What do you pack for school lunches?

[Muslima]

Anonymous wrote:I have a thermos and was sending hot leftovers twice a week but she didn't eat it most of the time. Turns out she just really loves sandwiches - almond butter & jam.

Then there's fruit, yogurt, raisins, and a cheese circle. If I have leftover steamed veggies, I send those instead of fruit.

Mine loves PB&Jelly but I'd rather she doesn't have it every day lol

[Muslima]

Anonymous wrote:We had roast beef tonight so tomorrow's sandwich will be roast beef. I'll also send ham, or egg salad. Or (I know.. the horrors..) bologna!

I send things in his thermos a couple of times/week. Leftover pasta salad sometimes. Or if there's leftover mashed potatoes and gravy he has "dibs" on that as soon as supper is finished, and he'll have chopped up meat with it.

I try to stock a different assortment of fruits and veg each week, but sometimes I get lazy.

i need to get a thermos big enough for food I guess, thank you

[Anonymous]

Muslima wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For hot lunch - get a thermos. You can get one at Target - the Funtainer one for about $15 or something like that. Boil water, then pour it into the thermos and close the lid. Keep for 10min. @ 10min - Heat up the food - pasta, rice, soups, whatever. Pour out the water from the thermos; optional - dry the thermos inside. Put the hot food in the thermos.

I have one of those lunch bags that have two sections. I put hot food in one of the sections with something underneath the thermos to keep the warm/cold separate as much as possible.

For the cold stuff, milk, cheese, fruit, I put it in another section with an ice pack.

My kids have told me that the food is still warm.

The only bad thing about this is that a Ker has a hard time opening the thermos. But, there is usually a lunch aide that helps kids open containers and stuff. I used to volunteer at my Ker's lunch and spent the entire lunch period opening containers, yogurt packs, etc.

Food-wise, I do pastas - usually from leftovers the night before; stir fry rice, or soup and rice (rice separate). I also pack seaweed with the rice. Kids love it. Pastas can be simple. Mac/cheese, pasta with butter sauce or garlic/olive oil with/out sausage, ham, chicken, tomatoes, grilled zuchini or steamed brocolli.

My DD doesn't like sandwiches, but she does like ham, so I will pack ham and cheese, fruit.

Is this the Funtainer? http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Funtainer-Food-Jar-Purple/dp/B00CBFAE5I/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1413771678&sr=1-2&keywords=funtainer Thank you so much for this long and informative post. My DD likes sandwiches but I feel like turkey&cheez or Pb&Jelly everyday can be very boring, so I want to mix it up.

Yep, that's the one you have in the link.

[Muslima]

Anonymous wrote:My lunch packing formula for my kindergartener is generally this:

a main dish of sandwich, salami cheese roll ups, chunks of leftover sausage or meatballs, hot soup, or other hot leftovers (in the funtainer style thermos, preheated with boiling water, as pp described) (just to be clear - only one of these item is the main dish, not sure if that's clear from my rambling list)

cut raw veggies - favorites are bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots

fruit or a "treat" like a granola bar

if the meal seems on the small side, I'll add a handful of almonds, a few olives or a slice of cheese

I often ask my son at dinner if he wants the dinner food again for lunch or if he'd prefer a pb&j sandwich, or whatever second option I have to offer. Seems good to get his participation in the planning.

Thanks, I guess we also need to get a bigger lunch bag, the one we have is small, I don't think a thermos will fit with all the other extras.

[Anonymous]

Muslima wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grade son loves Ravioli in his thermos. If he's taking a home lunch, 99% of the time that's what he'll have. Then he gets baby carrots, some sort of fruit and a "treat"---pudding cup, pack of mini cookies, etc.
When my 3rd grader takes a home lunch, he likes a sandwich--usually PB&J, which is allowed at his school. Then I put in something crunchy: pirates booty, cheez-its, pretzels, goldfish, etc. A fruit and/or veggie: baby carrots, apple slices, berries, yogurt, etc. A treat for him too, along the lines of his brother.
I'd love to be that mom who makes prize-winning bento style lunches, but trust me, my kids would complain!!

I will try the ravioli, never thought about it before! Yeh, I'm not the bento mom either, lol and the thing is she is a picky eater as well and will only pick at her food most of the time

How would she do with a "snacky" sort of lunch? Cheese, crackers, meat, some grapes, baby carrots or whatever she likes?

[Muslima]

Anonymous wrote:My son is into wraps- I buy the Wholefoods house roasted or smoked turkey (I don't think it's processed much at all), add avocado slices and wrap it in a whole wheat tortilla or wrap.

I add fresh fruit, maybe some crackers or yogurt, a box milk, and a small treat.

Leftovers - Pasta, soup, brown rice with chicken work well. Once a week I buy the Mac and Cheese out of the box and make it. DS loves it and I try to get something organic so it may have some actual cheese in the powder.

Glad you asked OP- I'm hitting a slump and also need some fresh ideas.

My DD also likes wraps, but don't they get soggy if you wrap them in the AM and they stay in the bag all day?

[Muslima]

Anonymous wrote:

Muslima wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grade son loves Ravioli in his thermos. If he's taking a home lunch, 99% of the time that's what he'll have. Then he gets baby carrots, some sort of fruit and a "treat"---pudding cup, pack of mini cookies, etc.
When my 3rd grader takes a home lunch, he likes a sandwich--usually PB&J, which is allowed at his school. Then I put in something crunchy: pirates booty, cheez-its, pretzels, goldfish, etc. A fruit and/or veggie: baby carrots, apple slices, berries, yogurt, etc. A treat for him too, along the lines of his brother.
I'd love to be that mom who makes prize-winning bento style lunches, but trust me, my kids would complain!!

I will try the ravioli, never thought about it before! Yeh, I'm not the bento mom either, lol and the thing is she is a picky eater as well and will only pick at her food most of the time

How would she do with a "snacky" sort of lunch? Cheese, crackers, meat, some grapes, baby carrots or whatever she likes?

Yeh, she loves those and could have them every day, she loves crackers, turkey + cheese. So that's what I was giving her recently but i want to mix it up