What do you pack your child for school lunch??

alw12290 · December 2015

This is my son's first year of Kindergarten and I am finding it very difficult to come up with food ideas to pack for his lunch! It cannot be anything that needs to be reheated which cuts my ideas in half, he doesn't like tuna fish, and very few cold cuts (which are not the healthiest to begin with). I see all these cute ideas on Pinterest and think, how the heck?! Any ideas on what you pack your kiddos to make it fun for them?

Atlast111 · December 2015

My mum used to give me Sandwiches (chicken, ham, cheese, egg all with salad or peanut butter if your school allows) fruit (cut up) and carrot sticks, cucumbers sticks or tomatoes, cereal bars and a carton of juice. Pretty standard stuff but healthy. Unfortunately crisps ( you call them chips?) seem to be standard in pack lunches in England but they are so fatty and have zero nutritional value I don't see the point. Dried fruit is good too!

alw12290 · December 2015

Chips are very common here too, however, I only pack them on a special occasion. I think that is the hardest thing, find something that you can pack easily, needs to be cold (not needing heat), and healthy!! So difficult. Thanks for the ideas!

NicknShan · December 2015

If you aren't a fan of cold cuts (which can be a good option if you get low sodium/nitrate free), could you cook up a chicken/turkey/ham and use that meet? Or a rotisserie chicken?

You can do a lot of roll up sandwiches in tortillas - even PB and J. I have seen a PB and J roll up with a banana inside. I haven't tried it though :-)

Cold pasta salads could be good, buffalo chicken in a pita wrap...cold pizza?

And of course, lots of fruits and veggies on the side. :-)

nicolesmith0624 · December 2015

My son is sooooo picky. He usually has PBJ, applesauce, raisins, and a tiny piece of candy for dessert. He sometimes does cheese or PB with crackers, and I'll give him celery sticks or baby carrots. Thankfully he likes fruit, so I do a lot of that on the side.

amidavey06 · December 2015

My DD is a really healthy eater so her lunches usually includes black beans, black olives, strawberries with yogurt, cut carrots, cheese cubes, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, some type of nut (she loved pistachios) and cheese sticks. She has a metal be to box from pottery barn and I put the black beans in a metal canister and they stay pretty warm until lunch.

Arwen0503 · December 2015

my son started kindergarten this year and we purchased a bento box for him. Inside the box I usually pack cut up fruit and veggies, gogurt, goldfish, some homemade fruit snacks and for the main meal it rotates from pasta, pb&j, hotdog, pizza rolls (only on few occasions) we also put in leftover sometimes.

GinnyJ2012 · December 2015

My 3 year old is in preschool and in a nut free room. He gets various combinations of the following: orange or apple slices, carrot sticks, frozen Gogurt(will thaw by lunch time and helps keep the rest of lunch cold), string cheese, cold cut sandwich (buy from deli), gold fish, chicken salad, apple sauce, I'm sure I'm forgetting some things.

He's a very picky eater and frequently comes home and will eat here after not eating much lunch. He can't have anything that needs to be heated either.

alw12290 · December 2015

All great ideas!! I want to try the thermos, I was reading about them on Amazon but wasn't sure how effective it would be to keep his foods warm enough but that would be a tremendous help! He is hit or miss with foods, some days he loves certain foods, other days wants nothing to do with them! I've sent him with shrimp, eggs (now all of a sudden he doesn't like the 'yosh' aka yolk lol). Also I feel terrible because I feel like I got pregnant right when he started school and have been completely exhausted and forgetful!

Atlast111 · December 2015

Duh...I can't believe I forgot yogurt! It's the best!

VikingGirl12 · December 2015

My son is only 21 months but I pack his lunches. Some days I do whole wheat crackers with laughing cow cheese, yogurt, a fruit cup/orange/banana/grapes. Some days I do Nutella and banana sandwiches (I just put a cooler pack in his lunchbox) with a cheese stick and some fruit or a raw vegetable. I also like to do cold pasta with peas and mini blocks of cheese and different spices &oilve oil to add flavor. He's highly allergic to peanuts and eggs which makes it super difficult.. he can't even eat things made in the same facility as peanuts. Loved reading these other ideas though!

sorarose · December 2015

I loved cold pasta with sauce or bagels with cheese. You can add an ice pack or it will be ok until lunch time. What does he like to eat at home?

