Suggestions for kids school lunch??

I think cold cuts are definitely the way to go in terms of healthiness and price. Most people think cold cuts are boring and tasteless, but I have a few ways to add a little variety and taste to them. I make sure to not skimp on the cheese. Instead of using the processed Kraft cheeses, use real cheese like pepperjack or cheddar. Also, use cream cheese spread to give your sandwich the creamyness it needs! Mix up the cuts as well, variety goes a long way in taste!

 

I actually don't send many sandwiches with my son. We have to match nutritional guidelines for my son's school, so fruit and vegetable have to be the primary. I often send a variety of fruit/vegetable items (fresh, canned, freeze dried, blended in a smoothie, etc). For grains I send (healthy) pretzels, crackers, homemade muffins, cornbread, pasta, and occasionally a sandwich. Then we send protein in the forms of yogurt, slices of turkey, chunks of ham, and a variety of cheese choices. I try to pack more than is needed so that my child a) has options, and b) can eat enough to not be hungry during the afternoon at school. I avoid lunchables even though I liked them as a kid, because they have so much sodium. Making your own lunchable version in plastic containers (we use Rubbermaid Lunch Blox) is healthier and tastier. I use two of the Lunch Blox icepacks and my son's lunch is often still cold (or at least cool depending on the weather) when I pick him up around 4pm (he is in after care until I get off work).

 

You can make your own lunch meats, or simply grill up some stuff like chicken or turkey breasts, then slice them into strips for various wraps/sandwiches. I've seen some money saving sites, where they invested in a meat slicer, then pan seared and slow roasted their own beef roast, which they got on sale, and cooled and sliced it on the meat slicer. When all was said and done they got a ton of roast beef lunch meat for a fraction of what they would have paid for it from the deli, and with no preservatives or nitrates in it.

I would alternate between sandwiches and wraps, perhaps do salads with grilled meat over them too if they are up for it. Pizza's aren't a bad idea either, since you can bake them the night before and sneak in veggies like spinach under the cheese. Room temp or chilled pizza is still good, even if they don't have access to a microwave to heat it up. Cold pasta salads with grilled chicken or shrimp over them would be good too.

Lettuce wraps may be fun too, though you would probably have to pace all the components separately so they can assemble them at the table.

 

I used to pack sandwiches for my DS, with cream cheese spread and vegetable fillings. Muffins, pastas and wraps used to be the other usual lunch items. This used to be two years back. Now they have moved to another school ( Sunnybrook School) where they provide lunch. So now I don’t have to stress out thinking about the lunch for them anymore. And when you decide on the lunch make sure that your kids like it otherwise they will come back without having eaten a thing. The lunch box will be full and their stomach empty. It is not good for their health.

 

If they have access to a microwave or don't mind eating food cold, leftovers from dinner is a great way to get more variety than the traditional sandwich lunch. You can always add some fresh fruit or veggies, so it's not entirely a leftover meal, but it sure beats eating a peanut butter sandwich every day. I don't know what kids are eating these days, but when I was making my lunches in high school, I used whatever foods we had on hand, so I had a lot of variety. If you kids are willing to eat salad, that is a great thing to pack too so they can get some extra greens.

 

Focus on what they like. You don't want to get stuck in a loop of sandwiches, for example. It's okay to even send leftovers! Just bundle it with other foods to round out the meal.

Ours used to love doing bento boxes, and no, that doesn't necessarily mean Japanese food....it was just a way to package the foods into a fun way that the kids loved. Like some of these:

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