Lunches look fine except for cereal. Snacks look less fine. I stick with mostly fruit + a small treat

Home-cooked chicken or turkey breast or occasionally steak or meatball (whatever is left over from dinner), cut into small pieces ahead of time, with a small container of ketchup; strawberries, grapes, or clementine; piece of bread (my kids love challah); and either sliced cucumber, celery, or homemade popcorn, or once a week, a cookie. (They get nightly dessert so the lunch treat is extra!)

Sometimes “ants on a log” (celery with PB and raisins) or sunbutter sandwich instead of the dinner leftovers.

My other kid is much pickier and basically eats sunbutter and jelly Sandwich, some cheese slices, and fruit for lunch every day.

Unfortunately the after care feeds them truly awful snacks. Like chips and cookies and go-gurts in unlimited quantities.

Thermos of chili or hearty soup with carrots/celery or whatever veg on the side.

My kid is into dolmas and roasted seaweed and trail mix and pita chips with either salsa, hummus or avocado, blueberries, bell pepper, mandarins, stuff like that.

That’s a lot of nitrates, OP. I really try to avoid any processed meat even though it makes things harder especially with the annoying peanut butter bans. We do a lot of hummus + veg, lentils, nuts, cream cheese and jelly, various cheeses, black beans with sour cream, spinach strawberry muffins or egg cup muffins.

Anonymous wrote:I’d skip the cereal because it’s not filling and most of it is sugary. The rest of it sounds fine.
My kid generally has a PBJ on whole grain bread. Fruit of raw veg , nuts( or chips or crackers) and 2 cookies.
On days I’m off she takes a thermos with rice and beans or Bare Naked chicken bites. With veggies/fruit and the 2 cookies.

On a side note… I feel like people use the words toss, throw, grab, a lot when talking about food/snacks. Not sure why…. We don’t throw food or grab food in our house.

I use grab because he can grab the bag from a designated shelf. He doesn't have to prep anything, no washing, chopping, portioning, or sealing. Grab and go.

So a 4-8yo normal growing child requires 19g of protein a day.
5 Perdue chicken nuggets is 12g.
If your kid has an egg for breakfast that’s plenty for the entire day.

I’d skip the cereal because it’s not filling and most of it is sugary. The rest of it sounds fine.
My kid generally has a PBJ on whole grain bread. Fruit of raw veg , nuts( or chips or crackers) and 2 cookies.
On days I’m off she takes a thermos with rice and beans or Bare Naked chicken bites. With veggies/fruit and the 2 cookies.

On a side note… I feel like people use the words toss, throw, grab, a lot when talking about food/snacks. Not sure why…. We don’t throw food or grab food in our house.

We can't do peanut butter at our school. And my kids don't like sandwiches or wraps. We do pasta and chicken. Or rice and daal (lentils) or chicken curry. Or a poke bowl - rice, smoked salmon, sweet soy sauce, and seaweed chips.

None of the other options they'll eat are particularly healthy.

I think the more important thing is does your kid eat it or throw it away? I’ve packed a few test lunches for picnics to see what they really eat. And I’ve been on field trips enough to see so much food gets tossed. A whole wheat roll up wouldn’t cut it/would be soggy by lunch time.

I do
Dino chicken nuggets or meatballs with dipping sauce.
Sliced apples.
Cream cheese and jelly on a roll.
Cheese and ritz crackers.

For snack I do a whole milk yogurt cup (brown cow) and an applesauce packet or mozzarella cheese stick.

I also always include a freezer pack too for some reason more food gets eaten (even the hot stuff)

I usually add a small yogurt or cheese stick along with PB&J to up the protein. DD also likes mac & cheese, pesto tortellini, or chicken noodle soup in her thermos.

OP these are ok. I would definitely add more protein. Skip the cereal.

We also do multigrain pita chips and hummus.

That looks like a solid lunch to me.

What do you pack for lunch? This is what I do. I don't really think about pushing protein but maybe I should?


-Whole wheat tortilla PBJ roll up, carrots, an orange, small container of cereal

-Veggie fried rice, side of premade dumplings or sausage, fruit

-Crackers, cheddar, pepperoni slices, cucumber, 1/2 apple



Snack is usually something quick he can grab. They get 2 snack times per day.
-roll of crackers
-cup of organic O's cereal
-piece of fruit
-nut free granola bar