School lunch suggestions?

heyitsme

My 3rd grader is an incredibly picky eater. Seriously.

School lunches here cost $3.50/day. It's insane. Yet I cough up the money 3-4 days/week to buy her school lunch because I can't figure out lunches for her. 

Here's all the issues:

1) She doesn't like sandwiches. Once in a blue moon I can pack her bread and 2 slices of cheese and she'll get a mayo packet from the caf and make herself a sandwich.

2) She doesn't eat peanuts/treenuts.

3) She's picky about fresh fruit and veggies.

4) She likes "hot" food. I try as I might to pack things like soup, pasta, etc. in a thermos but it's never hot enough. And she doesn't have the ability to heat/warm things.

DH thinks we should try filling her up for breakfast and then packing a lunch for her to graze on. The thing is even that would be things like dry cereal, chips, etc. and I just don't feel like it's enough.

I can handle her picky eating at home. I usually manage OK. But packing lunches I feel like I can't figure out anything. She wants Lunchables (which she gets once in a while as a treat). I make "home made lunchables" (crackers/cheese/deli meat) and she doesn't eat them.

And now that she's in 3rd grade her friends are commenting more than ever on her lunches when I do pack them. Drives me nuts. In a pinch I used to pack cereal in a cup and have her buy milk and eat a bowl of cereal for lunch, but now her friends are analyzing her cereal choices .

 

 

neverblushed

I think I would handle this by taking her on a special trip to the grocery store.  Tell her she's going to pick out the INGREDIENTS for her lunches and help you make her lunches.  Limit her from the outset to the fruit/veggie department, the dary/deli, and dry goods such as pasta, bread, etc.  No "premade" lunches such as lunchables or other stuff.  I would also say that she needs one protein item, one grain item, and one fruit/veggie item.  Give her a budget, if you think it's appropriate.

Tell her you'll allow her to experiment until she finds some lunch items she likes.  Give her as much time in the grocery store as she needs to shop around. 

Then put it squarely on her shoulders to choose stuff and decide how to combine items into lunches she'll eat.  Let her (with your guidance and assistance) make up the portions and combinations for her own lunch.

I think if you give her some ownership and control, she'll have more resources to justify her lunch to her snarky friends and you'll get more "buy in" from her. 

Angela814

Does she like greek yogurt? That has a lot of protein so might fill her up better. What about bagels with cream cheese?

Our school just started selling a bistro box at lunch, which is a muffin or cereal, yogurt or cheese stick, fruit, and veggie. You could put something together like that.

DD1 won't eat most fresh veggies and is picky about which fruits I can send in her lunch. We do a lot of strawberries, grapes, bananas, and applesauce.

KatFCo

neverblushed:

I think I would handle this by taking her on a special trip to the grocery store.  Tell her she's going to pick out the INGREDIENTS for her lunches and help you make her lunches.  Limit her from the outset to the fruit/veggie department, the dary/deli, and dry goods such as pasta, bread, etc.  No "premade" lunches such as lunchables or other stuff.  I would also say that she needs one protein item, one grain item, and one fruit/veggie item.  Give her a budget, if you think it's appropriate.

I think this is a great idea. What does she have for lunch on the weekends? Maybe you can use those times for experiementing.

I'd steer her away from the lunchables because they're basically salt and fat. This can be a good teachable moment on what's healthy and what's not.

jlw2505

I second the putting this back on her.  She is old enough to take a very active part in making her daily lunches.  Go grocery shopping and see what she chooses.  Have her make her lunch (with your limit help) each night so its ready to go the next day.  If she chooses not to eat it - it is her choice.  We do a lot of sandwiches but use bagel thins rather than bread, we send cottage cheese, yogurt, fruit, hot dogs (in thermos), pasta (in a thermos).  My kids help us meal plan and grocery shop.  Sometimes they eat more lunch than others, no different than dinner in that sense.

peacelove&mama

I agree with letting her help choose what she would like. I do this periodically with my two older kids, when I feel like lunches are getting boring.

Some non sandwich things my kids like:

Wraps
Fruit salad with yogurt
Tuna salad and triscuits
Chicken tenders
Kabobs
Hard boiled eggs, cheese cubes, and cucumber wedges
English muffin mini pizzas that they can assemble and eat cold kinda like the lunchables pizza but healthier
Cold cuts, sliced cheese, crackers, and pickles
Pierogies
Salad. Regular veggie salad, potato salad, pasta salad
Homemade fruit muffins

Sometimes I'll pack cereal and milk, pancakes with homemade fruit "syrup", or waffle strips with cinnamon apple sauce or yogurt for dipping.

Hope that helps!

kirbear

My daughter is limited in terms of typical lunch ideas due to her special diet but some things we have done:

Nuggets in her thermos (make sure you prep the thermos first- I microwave a mug of water, put it in thermos for 30 min dump dry and put in the nuggets that I make extra hot)  They stay hot until dd's lunch time.

Cold Grilled Chicken, with carrots or cucumbers with ranch dip

Yogurt and Fruit

Wraps (grilled chicken, lettuce, drizzle italian dressing 

I also use a square container and put silicone muffin cups in it to make sections and fill with different things- cheese, meat, crackers, fruits.  She seems to like having a little of this, a little of that.

Also look at what she does like and see if you can sort of recreate into a lunch friendly item... for example my dd likes this taco dip I make for parties, and was always wanting to taste it as I was making it (cold).  So I played around and make her a dip that consists of cream cheese, beans, and a little bit of shredded cheese. She eats it on these healthy tortilla chips she loves.  Sounds a little gross- but she loves it and it's something different and relatively healthy! 

I agree with taking her shopping. My dd and I go every Sunday and she chooses what she is going to have for lunch that week (she will pick which fresh fruits, drinks, meat, type of yogurt, what snack foods etc... 

Good Luck! 

tealowl

If she's that picky, send her without a lunch. She's picky because you allow it. You can't expect her to eat differently at school when you're ok with her picky eating at home. Maybe her going hungry a few times will help.

tealowl

Or, you can try making cheese quesadillas and wrap in aluminum foil, my daughter loves those for her lunch.