Bethanie, a long-time reader, recently emailed me asking if I would be willing to put the following question out there: What do you pack for your kids’ lunches? Like my daughter, her child doesn’t have the ability to heat food at school but is sick to death of sandwiches. I am in the exact same boat, so I was totally down with this call for “recipes” of sorts!
AND…for that matter…I’m having a bagel for lunch today. Which is what I had yesterday. Not exactly nutritious and definitely boring. SOOOO…
Today’s Call for Recipes is three fold!
- What do you pack for kids’ lunches, especially where they can’t reheat food?
- What kinds of food do you pack for your own lunch?
- If you eat lunch at home, what are you eating?
Bethanie ended her email with “I know the blog is ‘This week for DINNER’, but I’m desperate!” and I actually feel the same way. I’m good about getting my dinner plan together each week, but I’m terrible about lunches! Can’t wait to see all of your great ideas and tips!
Hello! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and then count on you to share your own! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
I have a whole pinboard dedicated to figuring lunch out.
Right now the kids are into fried egg sandwiches (broken yolk egg, cooked, between two pieces of lightly buttered wheat toast), and cheater mozzarella sticks (mozzarella toasted between 2 pieces of wheat toast, sliced into sticks, with marinara for dipping). And of
For myself or the hubs, I like soup (leftover from dinner or canned), wraps (chicken cesar or banana/pb/strawberries are my top ones)
Sorry my baby just hit submit before I finished.
I was going to finish up the kids with the perennial fav–cheese & crackers. And they always get fruit/veggies on the side.
Grownups sometimes do a chicken/feta or blue cheese/seasonal fruit salad with poppyseed dressing.
I love that your baby hit submit…so funny. sounds like my life. great suggestions!
My youngest daughter typically takes: grilled sliced chicken (cold) or TJ’s precooked chicken sausage, cucumbers and hummus, vanilla yogurt and some sort of fruit (usually cantaloupe chunks) and milk. Alternatively, I sometimes warm leftover spaghetti and meatballs and put it in a short thermos. I think it stays pretty warm but she is rather easy going about temperature. My older REALLY picky eater often takes laughing cow spreadable swiss cheese with wheat crackers and often a smoothie.
I am going to keep checking this because we usually have leftovers or a sandwich. Luckily (I guess depending on your preferences) my oldest can reheat food in the cafeteria so he takes leftovers often.
I am kind of known for wrapping almost anything in a tortilla when I get sick of sandwiches. I also like to “make my own lunchable” where I pack cheese and some lunch meat and some crackers. I found some single serve pods of hummus once and LOVED that with either pitas or pita chips but couldn’t find them again
There are also single pods of peanut butter you could have with veggies/crackers.
i’ve seen single serve hummus at world market, if there’s one near you!
Amazon’s got those hummus pods, but make your own. It’s super easy and all you have to do is find a proper storage container (next time you eat out, ask your server if they have souffle cups and lids, and if they’ll sell you a few. They’re the perfect 1-oz size, and likely you’ll get them for free in the waiter’s effort to get a better tip).
I saw those single serving Sabra brand hummus pods at Costco, not sure if you have one by you, you may want to check Sam’s Club too, sometimes they have the same things..
I buy thicker sliced lunch meat and cheese from the deli and cut it into long strips. I will pack it with breadsticks and carrot sticks so he has a lunch of sticks. Both my boys like hummus so I’ll pack flat bread or quarter pits and a plastic knife. I’ll add in different toppings so they can make their own pita nachos. I make our own lunchables too. Same thing but without processed meat & cheese and fruit instead of candy.
I’m excited to see what else everyone does. My kids are tired of our usuals.
I’m SO sick of eating sandwiches at home for lunch, so now I make enough dinner for leftovers or modified leftovers. Modified leftovers = baked chicken for dinner turns into a big green salad with chicken for lunch. BBQ pulled pork for dinner = pulled pork nachos for lunch.
This weekend I’m going to make a big batch of couscous salad & then send a container of that with some pita chips, hummus & grapes. Or Chicken salad pita sandwich mixed with greens & an apple.
I make my 3 children (12,11 & 6) peanut butter, honey and granola on a whole grain tortilla. It is their favorite. I also make a curried chicken salad with dried cranberries and green apples; always a favorite, but they eat it with crackers instead of bread. They also like taking yogurt and granola or a green smoothie (spinach or baby kale) sweetened with peaches bananas, strawberries and thinned with plain coconut water.
I am not there yet with packed lunches with my 2 year old but I love this blog http://wendolonia.com/blog/bento-box-basics/lunch-box-idea-list/
Wow! There ARE great ideas on this site, and the boxes are so darn cute!!!
that is a fab site! and I’ve met her…she’s great!
