What do non-Americans pack their kids for lunch?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leftovers from our regular dinners. Same thing the adults eat.

^^ this. Asian here. Kids eat the same as adults, once they have teeth. Packed lunches are leftovers or extras of food made that day. i.e. cook would make lunch in the morning, and kids would eat that at school that day.

We would never dream of packing a peanut butter sandwich, potato chips, or even juice. That's junk.

Really? A good source of fats and protein combined with whole grains you're going to call junk compared to say, the carbohydrate bomb someone else listed earlier of dumplings and white rice?

If you go to most of Asia, they all eat white rice. And they are generally less over weight than our pbj eating US kids. BTW, my kids eat pbj and white rice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rice pilaf, beef stroganoff, buckwheat w/mushrooms, or whatever leftovers we had from dinner. I use thermos to keep it warm until lunch.
As for embarrassment - my kids embrace their heritage, not embarrassed by it. So, even though some kids @ school think Russian version of potato salad stink, my kids beg me to make it just so they can have it for lunch.

Recipe please? Might be a nice surprise for my Russian DH (who can't even boil water )!

[Anonymous]

European/South Asian family here.

Letftover dinner in a thermos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leftovers from our regular dinners. Same thing the adults eat.

^^ this. Asian here. Kids eat the same as adults, once they have teeth. Packed lunches are leftovers or extras of food made that day. i.e. cook would make lunch in the morning, and kids would eat that at school that day.

We would never dream of packing a peanut butter sandwich, potato chips, or even juice. That's junk.

Really? A good source of fats and protein combined with whole grains you're going to call junk compared to say, the carbohydrate bomb someone else listed earlier of dumplings and white rice?

If you go to most of Asia, they all eat white rice. And they are generally less over weight than our pbj eating US kids. BTW, my kids eat pbj and white rice.

I love how the jam magically disappears from the nutritional breakdown of a PBJ to prove a point.

good source of fats and protein combined with whole grains

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Indian, and our kids have taken ada rolls (ada is a lentil + rice pancake rolled up with grated cheese), besan chilla rolls (chickpea flour + semolina flour pancakes), chapati rolls (I spread cream cheese on the chapatis and often put chicken nuggets or chicken kababs in them--the kids love them!). Our kids have refused to take rice, so it's typically easy to eat foods that I pack.
The kids also take the usual mac and cheese, pasta, grilled cheese sandwiches etc...

New poster.

Can you provide recipes for the ada rolls and chapati rolls?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Puerto Rican and used to be embarrassed by the flan and leftover rice and beans in my lunches.

My kid is a mix of Polish, German, and Irish and she'll happily eat rice and beans every day of the week (sometimes with cheese quesadilla or shredded chicken). Love it, so cheap and easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leftovers from our regular dinners. Same thing the adults eat.

^^ this. Asian here. Kids eat the same as adults, once they have teeth. Packed lunches are leftovers or extras of food made that day. i.e. cook would make lunch in the morning, and kids would eat that at school that day.

We would never dream of packing a peanut butter sandwich, potato chips, or even juice. That's junk.

Really? A good source of fats and protein combined with whole grains you're going to call junk compared to say, the carbohydrate bomb someone else listed earlier of dumplings and white rice?

If you go to most of Asia, they all eat white rice. And they are generally less over weight than our pbj eating US kids. BTW, my kids eat pbj and white rice.

I love how the jam magically disappears from the nutritional breakdown of a PBJ to prove a point.

good source of fats and protein combined with whole grains

PBJ = sugar + fat + more sugar with very little by way of nutrients..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leftovers from our regular dinners. Same thing the adults eat.

^^ this. Asian here. Kids eat the same as adults, once they have teeth. Packed lunches are leftovers or extras of food made that day. i.e. cook would make lunch in the morning, and kids would eat that at school that day.

We would never dream of packing a peanut butter sandwich, potato chips, or even juice. That's junk.

Really? A good source of fats and protein combined with whole grains you're going to call junk compared to say, the carbohydrate bomb someone else listed earlier of dumplings and white rice?

I'm the PP who listed rice and dumplings for my kid's lunch. We eat rice almost every day. White rice! And the dumplings are ground meat (either beef or chicken) with grated vegetables (carrots, onions and squash). I can fit three in his thermos. He also gets fruit and a Hershey's kiss. But honestly, what is wrong with this lunch?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rice pilaf, beef stroganoff, buckwheat w/mushrooms, or whatever leftovers we had from dinner. I use thermos to keep it warm until lunch.
As for embarrassment - my kids embrace their heritage, not embarrassed by it. So, even though some kids @ school think Russian version of potato salad stink, my kids beg me to make it just so they can have it for lunch.

Recipe please? Might be a nice surprise for my Russian DH (who can't even boil water )!

