-no peanut butter
-nut free
-able to eat in a short period of time
-stay fresh for a few hours out of the fridge
-be interesting enough for my son to eat
-something that doesn't need heating up
-be healthy
The problem with the school lunches for me is the main course part of the lunch. I'm not a fan of the everything comes in a package kind of lunch. I know how much salt and preservatives are in those. The only kind of sandwich my son really loves is peanut butter and banana. Great for home, banned from school. He doesn't really like lunch meats (though he will eat one of those sandwiches once in a while) so the traditional sandwich takes a backseat. At home we eat a lot of hot lunches, grilled cheese, tomato soup, chicken noodle soup, macaroni, mini pizzas, etc. Some of those I know I can make and heat and send in a thermos (provided the thermos doesn't leak everywhere).
I know I'm not the only mom struggling for good solutions here. I'd love to hear what other moms have come up with. As we find winning lunches, I'll post them on this blog, hoping to help inspire some of the rest of you. I'd love to hear what winning lunches you have in the comments section too!
Day 1 Lunch
-hummus and pita bread
-sliced strawberries
-vanilla yogurt
-dried fruit snacks
-orange juice
I pack lunches for my Abigail daily when we go out and about and she's really picky and doesn't like sandwiches. I do lots of little things and have gotten some great ideas from this blog. I especially like the pizza pockets and I've discovered my daughter will eat anything in a fun shape and with a toothpick in it. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAs of this year, I'm making 3 lunches for school days, with 3 kids who all have different likes and dislikes. Some of the things we do:
ReplyDelete- homemade pizza pockets (which are just fine and tasty at room temperature)
- jam sandwiches on homemade bread
- cheese sticks or frozen yogurt tubes (to add protein to the aforementioned jam sandwiches)
- homemade muffins, sweet or savory
- home cut "lunchables" My kids don't like lunch meat in sandwiches, but cut some ham up and serve with crackers in a container, and they are happy
- leftovers or soup in a thermos. There are some great thermoses out on the market. A metal interior wall, and preheating with boiling water for about 10 minutes, and lunch stays hot
- my oldest loves cut up apples, tossed with a sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon - hides the apples turning brown, and he thinks it's a fancy dessert
Veggie sushi rolls also travel well if your kids like them. Other lunch foods that travel well are boiled eggs. Pasta or grain salads. Sometimes I make potato salad for Andrew with really soft tofu mixed with dijon mustard for the sauce-I may have added a little sour cream I can't remember (doesn't spoil like mayo).
ReplyDeleteI'm horrible at this! My daughter normally get turkey, cheese, a veggie and some gold fish. I'm going to try the hummus.
ReplyDelete