are not fully vegan ), other kids' lunches cookbooks, and many, many others that I use for our repertoire.
* yogurt and mix-ins - like mandarin oranges, granola, etc.
* of course, dinner leftovers in a thermos

My kids use the Laptop Lunchbox (www.laptoplunches.com ), a lead free lunchbox with a thermos, or they use a bento-type (Japanese) lunch carrier.

It helps to make lunch interactive so that is why I try to include dips and mix-ins.

 

[powellrj]

today DD took leftover french bread pizza with a salad today.

She doesn't like sandwiches so we usually do salads and pasta dishes. I got a wide mouth thermos and thats great to pack things like spaghetti and chicken and noodles.

 

[ZPT1022]

Today my daughter has couscous in a thermos, juice, and a gogurt. She doesn't eat much and if I pack much more than that it comes home, or worse, gets loose in the lunch box, like she opens everything but doesn't eat it. She's in kindergarten so I assume a helper comes through and opens everything and then she tries to put back in what she doesn't eat

We're not allowed to send anything involving peanuts or tree nuts so that limits things. We don't eat meat so that limits things further. I bought a thermos this year and I've sent leftover mac & cheese a bunch, today she has the couscous. She doesn't eat soup or I would send that (she's incredibly picky). She like sandwiches of just bread, cheese and butter. Yogurt is pretty much in every lunch in some form- drinkable, smoothie, regular yogurt, gogurt. Raisins, crackers, animal crackers. The best thing I've started to do from a money AND environmental perspective is to buy things in bulk and portion them myself. Went to the Disney Store and bought their cute little Tupperware type containers and I portion out my own goldfish or raisins or whatever. Saves me money and we're not wasting all those wrappers either.

 

[Bibbidi]

This is probably a silly question, but I haven't had to start packing lunches yet, so forgive me... but most of you have mentioned using a thermos for packing warm things. I understand that a thermos can keep things hot or cold, but does it really keep things like chicken warm enough for them to be safe to eat hours later? Not trying to judge by any means, just wondering if that is actually true. My oldest adores spaghetti and I can see using a thermos to pack that, but I think I'd be nervous about putting chicken nuggets in one.

 

[patsal]

DD MS 11 and DS HS 15

Sandwich, fruit cup/pudding cup/jello cup, granola bar, fruit snacks of some kind, juice box/water bottle/flavored water occasionally cookies/ carrots/apple slices.

 

[MelAnderson]

How do you keep things like yogurt cold?

TIA
Melodie

P.S. Thanks to the poster who supplied the Laptop Lunches link!

 

[beth_cam]

This is probably a silly question, but I haven't had to start packing lunches yet, so forgive me... but most of you have mentioned using a thermos for packing warm things. I understand that a thermos can keep things hot or cold, but does it really keep things like chicken warm enough for them to be safe to eat hours later? Not trying to judge by any means, just wondering if that is actually true. My oldest adores spaghetti and I can see using a thermos to pack that, but I think I'd be nervous about putting chicken nuggets in one.

cooked food really doesnt necessarily need to be kept warm to be safe in the time it takes from heading to school and lunch time. The keeping warm is more for preference. Chicken nuggets would be fine even without a thermos from the time you put it into the lunch box till lunch time. Raw foods like lunch meats and dairy are more of a problem. I have seen many send milk in whatever(not necessarily an insulated thermos) to be had at lunch...although I wouldnt. Yogurts seem to do just fine. I can say that my kids complained that maccaroni and cheesewas inedibly cold even packed in the thermos. but they did fine with spaghetti and pizza warmed and in it. Chicken nuggets really wouldnt be any more dangerous than spaghetti.

 

[beth_cam]

yogurts in lunch boxes.... I used to buy gogurts and freeze them. We just throw in whatever now yogurts etc add an ice pack (the small ones in the lunch box section with characters on them ... got them for $1 in the target $1 section...or the shaped ones from walmart) and go. They are fine. We do have soft lunch boxes that are insulated but really they dont do much for keeping things cold and the ice pack is small.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Mine gets 1/2 pb/j sandwich, a frozen gogurt, and a cup of fruit. He buys milk at school. I was sending a whole sandwich but he wasn't eating all of it - not even half, so now I just send 1/2 and he eats most of it and my loaf of bread lasts longer.

 

[feedindy]

I bought several of the ice packs from the Target $ spot last year. She tosses those in to keep foods cold. Lunch is only 3 hours from the start of school. A good thermos and a good lunchbox will keep the warm foods safe until then, though they aren't as hot as fresh.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

About keeping things warm ----

Whenever I am putting soup, mac & cheese or another item that I'd like to keep warm in my son's Thermos, I first fill it with boiling water and let it sit with the top on until I am ready to fill it. I feel like it gives us a bit of a head start in the warmth department. So far he has yet to complain about anything being too cold to eat.

I'm loving all these lunch ideas! Lately I've been feeling less than inspired while packing lunches.

 

[beth_cam]

yep i did that, pre the instructions that came with the thermoses. oh well. I think they are defective lol. as I said though that warm/cold thing becomes a preference issue and may just come down to my having very picky whiney kids.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

My 8yo's lunches are the same boring thing. Baloney on a roll, bagel with cream cheese or cold pizza. Monday I gave him a meatball sandwich and he like it, big surprise. Fridays they can order pizza, chicken roll or chicken nuggets and fries. I think I'm going ot get a thermos and start sending hot leftovers since he seems more open to different lunches now.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

yep i did that, pre the instructions that came with the thermoses. oh well. I think they are defective lol. as I said though that warm/cold thing becomes a preference issue and may just come down to my having very picky whiney kids.

That is so funny! I never even considered my thermos would've come with instructions - and I probably wouldn't have read them either.

I can say that there are some foods like chicken strips that my son prefers cold anyway.

As for picky and whiny, I am not looking forward to when DD starts getting packed lunches - she is a PIA with food! So I am really in need of this thread! LOL