My son is in HS and eats pizza everyday. He is too cool to bring a lunch.
I pack a lunch for myself and my husband. We have leftovers or the usual turkey on
wheat with pretzels and fruit. Once or twice a week I pack salads like a good girl.
This is silly but I am a teacher and when I have lunch duty I love to check out
the lunches moms pack
I think that’s cute!
Here’s our FAVS
Soup in a thermos with homemade breadsticks
Apple carrot crushers from trader joes
Trail mix with peanut butter power bites
PB&J
Fondue in the thermos with veggies for dipping. Big hit and great way to get them to eat veggies
Turkey meatballs in thermos. They really do stay warm
Pasta salad with pepperoni
Muffin/ fruit and frozen yogurt
Taco meat in thermos / mini taco shells/ cheese/
Jicama , carrots, celery sticks and string cheese
Hummus with pita chips
Corn Pancakes
Peanut butter and kiwi mini pitas
Kids cliff bars
Layered bean dip with baked chips
people keep mentioning soup in a thermos…I need to remember this one, I think cate would totally go for that!
Ooh..good one. I need ideas!
My 7 y.o. Likes good old pb&j most days. He also loves it when I send leftover pesto pasta(he eats it cold). Sides include seasonal fruit, string cheese, homemade muffins, juice or water, sometimes a cookie or pudding or chips.
My favotrite at home is leftover soup. I also like egg & cheese sandwiches, avocado on wheat toast, or peanut butter & honey on wheat bread with a glass of milk. Smoothies are a favorite of the kids at home too.
My lunch lately ( at home) has been a tortilla, or this week a few disks of polenta warmed in a hot pan, topped with black beans, spinach, a fried egg and salsa. Low cal, high protein and yummy!
I have made shredded Asian Chicken “Burritos” (really they are wraps) or shredded Southwest Chicken Burritos. On Sundays I would make a large batch, wrap each one individually, and freeze them. I would pull one out in the morning and by lunch it was ready to eat. Tasty!
great idea – sticking them in the freezer at the start of the week. so cool!
I have one child who eats a turkey and cheddar sandwich nearly every day. My 4th grader won’t eat sandwiches,she is a great veggie and fruit eater, but finding a protein she will eat is always challenging.
- rice cake with nutella
- Trader Joe’s potstickers in a thermos
- Salad with a small squeeze bottle of salad dressing
- leftover pasta or rice with peas in a thermos
- veggies and pita with hummus
- goat cheese and crackers
- warm peanut sauce in thermos with veggies and tofu on the side.
- handful of nuts with veggies and dip
- guacamole and chips
If you don’t have a squeeze bottle for salad dressing you can always put the dressing in a empty spice container.
what a great idea, christen!
i cannot eat another peanut butter and jelly sandwich! this is what i’ve started doing over the last few years:
english muffin pizzas (toast the muffin, add sauce, cheese, pineapple and then bake in the oven. then i top it with lots of spinach) or do the same thing, but top with bbq sauce, mozzarella, cilantro, red onion and bake.
i also like wraps with uncooked tortillas cooked up, then add ham or turkey, bbq sauce, spinach and cucumber. anything but a sandwich!
unless it’s a toasted sandwich. my other go to is buttered sourdough topped with trader joe’s nitrate free ham and lots of mozzarella. I toast both sides and put a pan on top of the sandwich to make my own panini press. its good with lots of mustard.
Check out this website with lots and lots of posts and ideas for ‘real food,’ kid friendly lunches.
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/category/children-adapting/school-lunches/
great site!!!
Here is a link to over 100 pictures of what one mom packed for lunch for her K/1 student. If you hover over the picture, it tells you exactly what it is. I found this on Pinterest which I’m now totally addicted to!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mslil65/sets/72157601755804789/
that is so fun!!!
One of my sons does not eat sandwiches unless it is a fresh, hot grilled cheese sandwich. His favorite lunches are:
yogurt and a homemade muffin
pasta in a thermos
Trader Joe’s potstickers in a thermos
Cold leftover salmon with crackers
Granola bar with applesauce
Always fruit and raw veggies on the side!
The key to keeping the food hot in a thermos is to preheat it by filling it with boiling water for 5 minutes before you put the hot food in. And it stays hotter the fuller it is too.
My new favorite sandwich: Guacamole Grilled Cheese: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/guacamole-grilled-cheese-sandwich/
I also eat a lot of veggie sandwiches, soup, cottage cheese/fruit, hummus/whole grain crackers, cut up veggies, leftovers, etc.
