kids - time and convenient lunches
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No lunchables. Ever.
We are not allowed to send any nuts to school, so that leaves us with fewer options.
They usually get a sandwich or wrap with leftover chicken, hummus, cheese plus veggies. Or they have a thermos with beans, rice, peppers and cheese, or barley/cheese peas. They always get a vegetable too (carrots, peppers, cucumber).
Their snacks are always some sort of fruit, along with yogurt or a home made low-sugar muffin, or sunflower seeds. No cookies allowed, and no juice (just extra sugar).
We really feel that having a sweet each day in your lunch leads to the habit of wanting one, which creates unhealthy eating patterns in the long run. Luckily, many parents in our kids' school feel similarly, so our kids do not feel deprived at all. In fact, they usually feel like they have great lunches, especially since we get them involved in making them pretty often (they are five and eight years old).0 -
My kids get them occasionally but only because they have asked for them ahead of time. Maybe once a month. Their lunches are nearly always the same thing which I make the night before. Kid 1 gets his honey ham on a hamburger bun with mustard and kid 2 get's his on wheat bread with mayo and cheese cut into 3 pieces. They get various sides which they pack themselves and I usually send Capri Sun or water to drink. Pro tip: Freeze a Capri Sun and it's an instant ice pack.
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Try a thermos and make food the day before in a crockpot or week before (a lot of meals freeze well). Saves on time and they can eat something super delicious. Spaghetti, chicken and rice, soup, leftovers..etc. saves money in the long run too0
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RebeccaChemmy wrote: »awesomejdad wrote: »I never send my kids out the door. We homeschool and for lunch they help make there healthy food.
*Their. I do hope your teaching your children correct grammar.
I have no children but my sister (10 years old) always has her lunch made in the mornings. She never has Lunchables or anything like that - such a waste of money for very little nutritional content. And they taste pretty bad.
Wouldn't the correct word be "you're"?
My kid is not yet in school but I plan on making meals the night before to ensure less chaos in the mornings. For work I always make meals on Sunday then freeze or refrigerate as necessary.
This is TOO funny!0 -
My kids LOVE the new chocolate hazelnut uncrustables (sounds disgusting to me). I usually pack a few healthy snacks (grapes, fresh berries or raisins) and low-fat chocolate milk (hershey's or Nesquick) and a treat like fruit snacks or cookies. Sometimes I make sandwiches or wraps for my daughter, but my son pretty much insists on the uncrustables (or occasionally a lunchable). Oh well, I don't worry too much about what they eat - just happy that they EAT. I'm afraid if I pack something they don't like, they just won't eat, and I need them to gain weight and GROW (especially my 11 year old son - he sometimes seems to be on the scrawny side)...0
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I'm glad to hear many of you don't partake in sending those questionable items (in my view anyway) with your children.
Unfortunately, the majority of kids in my classroom eat 'convenience' foods for snacks and lunches everyday!
Most of you are health conscience, so that's probably why most of you send healthy things...0 -
He he, me loves me some good grammar police around here. : )0
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I homeschool my dd so she eats at home most days. Lunch for her is usually a sandwich or leftovers, some fruit, and milk. I often have leftover soup that I can warm up for our lunch. Sometimes she makes her own lunch. We don't buy things like lunchables or fruit roll ups because they are expensive. What are bear paws?
I do pack dh's lunch every day. I usually do it the night before and it takes maybe 5 minutes. It is usually a sandwich, fruit, trail mix/granola bar or dinner leftovers.
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buffveganme wrote: »I'm glad to hear many of you don't partake in sending those questionable items (in my view anyway) with your children.
Unfortunately, the majority of kids in my classroom eat 'convenience' foods for snacks and lunches everyday!
Most of you are health conscience, so that's probably why most of you send healthy things...
Or we have the time and resources available to us to focus on packing lunches and thinking about what to put in them. I'm very fortunate to have a computer in my home that allows me to search for different lunch and snack ideas on a high-speed internet connection. I can also afford enough reusable containers that packing those things in our sturdy insulated lunch bag is easy and I don't have to worry about things getting smashed or trying to figure out how I could possible send veggies and dip (because I can afford the fancy container with the separate section for dips). I have an awesome minivan that takes me to the various high-end grocery stores that populate my area where you can buy a variety of produce (including truffles at $999.00 a lb) and we have a weekly farmer's market that comes right to my neighborhood of Stepford within walking distance (also have a full grocery store within walking distance). Many other people in this world don't have those things.0 -
I bought
for my daughter this year which helps us expand lunches a little bit. I make 3/4 cup servings of chili, soup, etc and put them in the freezer. In the morning I pour boiling water into the thermos and warm up the food until it's very hot. Pour out the boiling water, wipe it down, and you can add in the hot food - it stays hot until lunchtime.
She also has been requesting salads a few times a week, so that's another easy one. I just pack it up the night before. I absolutely use convenience - apples, individual yogurts, tiny water bottles, 100 calorie packs of sweets, etc.
Everyday I come home and the first thing I do is pack our lunches for the following day. It's automatic now, but I still hate doing it with a passion.0 -
My teen always takes dinner leftovers. Funny thing is the kids comment about how lucky he is that his mom cooks dinner....several have fast food or what they can make themselves. I know many families are busy these days but family dinner time is a must in our house. Makes me want to invite them over for a family dinner!! Last week I bought fresh strawberries from a local farm. They were so ripe & yummy. He took some in his lunch and the other kids wanted to trade out their food for his strawberries, like they were gold. Some kids never have fresh fruit & veggies in the house
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Once a year, on average, I will break down and buy a lunchable because my daughter begs me for it. Every single time, she reports that it was gross and she threw it out. A year later, she'll see a new flavor/variety and we'll do it again with the same results.
