Okay, wonderful moms out there. I need some help. School starts in three days (and my insides do a little lurch at the thought). After looking at the menu from the school, I spotted a few meals that I think Jakob might try, but as picky as he is I'll most likely be packing his lunch every day.On the few days last year that Jakob had to take a lunch (they do this flip-floppy thing with the kindergartners-don't ask), I would normally do a pb&j sandwich, string cheese, fruit snacks, a drink, and some kind of dessert/chocolate, if we had it. Something like that. But having that day after day? Bo-ring! I could go out on a limb with something as crazy as a pb&honey sandwich, or even -gasp!- a ham and cheese sandwich (whoa, there! the mind numbs at the possibilities!), but other than that...
So, what do you pack in your kids' lunches, so it's not the same thing every day?
11 comments:
I'm going to try more sack lunches this year but I have yet to come up with some new ideas. Creative school lunches is one of the topics that will be covered at our next enrichment (1st week of sept?) so I'll let you know if I get any good ideas. :)
Use all different kinds of bread: hamburger/hotdog buns, pita bread, rolls, english muffins, hoagie buns, bagels. You can put any kind of sandwich fillings in them. I have even put pb & j between two leftover waffles or pancakes. The single serving applesauce comes in some great yummy flavors!
All we do for Miss N is sack lunches, so I've had to get very creative. It's probably easier for me than you though because she'll eat just about anything. And I mean EAT, with fervor!
Some of our favorites are:
*tortillas with melted cheese, refried beans
*macaroni and cheese (made that morning and put in a thermos)
*mini pizzas made with flaky biscuits, cheese and pepperoni, she assembles them herself at school
*skewers with pieces of lunch meat rolled up or hot dogs and grapes, pineapple, cheese, etc
*cereal! she LOVES this. I just send her with a container full of cereal and then she buys her milk there at school, her friends tell her they wish they could have cereal for lunch!
There's a few ideas for you! Good luck. I'll be checking back to see what others say. We could all use more ideas!
wow, that cereal idea is GREAT lol. I'm going to be making all of Goobers lunches for school this year so the ideas help me too. :)
only ideas I have are turkey wraps, and maybe a slice of cold pizza every once in a while :P ... the kids not being able to heat the stuff is highly inhibiting on the idea front.
ALl of the ideas are fun...I keep it simple...a sandwich of their choosing, fresh fruit, maybe some cheese, a juice bag and whatever else I have on hand.
After working at an elementary school last year, I learned first hand how much is THROWN away by kids. They rarely eat half of what's sent from home or even bought at school. It was a real eye-opener.
I don't pack kids lunch, but i have to pack my own and I know what you mean about it getting boring.
I like to switch up the sides a lot, so even if i have the same sandwich, mixing the other stuff makes it more exciting.
Pretzels, fruit cups, frozen twinkies, fresh fruit, crackers and the occasional juice box keep things interesting for me :)
Oooh, I love all the above ideas. I think I'm going to be doing a lot of packing, since school lunch seems to be really expensive. I'm starting to freak out a little about school starting in a week. You guys start in three days! Argh!!
We do a lot of the same stuff, but here are a few more ideas. Frozen gogurts- they thaw and are still cool at lunchtime. Ethan loves the fruit in the jello- prebought or homemade. Jello pudding cups, or applesauce cups. Build your own lunchable- I put in townhouse crackers, cheese squares, and meat or pepperoni. Usually they get a drink box, half sandwich, fruit/chips, and a treat. My kids usually end up buying once a week which helps to mix things up a little. I also buy the ice packs that I can freeze and then put in the lunch- helps when some things need to stay cold.
The biggest trick is having them remember to bring the lunchbox back. I try to only use baggies or containers that they can throw away. Most of it never comes back.
For field trip days I send a real Lunchable. They think that is cool.
Good luck!
bento boxes are the new rage and super fun. www.lunchinabox.net has awesome ideas. HTH!
My mom used to make me a sandwich that I thought was the coolest thing ever she would take a hot dog bun for the bread and then a cheese stick and some ham/turkey she wrapped the ham/turkey around the cheese stick and stuck it in the bun! I loved it! I am not looking forward to trying to figure all this stuff out in the next year! Good luck!
Jonas isn't going to full day school yet and I'm sure I'll dread having to make him lunches!! He's so picky!!!
Anyway, I was trying to think of some things that could help you out anyway. I really like the cereal idea! Brynnan loves plain spaghetti noodles or sometimes I'll make Rotini noodles and put Italian salad dressing on it with tomatoes and what not. Jonas loves tortillas and cheese. Good luck!!
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