What are you packing for school lunches?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Peanut butter cups with pretzels and apples for dipping
Hot dogs
Banana pinwheels - spread PB on whole wheat tortilla, put whole banana on top, roll up and cut into slices
Lunch meat and cheese roll ups, cut up on and skewered on lollipop sticks
French toast sticks
Cinnamon bread or bagels with cream cheese
Frozen yogurt sticks
Lots of fruit
I include a veggie, but unless it's carrots it's completely ignored

I wish my kids would eat leftovers

Are you in DC? I didn't know any schools around here still allowed nuts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Peanut butter cups with pretzels and apples for dipping
Hot dogs
Banana pinwheels - spread PB on whole wheat tortilla, put whole banana on top, roll up and cut into slices
Lunch meat and cheese roll ups, cut up on and skewered on lollipop sticks
French toast sticks
Cinnamon bread or bagels with cream cheese
Frozen yogurt sticks
Lots of fruit
I include a veggie, but unless it's carrots it's completely ignored

I wish my kids would eat leftovers

Are you in DC? I didn't know any schools around here still allowed nuts

Not the poster you quoted but both my kids go to DCPS schools (one HS and one elementary and they can both allow nuts).

These are my staples that I normally rotate through for my 5th grader.

Bagel
apple
pretzels
green olives
dill pickles
thermos with hot food (spaghetti, mac & cheese, plain pasta with butter/salt/pepper/garlic/cilantro - sometimes I add veggie chicken nuggets)
salmon burger (frozen patties from costco) sandwich
fish sandwich (use frozen fish patties)
veggie burger sandwich
cheese/crackers
peanuts
carrot sticks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do leftovers in a thermos with a side of fruit or a divided holder with various foods. Casseroles, pastas, homemade mac n cheese, soups, stews in thermos. The dividers help me avoid individual snack portions that are overpriced and also give me ideas that I normal wouldn't do because it can't serve in a ziplock bag.

some ideas:

deli meat/cheese, a little lettuce/tomato in a tortilla spread with a little mayo - make into pinwheels

whole wheat quarter waffles toasted and spread with cream cheese and strawberry jelly into a sandwich. I make a batch of Belgium waffles on the weekend and freeze them for quick breakfasts or use as bread for lunches.

make muffins on the weekend packed with fruit, diced veggies and some flax. Serve that with some cottage cheese and berries for an easy lunch.

Breakfast for lunch. Scrambled eggs in a thermos and side of turkey bacon and fruit.

If you aren't a weekend cooker, get the purdue chicken pieces for salad. Add them with a cheese stick, an apple and some pretzels.

Tuna salad with apples, raisins. Some crackers for dipping and a yogurt.

I also put a cooked turkey dog in hot water in the thermos, add a hot dog bug in a ziplock, a few packets of ketchup. She uses a fork to remove the hot dog and puts it on the bun. Her friends are envious. I will add a simple fruit and trail mix.


I was a slacker with my oldest but for my youngest, I refused to get a pin code for school. So I am forced to make lunch every day. She is almost finished 2nd and I haven't cracked yet. The food thermos and dividers really help. I also use a drink thermos everyday. Change it up between drinks. Water a lot, sometimes milk. OJ on breakfast for lunch days, chocolate milk and diluted juice here and there as a treat.

Food thermos:
http://www.amazon.com/THERMOS-Insulated-Stainless-10-Ounce-Charcoal/dp/B00LIRIZVU/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1463415347&sr=8-1&keywords=lunch+thermos

Divided lunch bins
http://www.amazon.com/EWEIS-HomeWares-Storage-Containers-Divided/dp/B01A0V4PFE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1463415864&sr=8-6&keywords=divided+lunch

Drinking thermos: No straws, nothing to clean. Older kids like it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UVFD6AU

I just boil the hot dog in the morning, toast the bun a bit, add ketchup to the bottom of the bun put the hot dog on top of the ketchup and wrap it in tin foil. My kid happily eats it at lunch. Maybe your kid will too, to make it simpler?

[Anonymous]

Child 1

Cheese sandwich
Carrot
Goldfish or a couple cookies


Child 2

Rice cake with PB
Fruit
Goldfish or a couple cookies


Child 3

Bagel
Fruit
Goldfish or a couple crackers

That is as fancy as we get!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chapati roll with cream cheese and veggies, chapati quesadilla with chicken and corn, black bean, onion
Vegetable pulao with yoghurt and chickpeas
Spinach dal and rice with cabbage thoran
Ravioli with pesto
Tomato, peanut and sesame rice with green beans, yoghurt and mint raita

Sides - crackers, roasted nuts, seaweed

mmm. do you make the chapatis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do leftovers in a thermos with a side of fruit or a divided holder with various foods. Casseroles, pastas, homemade mac n cheese, soups, stews in thermos. The dividers help me avoid individual snack portions that are overpriced and also give me ideas that I normal wouldn't do because it can't serve in a ziplock bag.

some ideas:

deli meat/cheese, a little lettuce/tomato in a tortilla spread with a little mayo - make into pinwheels

whole wheat quarter waffles toasted and spread with cream cheese and strawberry jelly into a sandwich. I make a batch of Belgium waffles on the weekend and freeze them for quick breakfasts or use as bread for lunches.

make muffins on the weekend packed with fruit, diced veggies and some flax. Serve that with some cottage cheese and berries for an easy lunch.

Breakfast for lunch. Scrambled eggs in a thermos and side of turkey bacon and fruit.