I love this post and will definitely write down some ideas and tape to the inside of my cabinet for reference! I have two boys that are very picky when it comes to lunch. I believe a pb&j is one of the better options for sandwiches- as opposed to lunch meat everyday…though I do make a special trip to the store that carries Boars Head, I think it’s one of the better options for deli meats. One son doesn’t like peanut butter and the other doesn’t like sandwiches at all! So, this is an ongoing battle for us as we try and figure out the best options, without being mundane. The one that is working the best for us right now is a really good thermos with last night’s dinner in it. This is for my older son…he’s an athlete so he benefits from the carbs and protein that are usually part of dinner. We got him a really good thermos and I’ve been impressed with how well it works and how much it holds without being too big. He often comes home from school and says his lunch was almost too hot to eat!! Thanks for all the great ideas!
Well, I am jealous… all you mom’s that are allowed to send peanut butter. Where we live, pb is not allowed in schools due to allergies… crazy as there are only 3 kids in the whole school of over 500 with this allergy. So lunches go like this, salami sandwich (my daughter fav but only allow once a week), cheese and crackers, she loves meatballs in a thermos, homemade muffins and cheese, yogurt, leftover mac and cheese, pita chips with dip and always veggies and fruit. I think we as mom’s now stress a lot about sending interesting lunches much more than when we were growing up. I lived off of pbj sandwiches, apple, cookies and a juice box growing up! Funny, I have never even sent my daughter with a juice box ever!
Can you use sunflower seed butter? Its not a nut!
My kids all have different favorites. My 17 year old son likes ham and swiss with garlic mustard, peanut butter and nutella, or banana bread slices with butter. My 14 year old daughter likes peanut butter with strawberry freezer jam, peanut butter and nutella. My 11 year old son likes ham and american cheese (ewww), or thermos items. His favorite thermos item is Kung Pao or Pad Thai noodles boxes from Trader Joe’s. The thermoses work great at keeping the food warm. I heat the noodle boxes in the box per the directions then dump it into the hot thermos (after pouring out the boiling water…one time he took the thermos before the food made it in and had nice hot water for a lunch surprise!). The teachers, lunch aides, and lunch moms always drool over the noodles. My youngest daughter, 8 years old, likes ham and american cheese, and leftovers in the thermos…any soup, pasta, casserole, ANYTHING. Also, when we order pizza I order enough for each to take pizza to school in their lunches the following day. They’ll eat it at whatever temperature it ends up at when they sit down to lunch!
For me at home I usually do leftovers or throw a big salad together. When I have the time and want to spoil myself I make my favorite roasted cauliflower recipe and eat myself sick. The kids fight over the leftovers after school.
I will add that my biggest challenge with my kids’ lunches is finding ENOUGH food to send with my older kids. They leave the house at 5:40 in the morning and don’t get home until 6ish…unless they have a game/meet/match then it can be anywhere from 8pm-11pm. AND, when they have braces you are even more limited to what you can send…no apples, carrots, etc. Argh.
My little one is not yet in school. So, we don’t have to worry about her yet! And, my husband packs the same thing in his lunch everyday…..everyday!….by choice!! Turkey sandwich, apple, yogurt and a chocolate bar.
Me, I need variety. I happily do the leftover routine. But, I also enjoy:
- Making huge quantities of soup and freezing in individual portions
- Making up a batch of hummus on Sunday night and eating it throughout the week with carrots/celery/red peppers/toasted tortillas
- Sauteed kale (it heats up surprisingly well in the microwave)
- Big salads with craisins/cheese/chickpeas
- English muffin pizzas
wow. i don’t think i could ever ever ever get sick of sandwiches. ever.
but maybe i could, i dunno.
anyway, i don’t pack lunches for my kids, they eat at school.
at home, we try to stick to fast and easy foods. my 3-y-o asks for hotdogs EVERY DAY. so we get those probably once/week. we also eat chili dogs, corn dogs, and pigs in a blanket. they all, for the most part like soup (favorites are chicken noodle and bean w/ bacon though). we have sandwiches of all varieties (except pb&j… i never make those). we make mini pizzas (on english muffins). we sometimes have burritos or cheese wraps or whatever-else wraps. oh, and mac ‘n’ cheese. we have that probably once/week. pasta lunches are pretty quick and easy. other than those, we usually have just enough left-overs from dinner the night before to warm that up for the four of us.
I’m the same way – I LOVE SANDWICHES!
oh my goodness gracious, everyone…your comments are AWESOME. keep it coming and THANK YOU!!!
Thanks everyone for all the great ideas! We are not a vegan family but I did find a lot of great ideas in the book: The Vegan Lunchbox by Jennifer McCann.
