What to pack for lunch at camp?

[Anonymous]

Early July and I am already out of ideas. They get lunch included at school, so I am not used to packing lunches, and kids would not be interested in what I used to eat as a kid (think PBJ and tuna sandwiches). They do not like sandwiches at all but will do PB crackers. Want to pack fresh summer fruits and veggies but some do not travel well.

I do not have icepacks but could get them.

Please help!!

[Anonymous]

Leftovers: Cold pasta, pizza, quesadillas, hard boiled eggs

Pasta salad, ham or turkey roll-ups, sandwiches on "fun" bread like pitas or bagels are sometimes more popular, homemade lunchables with crackers, cheese and tiny cold cut squares.

Fruits and vegs: apple slices, baby carrots, sliced berries, grapes, whole apricot or plum, grape tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon wedges.

Snacks and sides: raisins, pickles, yogurt squeezers, jello cups, olives, crackers, veggie sticks, pirate booty, seaweed snacks, babybel cheese, mini muffins.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Wow, thanks! I am at work but can pick up some of these, plus appropriate containers, on the way home.

My brain is just tired, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Wow, thanks! I am at work but can pick up some of these, plus appropriate containers, on the way home.

My brain is just tired, I guess.

Happy to help. I also am spoiled rotten by school lunch that my kids actually like, so I made a huge list of foods and had them score them from Delicious Would Eat Every Day to Horrible Poison and worked out some options from there.

[Anonymous]

My kids don't like cold stuff that much but I love these bags for cold food (PackIt Freezable Classic Lunch Box). My kids hate sandwiches so although I will sometimes force them to have turkey & cheese or PB&J/tuna (which they love but I limit bz of mercury in tuna) I often pack cold grilled meat or sushi (california rolls so it's not raw).

I also love these thermoses for keeping food hot (Stainless King™ Vacuum Insulated 16 oz Food Jar). My kids like tortellini or spaghetti with meatballs. I sometimes make them quesadillas if I don't have a morning meeting - wrap them in foil & put them in a hot mitt.

[Anonymous]

These are by far the best ice packs (yes they are made for storing breastmilk in bottles):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FL5090/

They will keep anything cold for hours and hours. Just pack what yours kids like. I pack a sandwich sometimes, or other times not. I pack some snacks, raisins, apple sauce, fruit snacks, yogurt, bell peppers, anything

[Anonymous]

I pack frozen peas and I assume they thaw in time for lunch and they always get eaten. We brain-stormed ideas with my son and his ideas were cheese-and-crackers, yogurt tubes (you freeze them and then apparently they thaw by lunchtime but they're full of sugar) and sun-butter sandwiches. I've tried baby carrots/string beans and hummus but those come back uneaten. We do send string cheese along with any other food and those always get eaten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I pack frozen peas and I assume they thaw in time for lunch and they always get eaten. We brain-stormed ideas with my son and his ideas were cheese-and-crackers, yogurt tubes (you freeze them and then apparently they thaw by lunchtime but they're full of sugar) and sun-butter sandwiches. I've tried baby carrots/string beans and hummus but those come back uneaten. We do send string cheese along with any other food and those always get eaten.

My son won't eat fruit, so I pack several frozen veggies this way and he always eats them. I also pack lightly steamed broccoli, carrots, and green beans this way, too. For some reason, he's more likely to eat things that have been steamed than raw. And not steamed to death. Those get too soggy by lunch.

My son likes turkey pepperoni slices and brie cheese slices. Sometimes I throw in a half of a hard cooked egg.

Pro-Bugs kefir, which are like yogurt, but have even more probiotics in them. If you haven't tried them, you could try them just for a little variety.

My son likes barbecue shredded chicken. I pack the meat, heated, in a thermos funtainer, and he assembles it on a roll at school/camp. Haven't sent that recently because it's so hot out.

He does like sandwiches, though. However, perhaps cutting them into four squares and/or removing the crusts may make them seem more fun? I send grilled cheese sticks like this, too.

[Anonymous]

We freeze juice boxes and use those instead of ice to keep yogurt or string cheese cold. One kid gets a little cranky about the juice not always thawing entirely before lunch when it's in an insulated bag, but I'd rather have them drink a little extra water and instead When it's ridiculously hot, we'll do sunbutter crackers (with whole grain crackers - check to make sure they're not super high in sugar), a yogurt, some random veggies and some random fruit. We usually keep a small container of of raisins/almonds/banana chips in their lunches too. It's not a favorite, but if they're hungry after everything else, it's helpful to have in there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We freeze juice boxes and use those instead of ice to keep yogurt or string cheese cold. One kid gets a little cranky about the juice not always thawing entirely before lunch when it's in an insulated bag, but I'd rather have them drink a little extra water and instead When it's ridiculously hot, we'll do sunbutter crackers (with whole grain crackers - check to make sure they're not super high in sugar), a yogurt, some random veggies and some random fruit. We usually keep a small container of of raisins/almonds/banana chips in their lunches too. It's not a favorite, but if they're hungry after everything else, it's helpful to have in there.

Banana chips are extremely high in sugar.

[Anonymous]

Today: hard boiled egg, cheese stick, grape tomatoes, baguette with butter, blueberries/strawberries, yogurt tube, granola bar.