If you aren't a weekend cooker, get the purdue chicken pieces for salad. Add them with a cheese stick, an apple and some pretzels.

Tuna salad with apples, raisins. Some crackers for dipping and a yogurt.

I also put a cooked turkey dog in hot water in the thermos, add a hot dog bug in a ziplock, a few packets of ketchup. She uses a fork to remove the hot dog and puts it on the bun. Her friends are envious. I will add a simple fruit and trail mix.


I was a slacker with my oldest but for my youngest, I refused to get a pin code for school. So I am forced to make lunch every day. She is almost finished 2nd and I haven't cracked yet. The food thermos and dividers really help. I also use a drink thermos everyday. Change it up between drinks. Water a lot, sometimes milk. OJ on breakfast for lunch days, chocolate milk and diluted juice here and there as a treat.

Food thermos:
http://www.amazon.com/THERMOS-Insulated-Stainless-10-Ounce-Charcoal/dp/B00LIRIZVU/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1463415347&sr=8-1&keywords=lunch+thermos

Divided lunch bins
http://www.amazon.com/EWEIS-HomeWares-Storage-Containers-Divided/dp/B01A0V4PFE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1463415864&sr=8-6&keywords=divided+lunch

Drinking thermos: No straws, nothing to clean. Older kids like it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UVFD6AU

You're the coolest mom!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not American, and I think typical American lunches are absolutely disgusting. The sandwich bread is THE WORST.

We're lebanese...hommus, stuffed grape leaves, pickled vegetables, lentils and rice in a thermos, tabouli, various dried meats and cheeses, yogurt salad, leftover grilled chicken/lamb, olives, hard boiled eggs...basically mezze. I just empty the fridge of random stuff we have.

Thanks for sharing. I think your Lebanese lunch sounds disgusting.

Jesus...you couldn't just share your lunch suggestions without being a bitch about it?

OK. I should care, why?

It is not being a bitch stating that traditional American lunch is disgusting. It is. The bread and the processed slimy lunch meat? Nothing is fresh, just a bunch of garbage.

Are you not reading this thread? Is anyone here posting about these "disgusting" processed, white bread sandwiches you are complaining about?

[Anonymous]

I found that little metal bento boxes helped me get creative and also use more veggies and fruits to fill in the spaces. Leftovers are super handy. FWIW DD's school has a no nuts and a no dessert policy.

Recent lunches that my K student said she liked:
- dolmas, hummus, pita chips, cucumber & tomato, green & red grapes
- gardein "chicken" tenders, mini waffles, fresh green beans, small helping of mac & cheese, strawberries & blackberries
- tempeh "bacon," toast cut small, romaine, grape tomatoes, blueberries
- Brazilian cheese bread, frisee, lentils, avocado, peach
- refried black beans, baked sprouted tortilla chips, lettuce, grape tomatoes, kiwi berries
- sun butter "sandwiches" with apple slices for the "bread," sprouted grain bread grilled cheese sandwich cut into tiny squares, purple carrots, green cauliflower
- crispy quinoa patties, peas, pear
- zucchini pancakes, angel hair pasta w herbs & olive oil, green salad, apple

[Anonymous]

We purchase school lunch (catered DCPCS) a couple days per week. The other days we rotate between chicken nuggets/pasta/spaghetti, Annie's Mac & Cheese in food thermos. She will sometimes eat a turkey sandwich, but most times not. I also send goldfish, yogurt, cheezits, applesauce, tangerine, strawberries, grapes, veggie sticks, popcorn, small whole fruits, celery, cucumbers w/ dip.

I found that if I ask her what she wants in her lunch and let her "help" me fix it, she is more likely to eat it.

[Anonymous]

My son's favorite is taco salad. I mix his favorite taco fixings, heat, and put them in the thermos then send some tortilla chips. Anther favorite is meatballs in sauce in the thermos with some toasted French bread slices on the side.

[Anonymous]

For those who send something like leftover chicken, how do you send it? Heated and in a thermos? I don't think my kid would eat it cold.

[Anonymous]

Every public school allows nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Peanut butter cups with pretzels and apples for dipping
Hot dogs
Banana pinwheels - spread PB on whole wheat tortilla, put whole banana on top, roll up and cut into slices
Lunch meat and cheese roll ups, cut up on and skewered on lollipop sticks
French toast sticks
Cinnamon bread or bagels with cream cheese
Frozen yogurt sticks
Lots of fruit
I include a veggie, but unless it's carrots it's completely ignored

I wish my kids would eat leftovers

Are you in DC? I didn't know any schools around here still allowed nuts

Don't worry, allergic kids sit at a different table in a bubble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not American, and I think typical American lunches are absolutely disgusting. The sandwich bread is THE WORST.

We're lebanese...hommus, stuffed grape leaves, pickled vegetables, lentils and rice in a thermos, tabouli, various dried meats and cheeses, yogurt salad, leftover grilled chicken/lamb, olives, hard boiled eggs...basically mezze. I just empty the fridge of random stuff we have.

Thanks for sharing. I think your Lebanese lunch sounds disgusting.

Jesus...you couldn't just share your lunch suggestions without being a bitch about it?

OK. I should care, why?

It is not being a bitch stating that traditional American lunch is disgusting. It is. The bread and the processed slimy lunch meat? Nothing is fresh, just a bunch of garbage.

LOL how do you know what kind of bread it is?

Mine took a sandwich on whole grain bread. No idea what he put in it, he made it himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every public school allows nuts.

Simply not true. Our dcps elementary is nut free.