I think packing cream cheese with no ice would probably be fine if she's going to eat it within 4 hours or so. The thermos idea is also a good one.

I agree with PP who said jelly with bread is just not at all nutritious. Why do you have to give her jelly? If you can forego it altogether, that would be best. Will she eat a cream-cheese sandwich without jelly? If nothing else, I would personally give my kid a butter sandwich before a jelly sandwich. The jelly offers no nutritional value at all.

Maybe it's worth trying to pack something other than a sandwich. Does she like meat or cheese when not in sandwich form? Maybe you could pack bread and some cubes of cheese and slices/pieces of meat she could finger-eat.

Another idea might be to try "butters" other than peanut butter -- like almond butter or cashew butter or sunflower-seed butter. Personally, I think they all taste way worse than peanut butter (and I'm not a huge PB fan), but she may like one of them and not PB.

Anonymous wrote:My dd won't eat sandwiches at all. Sometimes she will eat cracker and cheese sandwiches, or I give her a slice of cheese, sliced cucumbers with ranch dressing, and orange and some gold fish.

Mine used to refuse sandwiches. Then one day I tried cutting them into shapes with cookie cutters... bingo! She will happily eat a turkey and cheese sandwich now, because it's in the shape of a snowman/candy cane/star/heart.

Put it on whole grain bread for a little more nutritional punch.

My mom packed cream cheese and jelly sandwiches for me as a kid with no ice pack. It tasted fine and I never got sick. I don't even know if they had ice packs back then.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It is a food quirk of DC (nothing can be too cold or too hot) so the ice pack makes the sandwich (bread) too cold. I will try the thermos idea though that may work better. Can I pack cream cheese without ice? No?

I would be fine packing cream cheese with no ice.

OP here. It is a food quirk of DC (nothing can be too cold or too hot) so the ice pack makes the sandwich (bread) too cold. I will try the thermos idea though that may work better. Can I pack cream cheese without ice? No?

My kid has a cream cheese sandwich most days since he isn't allowed to have PB.

Eating a jelly sandwich is eating carbs with sugar. So my thinking is that it would be unacceptable for anyone in my family. I send the girls with an ice packed lunch box and a bento box of different stuff. Hard-boiled egg, quinoa, cut up veggies, fruit, etc.

Anonymous wrote:I used to love cream cheese and jelly as a kid, and my youngest son (age 6) loves them now.

Is there any reason why you can't put an ice pack in your child's lunch box? One thing I do, to help keep lunches cold--I fill their water bottle with ice cubes then pour in a little water. They slowly melt as the morning goes on--by lunch time it's mostly water with a bit of ice, and all their food is still very cold. I pack yogurt, sandwiches with mayo, etc. every day and my kids always say their lunches are cold--A lot of time the leftovers/containers are still cold when they come home at the end of the day!

This is what my mom used to do when I was a kid. I loved Cream Cheese and Cucumber sandwiches, so I used to eat those at lunch at ll the time.

I hated sandwiches as a kid. My mom usually gave me leftovers in a thermos.

My dd won't eat sandwiches at all. Sometimes she will eat cracker and cheese sandwiches, or I give her a slice of cheese, sliced cucumbers with ranch dressing, and orange and some gold fish.

I used to love cream cheese and jelly as a kid, and my youngest son (age 6) loves them now.

Is there any reason why you can't put an ice pack in your child's lunch box? One thing I do, to help keep lunches cold--I fill their water bottle with ice cubes then pour in a little water. They slowly melt as the morning goes on--by lunch time it's mostly water with a bit of ice, and all their food is still very cold. I pack yogurt, sandwiches with mayo, etc. every day and my kids always say their lunches are cold--A lot of time the leftovers/containers are still cold when they come home at the end of the day!

Jelly keeps fine without an ice pack.

Why can't you use an ice pack?

I ate them when I was a kid because I hated peanut butter. Fast forward to making them for my oldest who also hates peanut butter and hates the other lunch options of cold meat, soup and grilled cheese as well. So my question is how unhealthy of an option is this and what alternative lunch/sandwich ideas can you share? I just stumbled across cream cheese and jelly online but have not tried it and I am not sure it will keep without refrigeration/ice packs.