What do you make your kids to eat for lunch at school.

Besides a sandwich w/chips and or crackers....

They want us to bring an afternoon snack also...

My kids are very picky...

so the 1st day they got PB&J, cheez-it, 2 little cookies for snack at lunch and then at snack time they get raisens...and a drink


What are easy and cheep ideas.....its easy to make anything at home but for school I am lost...I want something good for them healthy...not sure if they needed a snack w/lunch...but they wont eat an apple they might eat a banana or apple sauce....I have no clue...any advise would help so much.

Thanks

 

its hard isn't it, we're not allowed the PB either. Main thingusually a sandwich or cold pizza bagels,snacks yogurt, granola bar, banana, oatmeal muffin, rice cakes, apple sauce, usually send one main thing and 3 snacks, oh and milk to drink, used to send water too but they said get out of water fountain.

 

My girls are younger, but I send them with
cottage cheese
yogurt (i have done the big one that i put in a divided contair with cookie pieces)
cheese sandwiches (including cold grill cheese)
hard boil eggs
pasta
hummas and veggies

You can get a metal thermos that you run under hot water and it will stay hot all day.

For snacks:
grapes
carrots
cucumbers
applesauce
strawberry
blueberrys


What do you feed them for lunch at home?

 

at home they eat mac n cheese, pb&j, hot dogs, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, mainly all hot things..thats why I wasnt sure..then I was thinking well if I give them yogurt rasins etc they will choke LOL!!! Thats me being a worried mommy..I am sure at 5 1/2 that wont happen but what if they get to playing and etc and it did....aaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwww I just need to stop worrying...

My kids are so picky..they dont like much fresh fruit or veggies all have to be cooked.....so I dont know if that would work or not..
I just dont know if I want them to have sandwich and chips /cracker every single day.

 

My girls eat a sandwich almost everyday at home. One of them has peanut putter and fluff or a turkey sandwich almost everyday! The also have ham & cheese, bologna, tuna, pepperoni, pb & j. They usually have fruit (grapes, strawberries, watermelon) and something crunchy (like pretzles,goldfish, Pirate's Booty, crackers, and occasionally chips). If they are still hungry, they can have a granola bar, Nutragrain bar, crackers, carrots and dip, an occasional cookie, muffin or banan bread. Other snacks, yogurt tubes, pudding, drinkable yogurt, cheese slices, pickels, chips and salsa

Other ideas- Potato salad, pasta salad, slices of ham, turkey, cheese served with crackers, cereal (in a bowl with a lid or in a ziplock bag and pack a bowl) and milk (they can ask for help pouring the milk if they need it), yogurt and granola, banana chips, fruit leather, cheese sticks, pretzle rods, crackers with peanut butter. Oh, one thing my kids love is "trail mix". Mix dry cereal (cheerios, usually), raisins, goldfish, dried cranberries, and a few chocolate chips ,M&Ms or mini marshmwllows together (anything, really). They love it , mainly because of the candy! :lol: But, I tell them if thye only eat the candy they won't get it the next time.

Ask them for ideas, and see if they notice what the other kids are eating. My kids always want the junk that the other kids are having (like cookies, chips, fruit snacks). I will let them have them once in a whiole. I try to offer healthy choices, but not deprive them. I think it's fair to let them have junk here and there.

I often leave a note in my kids lunch box, like once a week. I just put a little smiley face, or a cute sticker and write "I love you!". They love it! The other think I do is give them a bag of raisins and put in 5-6 brwom M&M's "hiding" in the bag. The think this is great! I like to do little special things to let them know I'm thinking of them. Sorry for getting off topic!

Oh, and I am so totally paranoid about them choking (Yes, at 5 1/2, too!). We are worry warts! Is this their first experience away from home?

Good luck!

 

Get a thermos. You can put mac and cheese in it. Will your kids eat chicken nuggets cold? If so that would make a good lunch.

