Kids Lunch, need fresh ideas?

NeuroticVirgo

I'm running out of ideas, and my family is getting sick of the same thing all the time. (And I think I give decent variety lol).

The problem: Foods have to last a few hours not being refridgerated (just the lunch box ice pack) and no microwave to reheat foods (well my husband does, and my daughters used to but they stopped letting students use them).

Problem 2: I'm feeding a full grown man who works long shifts and a kid who always eats and is a twig(burns fuel like a hummer lol)...so I try to keep it healthy (ish) but have enough that they don't feel like they are starving.

The average lunch
Lunch meat sandwich
PB&J or PB & honey

Sides (not all in the same lunch but during the week)
Carrots, celery, cucumber
Yogurts
Grapes, apples
Cheese sticks

No drinks usually, water...or if we are having a good week might buy caprisuns.

That would be my pathetic lunches lol. I need fresh ideas! Help.

RGv2

My kids love grape tomatoes. Wraps full of veggies and meat, or "flip" sandwiches with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato.

EccentricDad

My kids lunch today: Boiled some turkey breakfast sausage patties and gave them 2, served with broccoli, a nectarine, and some almonds. They have a "fruitables" juice box to have with it. Will they be teased for the good food? No, because kids aren't that brutal in the school I have the kids going to. I will also be the only father sending steak to school with my kids too so they will be getting premium foods for good learning while their peers will be eating hot dogs and other fake meats.

rompers16

http://easylunchboxes.smugmug.com/The-Best-Lunchbox-System/Yummy-Lunch-Ideas/10136835_YSuyb#!i=696914165&k=yeuSg

This is my favorite site for kids lunches..8 or 9 pages worth.

phynyxfyre

Have a thermos? You can send almost any soup. I like pastas as well. Steamed veggies with rice. Homemade variety of lunchables: wheat crackers, sliced cheese, sliced lunch meat. Build your own pizza: bagel thins with small containers of tomato sauce, cheese, and meat (and pineapple perhaps) plus the diced veggies. Salad: Taco salad, chef, etc. Just send the dressing separately. Baked sweet potatoes with toppings. Vegetable chips (bake thinly sliced veggies with a thin layer of olive oil in the oven at 375 for about 30 min. Check halfway, as ovens vary!) Homemade "hot pockets" Lol. I got out pie crust, lined muffin tins with it, then filled them with cheese, veggies, potatoes, meat, etc... topped and baked at 350 for 20 minutes. Kids love them. Salsa and tortilla chips.

You can also check out allrecipes.com. They have a great variety available to search.

NeuroticVirgo

Thanks for the ideas so far keep them coming . I forgot to add that I do tuna and canned chicken to sometimes. I guess I could do regular chickenc hamburger etc...but I don't know if they will eat that cold...

bokodasu

I usually double whatever I'm making for dinner the night before and pack that for my kids & myself. The rest of the time is usually sandwiches with a veg and a fruit, sometimes the sandwich might get replaced with hummus & crackers or a thermos of soup. Kind of boring but it's easy and at least there's something different every day. My youngest goes to a nut-free school which limits what I can pack more than anything else. (And I am SO not packing three different lunches, except that I give myself green beans when I give the kids peas, because peas are gross, yuck.)

tararocks

i love making my kids lunch...here are some of mine:

fruit kabobs (strawberries, blueberries, grapes, kiwi on a skewer-sometimes i throw in a couple of mini marshmallows on the kabob)
mini crackers and turkey pepperonis
high fiber popcorn

lean ham on a mini bagel
no sugar applesauce cup
grape/cherry tomatoes

salad-lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, grape tomato
dressing in a little plastice cup (low fat)
two cookies
cutie (clementine)

kabobs-black olives, green olives, cubed or thick sliced ham or turkey breast, cheese cube
celery with peanut butter
whole wheat crackers
grapes

these are just some lunches from this week...i also use the frozen bags of fruit, by the time its lunch time they are thawed, sliced mangos, strawberries, pineapple, etc.

bahacca

Just a little list I keep handy:
Fruits/veggies
baby carrots
carrots sliced into "coins" or use mini cookie cutter for small shapes
carrot sticks
celery sticks-plain, with p-nut butter, with cream cheese
broccoli "trees"
cauliflower trees
bell peppers
black olives
green olives
cherry/grape tomatoes
mini salads-Rio loves a cherry tomato wrapped in a spinach leaf dipped in ranch dressing
cucumber
edamame

apples
applesauce
oranges
mandarin oranges
peaches
pears
plums
pineapple
watermelon
canteloupe
honeydew
berries(strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
tangerines
banana
grapes
kiwi

Breads
bagels
muffins
cornbread
banana bread
zucchini bread
pumpkin bread
whole wheat
tortillas
white bread
cut bread into shapes and toast for "croutons"
bake tortillas cut with cookie cutters and sprinkled with seasonings for "tortilla chips"
rice balls

