Anonymous wrote:I've never heard of this and a quick google search yields hot meals for kids, so someone will get rich off of this soon enough.

Here's my EASY strategy which I developed from being a working mom with a kid who has finicky (not picky or restricted, necessarily) tastes and doesn't like "main courses" for school lunch. Basically, I rely on a lot of pre-packaged stuff and throw it in a box. If I have washed fruit/veg in the fridge, clean containers and lunch boxes, and can make a sandwich that takes 20 seconds (even the night before) it takes me less than 90 seconds to make lunch. No matter what, I know he eats it (say what you want about super duper healthy lunches...many go straight in the trash).

We do:

1 drink: we alternate between water, seltzer, spindrift, or occasionally smoothies (Odwalla, etc...) or apple juice or OJ

2 fruits or veggies: 2 clementines, small apple, blueberries, grapes, washed snap peas, mini cucumbers, my kid likes lettuce, whatever works. We also like dried or dehydrated fruits such as dehydrated strawberries, mango strips, or TJ's fruit leathers. Pick any 2.

1 savory carb: pretzels, chips, nuts, etc...

1 sweet treat: rice Krispy treat, cookie, candy, don't care.

1 sort of main hopefully with protein: usually a bagel, sometimes a soft pretzel, often a sandwich which I can make the night before (only chicken + lettuce on small roll), uncrustable or organic hot pocket or pepperoni roll or whatever is your thing. Hummus cup works. Or Guac. Or cheese cubes. Whatever. Truly.

Some will say this has no protein or calcium. Yeah. It doesn't have a lot. But the kid eats eggs or bacon and always milk for breakfast and is home at 3 for snacks, so we're good. No biggie. I just want him to eat at lunch, which he does.

Also:
- Have 2-3 lunch boxes so you don't have to wash/clean every single day if you are busy or your kid is bad about putting it out until the morning.
- Have several ice packs frozen in case you slip up on that.

Anonymous wrote:I've never heard of this and a quick google search yields hot meals for kids, so someone will get rich off of this soon enough.

Here's my EASY strategy which I developed from being a working mom with a kid who has finicky (not picky or restricted, necessarily) tastes and doesn't like "main courses" for school lunch. Basically, I rely on a lot of pre-packaged stuff and throw it in a box. If I have washed fruit/veg in the fridge, clean containers and lunch boxes, and can make a sandwich that takes 20 seconds (even the night before) it takes me less than 90 seconds to make lunch. No matter what, I know he eats it (say what you want about super duper healthy lunches...many go straight in the trash).

We do:

1 drink: we alternate between water, seltzer, spindrift, or occasionally smoothies (Odwalla, etc...) or apple juice or OJ

2 fruits or veggies: 2 clementines, small apple, blueberries, grapes, washed snap peas, mini cucumbers, my kid likes lettuce, whatever works. We also like dried or dehydrated fruits such as dehydrated strawberries, mango strips, or TJ's fruit leathers. Pick any 2.

1 savory carb: pretzels, chips, nuts, etc...

1 sweet treat: rice Krispy treat, cookie, candy, don't care.

1 sort of main hopefully with protein: usually a bagel, sometimes a soft pretzel, often a sandwich which I can make the night before (only chicken + lettuce on small roll), uncrustable or organic hot pocket or pepperoni roll or whatever is your thing. Hummus cup works. Or Guac. Or cheese cubes. Whatever. Truly.

Some will say this has no protein or calcium. Yeah. It doesn't have a lot. But the kid eats eggs or bacon and always milk for breakfast and is home at 3 for snacks, so we're good. No biggie. I just want him to eat at lunch, which he does.

Also:
- Have 2-3 lunch boxes so you don't have to wash/clean every single day if you are busy or your kid is bad about putting it out until the morning.
- Have several ice packs frozen in case you slip up on that.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not looking forward to packing school lunches this year, and would prefer to avoid school lunches (most days) based on the quality of the food. Has anyone tried any of those "organic, free range, blah blah blah" food delivery services that are specifically geared towards kids? Do your kids actually eat them? Are they packaged in a ton of plastic? Any advice on ones worth trying or ones to avoid?

I would love to outsource healthy-ish school lunches, at least for a couple of days a week!