AmberLiz99 · December 2015

My son just has lunch once a week at preschool, but here are a few I've done (not all of these are full meals):

-Cold pasta dishes
-Hummus with veggies, crackers, or on a sandwich
-Quesadilla with avocado
-Boiled egg
-sliced cheese and pepperoni and crackers
-veggies with ranch dip
-BLT sandwich with nitrate free turkey bacon
-California rolls
-salad with cubed tofu

m8881 · December 2015

My first grader gets
Thick slice of fresh bread, like French or crackers
Cheese
Boiled egg
Carrots
Olives
Apple slices
Hershey kiss

Every day. He gets upset if I change it up. Easier on me I guess.

m8881 · December 2015

Oh and I put an orange juice carton in as well so he gets 3 of his f/v at lunch and we have two at dinner. Breakfast he only likes carbs.

june2016baby · December 2015

1 Apple, banana, orange or applesauce
2 Cheese stick or yogurt
3 Sandwich
4 Flavored water
5 optional treat until Halloween candy runs out

As you can see, I put very little effort into it!

Atlast111 · December 2015

All so healthy and delicious, I wish my lunch was as good as these!

VikingGirl12 · December 2015

@m8881 hey at least it's a well balanced meal! Sounds yummy!

BLM10 · December 2015

My boy LOVES ham and cheese with mayo and mustard, on wheat bread or a tortilla. He eats it daily unless we are out of a component. He also eats tomatoes more days than not. The other items in rotation are fresh fruit (any kind, he likes everything), yogurt, pickles, carrots or celery with Ranch, boiled egg, occasionally chips, hummus with a few crackers, applesauce, fruit leather, jerky, nuts and once in a blue moon, a piece of candy.

DeePaddy24 · December 2015

Not a mom [yet], just a dirty lurker, lol.
I'm surprised to see that PB&J is mentioned...we aren't allowed nuts or any nut products here in any schools! As a teacher I find it most frustrating because there are often so many meals & snacks I want to bring, but just can't. Some of you have great ideas for your kids! I might have to steal them for myself in the new year, haha!

alw12290 · December 2015

Well I just got back from shopping for all lunch goodies following all of your wonderful ideas, ladies! I got fruit, some cold cuts, wraps for sandwiches, pistachios(he loves them, but dang they are expensive!), some trail mix, and some mini bagels to make his own sandwiches. I love this thread, it is so helpful to see other ideas. Sometimes I feel like I get stuck in a lunch rut!!!

samsonator · December 2015

This is helping me with lunch ideas for myself

HeartLikeMine3 · December 2015

Love this thread I struggle with ideas every week. My 2.5 year old goes to MDO 2x a week and is super picky!

fishwife799 · December 2015

DD is only in preschool and is out before lunch but this is a good thread to read. I'm sure I will have some of the same questions when the time comes. DD is also allergic to peanuts so I know some days it will be a little harder. She also changes what she likes day to day and gets very hangry so I'm stressing about it even though it's almost two years away.

fishwife799 · December 2015

Sorry to post jack-

@VikingGirl12 I don't know if you have heard about this company but they sell snack and foods that are free of the 8 most common food allergies. I was just told about them the other day by a friend from my previous bmb. She told me that the stuff is really good. I thought I would share in case you hadn't heard of them.

https://enjoylifefoods.com/free-from-living/allergy-friendly/

crdo · December 2015

samsonator said:
This is helping me with lunch ideas for myself

Same! Haha

snowhite12 · December 2015

My 2 year old goes to a learning center which is nut free. However there is an alternative to peanut butter called wowbutter. If your grocery store carries it, it's in with the peanut butter. It tastes and smells just like peanut butter.

fishwife799 · December 2015

snowhite12 said:
My 2 year old goes to a learning center which is nut free. However there is an alternative to peanut butter called wowbutter. If your grocery store carries it, it's in with the peanut butter. It tastes and smells just like peanut butter.

We have got wow butter before. DD loves it, but I think it's terrible! I prefer to use sun butter in our house.

VikingGirl12 · December 2015

@fishwife799 we were big EnjoyLife fans until we found out their foods share production lines with eggs (they share a facility with other manufacturers). Unfortunately my son is so sensitive to cross contamination that he can't eat even trace amounts of his allergens

Check out Amy's if you haven't already. Their foods are made in top 8 allergen free facility. They have an entire frozen food section at publix including Mac n cheese and ravioli.

fishwife799 · December 2015

VikingGirl12 said:
@fishwife799 we were big EnjoyLife fans until we found out their foods share production lines with eggs (they share a facility with other manufacturers). Unfortunately my son is so sensitive to cross contamination that he can't eat even trace amounts of his allergens
Check out Amy's if you haven't already. Their foods are made in top 8 allergen free facility. They have an entire frozen food section at publix including Mac n cheese and ravioli.

That's a bummer that they share the facility

You would think if they are all about neing allergy free they would take that into consideration. I will look for Amy's though. I'm on the west coast so we don't have publix and in a small town so we have 1 chain grocery store and one local store. I am always having to find the stuff online. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Rosehip15 · December 2015

Whatever they pack themselves...

Oh wait, I'm supposed to supervise this...

Oh well. My kids are 10 & 8, and for the past 2 months I've been way too sick to get up the few minutes earlier before work, so yup, they've been packing it themselves. God only knows what's going in them.

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