School lunch. Easy.

Scrambled egg rolled up in a tortilla. That's my newest fave for DD.

My 5th grader wants the same thing every day: PB&J sandwich with applesauce, granola bar, and a piece of fruit or vegetable. Sometimes we substitute pasta or dinner leftovers for the PB&J.

My 1st grader like a bento box with various things: one meat (usually sliced or cubed ham or chicken) and/or hard boiled egg; a vegetable (usually cherry tomatoes or snap peas); some crackers or a small chunk of bread. I put a piece of fruit in with it. He sometimes gets a sandwich instead.

Sigh. I remember eating the same thing everyday for lunch growing up: PBJ Sandwich, apple, chips or cookies.

Quesadillas
Bagel sandwiches, bagel pizzas
Dumplings
Rolled up turkey / ham w/ crackers
Mini tacos (my kids love the one from trader joe's too)
Devil eggs
Egg salad w/ crackers

Sometimes I just change up the type of bread i use for sandwiches and the kids get super excited. eg. use Hawaiian rolls, mini croissants, hoagie rolls, pita pockets

Slices of smoked salmon
Hard boiled eggs
Cold plain noodles (shells, bow ties, rigatoni, etc.)
Pomagrante seeds
Bamboo rollers
Cocktail cucumbers
Corn on cob (supermarket frozen)
Container of dry cereal w/ a milk box to add at lunchtime
Crackers & cheese
Basic fruits (grapes, bananas. Apples)
Veggie combo (red peppers, artist, etc w/ hummus)
Chopped beets

My kids wont eat sandwiches and refuse to buy lunch so it's been challenging for me

Hot dog
Leftover pizza
Carrots
Yogurt tube
Fruit
Mac cheese
Spaghetti and sauce
Turkey/ cheese cubes with pancake it wafffle

We have one child. Sixth grader. He usually wants leftovers if we have them. If not we have packed the following:

Sandwich with fruit & veg and a snack
Hot dog or corn dog with fruit & veg and a snack
Chicken with fruit & veg and a snack
Sliders with fruit & veg and a snack
Pizza or pizza rolls with fruit & veg and a snack
Mac n cheese or pasta with fruit & veg and a snack
Salad with grilled chicken with bread or crackers and yogurt or string cheese maybe a cookie or candy
Cereal with milk with fruit & veg
Waffles with Nutella with fruit & veg
Veggie burger with fruit & veg and a snack
Mini tacos (from Trader Joe's frozen section) with fruit & veg and a snack
I always send a milk too.

Anonymous wrote:We use leftovers for dinners, so we like to have something else for lunch.

Can you just make homemade lunchables? A bento box with ham, crackers, fruit, dessert. Done.

I'm an adult and do this for myself a lot.

We do a lot of roll-ups: turkey and sliced cheese rolled up in a whole wheat tortilla and cut in half, with mustard or hummus spread on tortilla; or black beans, shredded cheese, salsa, diced tomatoes, and chopped mixed greens rolled up in the tortilla. I've even done sun butter and jelly rolled up on a tortilla.

If your DD likes lunchables, maybe she'd like more of a bento box-style lunch with a few bites of several different things.

We also do:

carrots and hummus or whole wheat crackers and hummus
clementines
apple slices with sun butter (or PB if you can have that at your school)
Snap-peas (somewhat healthy alternative to chips)
mini muffins (you can add veggies to them like zucchini and carrots)
dinner leftovers
chicken salad (on a tortilla, bread, or by itself)

We use leftovers for dinners, so we like to have something else for lunch.

Can you just make homemade lunchables? A bento box with ham, crackers, fruit, dessert. Done.

cheese and crackers with some veggies, some nuts/ roasted chickpeas/sunflower seeds for protein

I have also been known to pack a cereal bar instead of a sandwich

I've done that too, when we have leftovers. Guess I need to start making larger portions!

I pack leftovers from last night's dinner. Is that not a thing?

Title says it all -- let's make a list we can all use.

I'm a working mom who has continued making lunches all summer while DC has been in various camps. (Does it ever end?) I think even DC is getting tired of what's in the lunchbox of her other option at many of the camps, cheese pizza. But I feel limited. She's actually a good eater (though she does get a little picky about foods she doesn't think are kept cold enough), but lately has only wanted lunchables (ick) and doesn't even eat the cheese (too mushy, mom!). I refuse to pay for them, when all she's eating is the ham! She's in first grade, if it matters.

I have done many things:
soup
pastas in various ways
ham/pastrami
chicken nuggets
taco salad
olives/hummus
pb&j

Please help me make a list of good, healthy options for the lunchbox that we can all benefit from. Thank you!