Calorie-dense and easy-to-eat, lunch ideas

[Anonymous]

School lunch is high calorie. Have her eat that. She’ll pack weight on.

[Anonymous]

Whole milk yogurts
Make a list and ask her to pick. Fill in any gaps for snack or dinner (smoothie with whole milk and peanut butter).

[Anonymous]

I have a kid like this. Thin, picky, and slow eater. We do black bean + cheese burritos a lot. Plus pasta (sometimes the high protein kind) with various sauces - whatever she will like, and if it's just butter, so be it. Greek yogurts. Also wraps - I take tofu or paneer, saute it in olive oil, and add grilled veggies, pestos, and put it in a wrap in aluminum foil. We also do these small egg frittata things made in muffin tins. Those you can make ahead, and drop 2 in her bag. Add whatever veggies/meats she likes with cheese.

[Anonymous]

I have the same thing. The biggest thing I go is put it all in one container so she can see it all and eat it. When I do it any other way, half of the stuff comes back or unopened. Either a bento box or my favorite Ziplock 3 section (they never ever leak)

In the large section:

2-3 ham or salami slices rolled up with a slice of favorite cheese

PB&J or PB and banana - sliced. (I even cave and get overpriced Uncrustables because she eats them.)

Mini bagel with cream cheese and a touch of jam

Ham/swiss on a Hawaiian roll

Purdue short cuts chicken pieces with a cheese stick

In the other two sections it is usually homemade muffin or breakfast "cookie" which is calorie packed. She also loves goldfish and pirate booty so sometimes I do that. The other section I then put her favorite fruits but they have to be cut (but I dry them really good before packing so they don't get soggy.)

I never overdue it so it isn't overwhelming. We make a deal that she can not throw anything out and I won't get mad at her for what she didn't eat. It helps me gauge what she seems to like and doesn't. And it also lets me know how big of an after school snack to offer her.

[Anonymous]

Another is pasta salad using the higher protein pasta—I add cubed mozerella, grated Parmesan, a little pesto, a homemade vinaigrette, cubed salami and chopped mini tomatos — but it’s very adaptable to what she will eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have the same thing. The biggest thing I go is put it all in one container so she can see it all and eat it. When I do it any other way, half of the stuff comes back or unopened. Either a bento box or my favorite Ziplock 3 section (they never ever leak)

In the large section:

2-3 ham or salami slices rolled up with a slice of favorite cheese

PB&J or PB and banana - sliced. (I even cave and get overpriced Uncrustables because she eats them.)

Mini bagel with cream cheese and a touch of jam

Ham/swiss on a Hawaiian roll

Purdue short cuts chicken pieces with a cheese stick

In the other two sections it is usually homemade muffin or breakfast "cookie" which is calorie packed. She also loves goldfish and pirate booty so sometimes I do that. The other section I then put her favorite fruits but they have to be cut (but I dry them really good before packing so they don't get soggy.)

I never overdue it so it isn't overwhelming. We make a deal that she can not throw anything out and I won't get mad at her for what she didn't eat. It helps me gauge what she seems to like and doesn't. And it also lets me know how big of an after school snack to offer her.

This is me above. I just wanted to add that my daughter will eat warm food in a thermos. But is very picky. One of her favorites is homemade Mac n cheese with slices of kosher hot dog. I make this in a 9x13 pyrex and she will eat this for days. I have also done tortellini in a butter sauce. When I do the thermos, I usually only add some fruit as a side.

For drinks I do a thermos of either diluted apple juice, milk, or chocolate milk.

Also, for days she is running later in the morning, my daughter loves the Carnation Instant Breakfasts - 8oz cartons. They have high protein ones too. It is like $11 for 15 and never ever would I think I would purchase those, but anything is better than nothing.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Zucchini chocolate chip banana oatmeal muffin made with oil.

+1
These are great. Add some omega-3s/chia seeds and you are set.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I should note - the school has a nut-free policy, so no nuts. Also she dislikes any kind of sun-butter or nut butter. And unfortunately she's also picky. She does have a sweet tooth, but does not like bananas. Generally she doesn't like meat, but will eat fish or chicken sometimes in small amounts, and she will eat salami. She dislikes sandwiches, but I still pack them for her, and she eats about a 1/3 of it.

Some things I have in rotation that have been successful: cheese and bean burrito, buttered mushroom ravioli, mushroom soup, brocolli and cheddar soup.

Also, she likes variety - meaning, she does not want the same thing more than once every week or two. So I need more ideas to put into rotation.

You are posting in tween and teen so she isn’t that little. Here’s my new policy. If they don’t pack it themselves they get a peanut butter sandwich and a Greek yogurt. I know she can’t bring nuts so pick something else that’s easy like cold cuts. They eat what’s packed, pack themselves or eat when they get home.

[Anonymous]

Since your child likes variety, you can make a pan of egg muffins. Egg, cheese, sausage is one, but you can make different ones for different days. You can warm them up in the morning and put them in a thermos to keep them warm. Or they can be served cold. They are fast and easy to eat because you just pull the out and eat. They also store easily in the fridge, so you can make a pan and she can have one for breakfast one day, lunch a different day, etc. You can cycle it with other things for the variety. But they are nice because once you make them, they are easy to pack for lunches.

Here's one good recipe: https://cafedelites.com/breakfast-egg-muffins-3-ways/

[Anonymous]

A variety of protein bars, cheese and crackers, veggies or fruits with dip, trail mix.

Yeah, they’re all kind of snacks, but as long as she has something fairly nutritious and not just junk, and that she likes and can/will actually finish during the lunch period, you can fill out nutrients in her other two meals.

[Anonymous]

Why is she not packing her own lunch? This is the teen board. No way you are packing lunches for teens LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is she not packing her own lunch? This is the teen board. No way you are packing lunches for teens LOL

That is what I am wondering. If she doesn’t make and eat her own lunch, she doesn’t eat

[Anonymous]

OP, one of my kids had digestive/food issues when he was younger and testing never showed anything. He had terrible gastro issues and there was no question something was wrong but we never found anything abnormal in a test. So I basically did a very slow-moving elimination diet and figured out that he was reacting to dairy and soy (when I finally got in to see a gastroenterologist, she said he was "dairy/soy protein intolerant" and completely supported what we were doing). Anyway, it took years of being 100% off of dairy and soy, no cheating ever for at least two years, for his digestive system to recover. He basically did not have a normal stool until he was 5 or 6.

Anyway, my point is that the testing doesn't always show an issue but there are other ways to figure it out. Given your family history, I would lean into the celiac question and see what you can find out. (I have close friends with celiac disease and the transformation when gluten was strictly eliminated is astounding.) One girl went from sickly and hair falling out, plus difficult behavior, to tall, hardy, and an absolute picture of health a couple years later. And she was diagnosed by a knowledgeable doctor outside of US, in an area where celiacs disease is common, whereas here no one had a clue.

As for eating ideas in general: One of my other kids is low appetite (healthy and ok enough) but super skinny. For lunches, I make sure he has a fruit he likes and always do a home baked good that is healthy but fattening (like the muffin ideas above) but otherwise, let him do whatever he wants: cheese and crackers, sun butter (too bad yours doesn't like it!), bagel and cream cheese, pasta, whatever. When he comes home I make sure I have loads of cashews, peanuts, pistachios, almonds, etc, handy for snacking. Also he has started to drink the vanilla Orgain Kids Protein shakes. And yes I have full-fat chocolate milk. It's a challenge!

[Anonymous]

If she has an IEP you can request accommodations for extended lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she has an IEP you can request accommodations for extended lunch.

She is a teen - come on now