Hot meals
Spaghetti-os
Any pasta
Noodles of any sort
Soup for older kiddos
leftovers

Snacks
Chips
Dried fruits(raisins, craisins, apples, prunes-Just Tomatoes stuff)
Dried veggies(JT stuff)
Trail Mix
Nuts
Crackers
Granola bars
Fruit bars(Nutrigrain/TJs This ____walks into a bar)
cereal
popcorn
pretzels-hard or soft pretzels

Dairy
yogurt(buy tubes and freeze them)
cheese-cut into slices to top a cracker, cubes to thread with meat/veggies, Babybell(cut away part of the red wax-leave the shape of hair and put eyes and mouth on it from black olive pieces), string cheese
cottage cheese

Spreads/dips
Cream cheese
nutella
nut butter
peanut butter
mayo
mustard
Miracle Whip
Hummus
Ranch
strawberry cream cheese mixed with marshmellow cream-DELICIOUS fruit dip
yogurt to dip fruit

Meat/ protein
Cube/slice turkey, ham, chicken
Hot dogs
beans (baked beans and hot dogs are one of Syd's favs)
chicken leg(wrap end with foil for less mess)
rolled up deli meat
Hard Boiled Eggs

Justa_Paperbag

Bumping this for later.

I pack my husband and daughter a plain wrap, with hummus and a bunch of veggies (lettuce, tomato, onion green peppers, cucumbers, sprouts, carrots, celery, whatever i have on hand) and some ranch . Then, they have the option of having a hummus and veggie wrap, or a veggie wrap with ranch, and then they have two dips to choose from for raw veggies, separately.

missk8t

Two things my kids love in their lunchbox is marinated chicken wing or drumette's or cold frittata's. The frittatas I usually do are something like a zucchini slice, spanish omelette or random vegetables I find in the crisper. The latest request from them also has been a pumpkin and spinach filo pie. I even eat this pie cold and it's beautiful, incredibly filling too!

LainMac

My kids are all doing thermos a couple of times a week. Soup or rice/beans.

CRichards22

Bump!

TKHappy

I love some of these ideas! My daughter has been taking a cheese, tomato and spinach wrap with a plum, a hard boiled egg and some baby carrots! I need ideas to mix it up too!

meg7399

My BF's daughter loves to pack a hard boiled egg. She often does lunchables (which you could make your own-crackers, meats and cheese).She will eat a hot dog cold. I am not as concerned with the extreme health factor as she is a picky 5 year old. She is limited with sweets and juices made with HFCS when with us.

MinMin97

I'm running out of ideas, and my family is getting sick of the same thing all the time. (And I think I give decent variety lol).

The problem: Foods have to last a few hours not being refridgerated (just the lunch box ice pack) and no microwave to reheat foods (well my husband does, and my daughters used to but they stopped letting students use them).

Problem 2: I'm feeding a full grown man who works long shifts and a kid who always eats and is a twig(burns fuel like a hummer lol)...so I try to keep it healthy (ish) but have enough that they don't feel like they are starving.

The average lunch
Lunch meat sandwich
PB&J or PB & honey

Sides (not all in the same lunch but during the week)
Carrots, celery, cucumber
Yogurts
Grapes, apples
Cheese sticks

No drinks usually, water...or if we are having a good week might buy caprisuns.

That would be my pathetic lunches lol. I need fresh ideas! Help.

I feel for you.
I pack my husband's lunch--he's an orthopedic nurse, and works 12 hour shifts.
His lunches are always the "same."
If I packed for the children, as well, I would do the "same thing."(but we homeschool)
I put "same" in quotations, because you can make the same thing but vary the specific ingredients.
So here's what I mean.......It is always
Yogurt with fruit
Sandwich
Chips
Drink
Treat

But over time, the lunch has evolved in it's ingredients and is now,
Greek yogurt with fruit, I put plain yogurt in a container and sweeten with stevia extract, and top with fresh fruit.
Sandwich meat is usually baked chicken/bbq chicken, or homemade RB...whatever I made, and froze the leftover meat in sandwich sized portions and put them in the freezer, ready to make a sandwich. Included is cheese, usually broiled onto the bread. You can also vary the vegetables added to the sandwich, as well as the type of condiments used.
Chips I always get from trader joes
Drink is now always a GT Dave's kombucha, or some other fun drink.

There is no need to do some special menu. You can easily vary the ingredients in a basic menu. This way, I really don't have to think about it much.