My daughter usually gets some fruit, some veggies, a granola bar or crackers, either sandwich pepperoni and cheese or a yogurt, and something like a fruit rollup in her lunch bag. She has to take a snack so she just picks one of those as her snack for the day.0 -
buffveganme wrote: »I'm glad to hear many of you don't partake in sending those questionable items (in my view anyway) with your children.
Unfortunately, the majority of kids in my classroom eat 'convenience' foods for snacks and lunches everyday!
Most of you are health conscience, so that's probably why most of you send healthy things...
Or we have the time and resources available to us to focus on packing lunches and thinking about what to put in them. I'm very fortunate to have a computer in my home that allows me to search for different lunch and snack ideas on a high-speed internet connection. I can also afford enough reusable containers that packing those things in our sturdy insulated lunch bag is easy and I don't have to worry about things getting smashed or trying to figure out how I could possible send veggies and dip (because I can afford the fancy container with the separate section for dips). I have an awesome minivan that takes me to the various high-end grocery stores that populate my area where you can buy a variety of produce (including truffles at $999.00 a lb) and we have a weekly farmer's market that comes right to my neighborhood of Stepford within walking distance (also have a full grocery store within walking distance). Many other people in this world don't have those things.
Good points to consider for sure!
However, the kids in my classroom that have the prepackaged questionable items are sent from families that have many stay at home mothers and seemingly are doing very well for themselves (financially).
It is so sad, however, to see many cities/districts stricken with extreme poverty -lack of resources-jobs, etc., and are lucky to have find fresh food at their 'grocery' stores...0 -
RebeccaChemmy wrote: »awesomejdad wrote: »I never send my kids out the door. We homeschool and for lunch they help make there healthy food.
*Their. I do hope your teaching your children correct grammar.
I have no children but my sister (10 years old) always has her lunch made in the mornings. She never has Lunchables or anything like that - such a waste of money for very little nutritional content. And they taste pretty bad.
I do hope you're teaching your children correct grammar.
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Gosh the judgement is strong with this one.
I don't question what other parents send with their kids. Some people send 'junk' like lunchables because they want to be sure that their kids will eat. I don't see what's wrong with that. Better have the kid eat lunchables than nothing.0 -
http://www.lunchbots.com/
Lunchbots has some really excellent containers. I have a soup container also for mac and cheese or soup. There is another brand I also have as I got it in a monthly Citrus Lane box and loved it. It fits in my daughter's lunch box perfectly except one is a little bigger so I have to let the handle hang out. I just can't remember the name of it! Zulily has them often also.
I like using the bento type boxes because I can put a variety of foods for her. She cannot have peanuts at her preschool and I have been scared up to now (she just turned 4) to actually give her nuts, but as she gets older and when she starts public school I will probably have fun sending nuts and such. In addition, for the almond butter and jelly, I will sometimes do waffles instead of bread. She likes it when I change it up. If you are a nut free school you could do jelly and cream cheese. I also freeze stoneyfield yogurt tubes (like Gogurt) and it defrosts by lunch. The lunchblox you can get at any grocery store or Target, probably Walmart as well, actually comes with an ice pack. So convenient!0 -
buffveganme wrote: »buffveganme wrote: »I'm glad to hear many of you don't partake in sending those questionable items (in my view anyway) with your children.
Unfortunately, the majority of kids in my classroom eat 'convenience' foods for snacks and lunches everyday!
Most of you are health conscience, so that's probably why most of you send healthy things...
Or we have the time and resources available to us to focus on packing lunches and thinking about what to put in them. I'm very fortunate to have a computer in my home that allows me to search for different lunch and snack ideas on a high-speed internet connection. I can also afford enough reusable containers that packing those things in our sturdy insulated lunch bag is easy and I don't have to worry about things getting smashed or trying to figure out how I could possible send veggies and dip (because I can afford the fancy container with the separate section for dips). I have an awesome minivan that takes me to the various high-end grocery stores that populate my area where you can buy a variety of produce (including truffles at $999.00 a lb) and we have a weekly farmer's market that comes right to my neighborhood of Stepford within walking distance (also have a full grocery store within walking distance). Many other people in this world don't have those things.
Good points to consider for sure!
However, the kids in my classroom that have the prepackaged questionable items are sent from families that have many stay at home mothers and seemingly are doing very well for themselves (financially).
It is so sad, however, to see many cities/districts stricken with extreme poverty -lack of resources-jobs, etc., and are lucky to have find fresh food at their 'grocery' stores...
I live in one of the wealthiest counties in the US, and I'm a stay at home mom. I can tell you firsthand, that doesn't mean we're doing well. I don't stay home because we're rolling in dough, I stay home because I would literally be working to pay for my kids to go to daycare. Many of the families in the area we live in are renting those big fancy houses, or live with multiple generations under one roof just to be able to look like they can afford the lifestyle they have. I do understand what you are saying, and a part of me wonders how much of it could be wanting the kids to have what's "cool."0 -
I make my son's lunch the night before so I don't have to deal with it in the morning. Plus, his school has strict rules about what can be sent in his lunch. Every once in a while though I send him with something he likes that fits into the school rules (he loves bear paws).0
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