 

Mine get a sandwich every day at school, either lunch meat/cheese or PBJ. They also get three other things -- some combination of yogurt, applesauce, grapes, raw veggies, raisins, granola bars, fruit leather, pretzels, cheese-its, string cheese, beef jerky, oyster crackers, Teddy Grahams. It is definitely boring, but they don't complain about it. Occasionally I'll toss in a cookie or two as well.

 

yes this is there 1st time away and its all day....

what is fruit leather????

Thanks so much for your ideas...it totally gives me some good ideas...

as far as nuggets what do you do...cook them in the micro then let them cool a bit wrap and go????

Thanks so much.

 

QUOTE
what is fruit leather????


It's a stick of fruit, pressed flat - about the size and shape of a piece of Monopoly money. Kind of like fruit roll-ups, but 100% fruit, a little thicker, and not rolled up. Target sells them in several flavors. I've also found organic ones at the grocery store. They make a healthy, fairly cheap snack.

 

Thanks for posting this question. My kids are going to a school-sponsored daycare for this summer. Lunches cost $4.00 so we will be brownbagging it.

Ideas I used years ago for brown bagging - Smuckers pre-made PB&J sandwiches, containers of fruit or applesauce, baggies of munchies (I like the idea of hiding M&Ms!). What I found was if I used too many convenience pre-made foods, the lunch ended up costing more than the $2.25 that school lunches cost.

I like the cottage cheese idea - using those re-usable/disposable tupperware-like containers.

I think the key is giving them what they like.

 

Thanks I will have to go find them at target...are they next to the fruit roll-ups....I did get them so pudding cups today and got some dried banna's and m&m's to put w/cheerios for tomorrow....

Thanks so much...

 

Some things in my girls lunches is:
pb&j or jelly and cream cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread
cream cheese on mini whole wheat bagels
soup (I heat it up and send it in in a thermos)
pb cracker sandwiches or cheese filled ones (I buy them or make them myself)

one side is yogurt that they usually get with the one of above items or jello that I made and put into containers

some snacks and I also use them as sides too are:
animal crackers (I have containers I put them in so I buy them in bulk)
cheez-its
string cheese
fruit snacks
raisins
yogurt covered raisins
pretzels
veggie straws (no preservatives or additives, from Costco I love these)
gold fish

 

Would they eat apples if they were sliced? My son won't touch an apple if I just send one in his lunch, but if I slice it up he'll eat it, and he'll love it if I send in a tiny container of peanut butter that he can dip the apple slices in. If you are wanting some ideas for other fruit you could try the little cups of peaches or mandarin oranges. Or how about a baggie full of berries, or grapes? My son also loves kiwi, cantaloupe and watermelon. I just put it all in a tupperware type container for him.

 

I pack lunches and it usually consists of:

sandwich- turkey or ham & cheese (not allowed to take pb&j/ fluff because of allergies)
juice
applesauce/ fruit cup
pretzels or baked cheetos/doritos
teddy grahams/ animal crackers

My two usually eat most of it at lunch and save something for snack.

 

Everyone else already mentioned what I've been packing Nadia for lunch, but for preschool, she got four things in her lunch every day:

Sandwich -- turkey & cheese, ham & cheese, pepperoni & cheese, or Sunbutter & jelly (PBJ not allowed)

Fruit -- grapes, sliced strawberries, apple slices (they do turn a little brown, but she never cared), cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple. Occasionally I'd send fruit leather or mandarin oranges or applesauce. She also loves those organic Fruitabu smooshed fruit roll-ups.

Munchie -- pretzels, Goldfish, baked chips, rice cakes, Pirate's Booty, popcorn, etc.

Thermos full of ice water with a splash of white grape juice (I like Thermos FooGo straw cups)


Sometimes instead of a sandwich, I'd roll lunch meat around large pretzel sticks, or I'd send cheese slices and pepperoni, and include some wheat crackers.

You could also do lunch meat or anything else wrapped in a tortilla -- like refried beans and cheese. None of my kids are crazy about tortillas, so I didn't do this very often.

Once in awhile, I'd throw in a cookie for a treat. And when she was younger, I always included sliced cheese, because it was dubious if she'd eat a sandwich.