What do you pack for school lunches?

[Muslima]

My DD is in K and was buying lunch at the cafeteria these past few weeks but now decided she wants to bring her lunch every day. I am lost at what to pack. Could you please share recipes, tips, and or what you usually pack for lunch? I also don't want her to eat a "cold" lunch every day, so ideas for hot lunches are also good. And if you pack hot lunches, what do you use to keep them warm? TIA

[Anonymous]

All kinds of random shit. Each day I send some form of fruit and some form of veggie. Sometimes soup in a thermos, falafel, mini pita pockets with hummus, sandwich of pb&j or tomato and avocado, turkey, etc. cheese and crackers although she dislikes warm cheese.

[Muslima]

Anonymous wrote:All kinds of random shit. Each day I send some form of fruit and some form of veggie. Sometimes soup in a thermos, falafel, mini pita pockets with hummus, sandwich of pb&j or tomato and avocado, turkey, etc. cheese and crackers although she dislikes warm cheese.

Thank you. Besides P&J sandwiches or turkey sandwiches, what other sandwiches do you make?

[Anonymous]

Pasta, hard boiled eggs, cheese, crackers

I sent a quesadilla, but he didn't like it.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Last nights leftovers packed in a thermos - ranges from pasta, to curry, to roast chicken, fish, hamburger etc. A fruit or vegetable - apples, carrots, cucumbers, banana. Milk with an ice pack.

[Anonymous]

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!!

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

I do a couscous quite a lot and it works well. YOu can pretty much throw anything in.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Muslima]

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.

[Muslima]

Anonymous wrote:Last nights leftovers packed in a thermos - ranges from pasta, to curry, to roast chicken, fish, hamburger etc. A fruit or vegetable - apples, carrots, cucumbers, banana. Milk with an ice pack.

Thank you!

[Muslima]

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