BTW I have been making this lunch for 6 years now, and he ALWAYS says he loves it and doesn't want me to change my MO:happy:

tabbykat6802

I am having a very hard time w/ packing my boys' lunches b/c of the big restrictions on the food allowed. I can not send any perishable food items.(no fresh fruit/veggies/lunch meat, etc) and no ice packs. this leaves very little healthy stuff and/or variety. they been taking pb & jelly/honey/plain sandwiches for years. They are getting tired of them now.(I don't blame them). We are now trying to find healthier items to send instead of cookies, gummy snacks, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

brandalini

Bumping this for later

Also, my son, boyfriend and I all eat granola, greek yogurt and fruit daily and none of have gotten sick of it yet!

0somuchbetter0

I am having a very hard time w/ packing my boys' lunches b/c of the big restrictions on the food allowed. I can not send any perishable food items.(no fresh fruit/veggies/lunch meat, etc) and no ice packs. this leaves very little healthy stuff and/or variety. they been taking pb & jelly/honey/plain sandwiches for years. They are getting tired of them now.(I don't blame them). We are now trying to find healthier items to send instead of cookies, gummy snacks, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

If you're not allowed to send ice packs, can you send these? https://www.packit.com/?MID=1570731 They work really well.

bokodasu

I am having a very hard time w/ packing my boys' lunches b/c of the big restrictions on the food allowed. I can not send any perishable food items.(no fresh fruit/veggies/lunch meat, etc) and no ice packs. this leaves very little healthy stuff and/or variety. they been taking pb & jelly/honey/plain sandwiches for years. They are getting tired of them now.(I don't blame them). We are now trying to find healthier items to send instead of cookies, gummy snacks, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

Those are some seriously crazy restrictions. Are they trying to force you to buy school lunches? At least it doesn't sound like a nut-free school - trail mix is good, maybe popcorn for a snack. I sometimes make a savory muffin thing that I, uh, got the idea for from the prison system - you basically grind up dinner and bake it into a loaf. But I make it tasty and not punishment-y. Muffins are always good, you can put all sorts of veg & stuff in them and add chocolate and kids are happy.

Sorry I can't think of anything else - that is a really tough situation.

krisam007

kids lunches:

Turkey or ham rollups with cucumber
wraps or sandwiches
pretzels with pb for dipping
peppers, cukes, or carrots with hummus for dipping
guacamole or salsa and multi grain chips
sliced strawberries, peaches,oranges,apples, blueberries
cashews and goldfish and raisins mixed
OH!! A good one!! greek yogurt with FROZEN cherries, blues, straws or mangos (keeps it cold)

My kids have Planetbox lunchboxes that I am obsessed with...expensive but worth every cent!!

bachooka

You should buy the kids thermos's. I seriously heat up left overs from the night before if the kids liked it and send that for them for lunch.

I also like to thermos soup for them. They are huge oatmeal fans, so that is another thing that I pack in the thermos.

I pack them tuna salad with celery in it and ritz crackers.

I give them a "lunchable" with sandwich meat, crackers cheese and veggies with dip.

They like snacky things for lunch, like I do. That way if they aren't that hungry there are options and if they are starving they have a lot.

krisam007

LOVE THIS! Cut and pasting!

easycure

We do pepperoni, cheese cubes and crackers alot!
Yogurt tubes frozen.
Cold pizza.
Homemade pita chips and salsa.
I love to make sandwiches and cut them into puzzles! Or use my cookie cutters.
Jellos another side.
Fruit is a big one for my kids too.
They love pickle and olive kabobs.
And fruit and cheese kabobs too!
Cold steak the next day is a good one for lunch.
You can freeze capri suns for the ice part? altho I limit these. Maybe a water bottle frozen? we do that sometimes.
We do sandwich rollups alot, with flattened bread, or tortillas.
Veggies and ranch dip.
Hummus and pretzels is one of my daughters favorites!
And laughing cow cheese and pita crackers.

thats all i can think of right now!~ lol

MinMin97

I am having a very hard time w/ packing my boys' lunches b/c of the big restrictions on the food allowed. I can not send any perishable food items.(no fresh fruit/veggies/lunch meat, etc) and no ice packs. this leaves very little healthy stuff and/or variety. they been taking pb & jelly/honey/plain sandwiches for years. They are getting tired of them now.(I don't blame them). We are now trying to find healthier items to send instead of cookies, gummy snacks, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

Those are some seriously crazy restrictions. Are they trying to force you to buy school lunches? At least it doesn't sound like a nut-free school - trail mix is good, maybe popcorn for a snack. I sometimes make a savory muffin thing that I, uh, got the idea for from the prison system - you basically grind up dinner and bake it into a loaf. But I make it tasty and not punishment-y. Muffins are always good, you can put all sorts of veg & stuff in them and add chocolate and kids are happy.

Sorry I can't think of anything else - that is a really tough situation.

Agree! Those restrictions are....creepy.
We homeschool, so that was my second thought....I'd wanna homeschool.