Oh, there are as many recipes as cooks (same for borsch :wink
sound about right - http://www.food.com/recipe/salad-olivier-russian-potato-salad-517429
Comments from native:
- you can replace boiled chicken with other meat - ham, or even bologna (I like boiled beef tongue, but it's a bit extreme for most Americans).
- green peas - use canned one, they taste better in salad
- dill is optional
- might use sweet onion rather than green
- you can add tart apple like Granny Smith, peeled and diced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rice pilaf, beef stroganoff, buckwheat w/mushrooms, or whatever leftovers we had from dinner. I use thermos to keep it warm until lunch.
As for embarrassment - my kids embrace their heritage, not embarrassed by it. So, even though some kids @ school think Russian version of potato salad stink, my kids beg me to make it just so they can have it for lunch.

Recipe please? Might be a nice surprise for my Russian DH (who can't even boil water )!

Oh, there are as many recipes as cooks (same for borsch :wink
sound about right - http://www.food.com/recipe/salad-olivier-russian-potato-salad-517429
Comments from native:
- you can replace boiled chicken with other meat - ham, or even bologna (I like boiled beef tongue, but it's a bit extreme for most Americans).
- green peas - use canned one, they taste better in salad
- dill is optional
- might use sweet onion rather than green
- you can add tart apple like Granny Smith, peeled and diced.

Thank you! Looks delish !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leftovers from our regular dinners. Same thing the adults eat.

^^ this. Asian here. Kids eat the same as adults, once they have teeth. Packed lunches are leftovers or extras of food made that day. i.e. cook would make lunch in the morning, and kids would eat that at school that day.

We would never dream of packing a peanut butter sandwich, potato chips, or even juice. That's junk.

Really? A good source of fats and protein combined with whole grains you're going to call junk compared to say, the carbohydrate bomb someone else listed earlier of dumplings and white rice?

If you go to most of Asia, they all eat white rice. And they are generally less over weight than our pbj eating US kids. BTW, my kids eat pbj and white rice.

I love how the jam magically disappears from the nutritional breakdown of a PBJ to prove a point.

good source of fats and protein combined with whole grains

PBJ = sugar + fat + more sugar with very little by way of nutrients..

Actually, peanut butter is a really good source of nutrients (Good fat, fiber, protein, and minimal to no sugar). Are you one of those people who buys everything 'low-fat' to be healthy??? Kids need fats. White rice (or bread) is what makes American kids fat. Not fat from peanuts.

In our house, "peanut butter sandwich" = peanut butter on whole grain bread. There's no "jam" or jelly in the equation; that would be a "peanut butter and jelly sandwich". Our PB also has nothing in it but nuts...so...no sugar.

[Anonymous]

West African here : my kids lunch is usually food from my country as she doesn't like a lot of American food. So lots of soups, sauces , rice , cooked ripe plaintain , corn based meal . With a fruit and vegetable and water . I just pack anything that must be eaten warm in a thermos . There is the occasional sandwich for when lunch must be taken on a field trip

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leftovers from our regular dinners. Same thing the adults eat.

^^ this. Asian here. Kids eat the same as adults, once they have teeth. Packed lunches are leftovers or extras of food made that day. i.e. cook would make lunch in the morning, and kids would eat that at school that day.

We would never dream of packing a peanut butter sandwich, potato chips, or even juice. That's junk.

Really? A good source of fats and protein combined with whole grains you're going to call junk compared to say, the carbohydrate bomb someone else listed earlier of dumplings and white rice?

If you go to most of Asia, they all eat white rice. And they are generally less over weight than our pbj eating US kids. BTW, my kids eat pbj and white rice.

I love how the jam magically disappears from the nutritional breakdown of a PBJ to prove a point.

good source of fats and protein combined with whole grains

If you read the bolded, it just says peanut butter sandwich. Which is a thing in many families, no jelly/jam needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am Indian and my kids craft the menu. It is a mix of Indian, Mexican, American and Italian food.

1) Spiced Rava Idli with coconut flakes and veggis.
2) Veggi upma and bread upma'
3) Stuffed sandwich in sandwich maker with veggies (spiced sauted veggies, cheese and potatoes.
4) Stuffed sandwich with cooked spiced minced chicken or lamb with mint chutney
5) Mac and Cheese in a thermos
6) Hot dogs
7) Quesadilla
8) Pizza
9) Spaghetti and meatballs
10) Paneer and veggi burritos
11) Chicken Biryani
12) Rolled stuffed parantha.
13) Egg salad sandwich
14) Ham sandwich
15) Grilled cheese sandwich
16) French toast
17) Chicken nuggets

Also as sides - fruits, raw veggis with dips, cheese sticks, yogurt and rice pudding etc.

I have also packed breakfast sandwiches from McDonalds at times because my kid loves it

This is an impressive list! Your kids get waaaay more variety than the kids who buy every day get. Good job!

[Anonymous]

OP here- wow! this is the first time I checked responses since I originally posted this morning. What a great bunch of responses! It's also interesting to see the diversity of DCUM'ers. I'm "American" (blended like a smoothie), and husband is foreign-born, and one child eats everything and the other eats nothing. I will be writing out a list of things people here have listed for their kids' lunch boxes, and have my kids circle what sounds interesting to them. So tired of stuffing the same old sandwich, chips, drink into their boxes, and also want them to get better nutrition from things like beans. Good luck everybody in the new school year!