My son isn’t even three and the lunchboxes stress me out. We have to send lunch to his daycare so I’ve been packing his lunch since he was one.
Our newest edition to lunchboxes are pinwheele sandwiches. Take a tortilla (whole wheat, spinach, tomato, whatever) roll it up with your favorite ingredients, and cut into pinwheels. Some of our favorites are turkey/cream cheese, pb/banana and tuna.
Leftover cheese tortellini or perogies are great too. My son loves to eat them cold. Pasta salad with lots of veggies. Cheese, crackers and meat.
So many great ideas on here!
Put together your own lunchables crackers 2% cheese and turkey. Cut circles with a small biscuit cutter to fit the cracker, add a yogurt, some fruit or veggie chunks.
One of my picky children loved potato in a thermos. Microwave a potato, skin it and customize to taste with little butter/2%cheese/bacon bits/sour cream. Just make sure it’s HOT when you close it up, and include a fork!
One more idea is to make large wraps with a tortilla, lavash, or flat-out bread, lunchmeat, cream cheese or a smear of ranch dressing and slice into 1/2-3/4″ pinwheels. I like a little baby spinach and roasted red pepper for color.
Isn’t this why they make a thermos? =)
My almost 4-year old is becoming more and more finicky lately, so her lunches tend to alternate between the same 3 things over and over:
1)Some kind of pasta or soup in her thermos, and I’ll also throw in a little baggie of a veggie or fruit, a few chips or Doritos, and a tiny packet of gummy snacks
2)Half a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich with a yogurt, some fruits/veggies, a few chips, ect.
3)An assortment of veggies and some dressing to dip them in, as well as a fruit and maybe Chex Mix, ect.
I’ve tried incorporating other things into her lunches but most things don’t go over well…occasionally she’ll eat pepperoni and crackers (won’t eat cheese at all, in any shape or form if she’s aware of what it is), or she’ll eat a few slices of deli bolonga or turkey, but never in a sandwich…
No one has yet mentioned sushi rolls or rice balls/onigiri. We are Australians living in Perth yet school kids here seem to love Japanese food! I often send my two boys to school with a couple of flavoured rice balls and cut up cucumber and capsicum.(red pepper) They love it when I make rolled sushi with cooked tuna/mayo inside but sometimes this is just too fiddly for first thing in the morning.
Lots of bento info here:
http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-basics/onigiri-omusubi-faq
My boys also like:
Sausage rolls (OK at room temp) with ketchup
mini frittatas/crustless quiche with chopped salad veg
Little franks in a hot thermos again with Ketchup
I’m struggling with cold lunch and snack ideas, too! Going back to college after awhile away…
The only lunch/quick meal standby I can think of isn’t quite in sync with being earth-friendly: Chick pea salad with artichoke quarters, roasted red peppers, and fresh basil (or a little pesto) dressed in olive oil and lemon juice.
I created this one day when I felt like I had nothing at home- precooked from dry beans, a can of artichokes, can of peppers…
I’ve also made some grain salads- quinoa, beans, assorted veggies, vinaigrette. Or salad greens and lentils and veggies.
Sushi is a great lunch, but too much prep time (cooking and cooling rice) for me to remember to make it often.
I know I’m way late, but I send my kid to school with rice or rice balls. There is a meat like apples wrapped in bacon or spinach wrapped in bacon, a mini cupcake cup w/ some stir fried veggies, some carrot cutouts and then a desert like mandarin orange or a mini cup of twice baked sweet potato(pure heaven!). It’s how they roll here, so we go with the crowd, and it doesn’t taken too long. The baby downs the extra stir fry, and everyone loves rice balls with salmon in the middle. I’ll have to start taking pictures. Good luck!!
I just posted a panini/grilled sandwich recipe that is to die for. Turkey. Apple. Spinach. Provolone. Hummus. It’s so good. I’m slightly obsessed with it.
http://www.alli-n-son.com/2012/01/15/turkey-and-apple-panini/
My oldest daughter use to eat lunch at school every day. Usually pizza… Then all of a sudden, a couple months ago she decided she now wanted to take her lunch. But, for her it is ALWAYS PB&J’s w/ the sides always changing. Goldfish and gummies, cheezeits, pudding, pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, fruit. But, she is a picky eater period! But, I love all the great ideas for lunch!
As far as the little ones & I, most if not all our weekday lunches are out. With some picnic lunches thrown in here & there for good measure. (And, not just Mcd’s or BK, they come in as a option once every other week) For my hubby I usually take him lunch from where ever we eat if he hasn’t decided otherwise.