Lunches, lunches, lunches

coasterqueen wrote: Ok, time for me to get serious about lunches here. Kylie took her lunch about 1/2 the time to school and the other 1/2 she ate there. For Megan, though, I prefer her to take her lunch every day. For one I won't have to worry about what foods she's allergic too, and two I will know how much exactly she eats as the turkey has not gained ANY weight in 8 months now AGAIN. I have some ideas, but I know they will get boring for her after awhile, so please post ALL your lunch ideas, ones you use, etc, etc, etc. TIA!!!!!

moped replied: I need ideas too - Jack won't be able to take peanut butter.....he may very well starve!

PrairieMom replied: After learning about the quality of lunches our children are served, I started giving ben cold lunch every day last year.
I usually send him left over dinner. He really likes this alfredo pasta, or mac and cheese, or potato soup. We have one of those thermos things that keep the food hot for him until lunch. He also really likes salad. what ever. So I will send him salad in the same thing.
As for sandwiches, he would eat PB&J daily, but I refuse to send peanut butter with him, even tho our school isn't peanut free. He usually gets a cheese sandwich or ham and cheese. On days when he doesn't get oatmeal for breakfast, I have even sent him oatmeal for lunch. He LOVES oatmeal, and I know that he will eat it. It will keep him full all day, and is way healthier than some of that other stuff he could be eating.

PrairieMom replied: here is a blog I have been reading about the quality of our school lunches.

http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/

coasterqueen replied: Tara - How do you keep pasta from sticking together? Megan LOVES buttered spaghetti noodles and so does Kylie. Also, both my girls LOVE LOVE salad and would eat that all the time. Actually Kylie would get salad many times when she'd eat lunch at school. But they like my salads better because I put all kinds of veggies in there, more than the school. So I can send those, but I'm trying to think how I would keep the salad cold enough with just an ice pack in the lunchbox, kwim?

Both my girls aren't peanut butter fans unless it's on celery and they don't like most meats so I can't send them those types of sandwiches. Kylie likes veggie sandwiches and I've thought about sending those for her.

Both girls will eat veggies and fruits for lunch. But I want them to have something more, kwim? I'll look at that link you provided.

Megan does like chicken nuggets. She loves fish, too, but I'm not sure how to send that.

Our dogs usually get what little left overs we have. We rarely ever have anything left from dinner to amount to enough left-overs to send in lunch. We've done a pretty good job of perfecting our dinners so we have no waste or left-overs at all, except when we have lasagna and we reheat that another evening.

The girls do love mac n' cheese, so I can send that.

ETA: Oh and I know the quality of our school lunches is TERRIBLE, IMO. We let Kylie eat at school 2 days a week as "treats", kwim? She likes, on occasion, to eat the hot lunch with the other kids so we aren't going to completely deny her of that, just like we don't completely deny them of all other treats. Moderation is key for us.

MommyToAshley replied: If your girls don't like meat, there is nothing wrong with sending them a meatless lunch. Sometimes I will send Ashley with broccoli and carrot sticks with Ranch sauce, a few kinds of fruit and a cheese stick or a hard boiled egg. It fills her up and she has a hearty appetite. I use those refreezable cooler packs. They say they are safe for lunch boxes even if they leak, but I put them in a zip lock baggie anyways and they still keep the lunch cool.

PrairieMom replied: I have never had an issue with the pasta sticking.
we use one of these...http://www.target.com/Thermos-Foogo-10-oz-Leak-Proof-Food/dp/B0025Y6742/ref=sc_qi_detaillink

you just boil up some water and pour it in, let it sit for a few minutes, dump it out and put warm food in. It stays warm enough.

you can also put it in the freezer and put cold stuff it and it keeps it cold enough .

coasterqueen replied: Have you all heard of these? http://secure.laptoplunches.com/AMAZING/

We are thinking about getting these for the girls, but Ryan says there isn't much room for the ice pack and wonders how cold it will keep it???


I'll have to do a trial run on the pasta, then Tara. I'm just going by what my DH says. He's the cook.

And we have those jars too Tara, and is what I use for soup for Kylie.

I don't mind sending Kylie meatless lunches. I guess I'm more worried about what to send Megan that will FATTEN her up. Sending veggies and fruit is not going to put meat on that child's bones. We are about ready to give her a steady diet of twinkies.

coasterqueen replied: On that link I gave for the laptop lunches. Even if one is not interested in the lunchboxes themselves, there are TONS of ideas out there for lunches so check it out

Sam & Abby's Mom replied: Sammy starts Kindergarten this year <insert freaking out crying smiley face> so this whole 'lunch thing' is new to me.

I was planning on using one of those freezable ice packs in his lunch.............

I'll have to check out that website for ideas.

MommyToAshley replied: Here's some more lunchbox ideas:

http://family.go.com/food/pkg-school-lunch-recipes/

coasterqueen replied:
Great ideas there too. Thanks!

I ordered the girls a laptop lunchbox and am super excited to start using them for school. If we like them, Ryan and I have decided to buy one too as we think it will be easier to plan lunches.

Both websites gave me all kinds of ideas. The list I've prepared for the girls to choose from should be easy for them with all the choices!

jcc64 replied: My kids all hate sandwiches, so I've had to become resourceful. Thankfully, our school district has a very forward thinking food service director, who is committed to buying locally as much as possible. I live in an area with a lot of farms and orchards, and having worked in the district and eaten many of the meals personally, I have to say it's surprisingly good and healthy for institutional food.
Having said that, there are still a lot of meals that are too "weird" for Corey, so we do pack lunches occasionally. The most popular item by far are Chinese potstickers, which you can buy in meat or vegetarian form, and are available in the frozen food section of most bigger supermarkets and/or health food stores. I usually steam 5 or 6 in the morning, and pack them in a pyrex bowl with a little soy sauce. All of her classmates beg her to share. She also takes tortellini, hard boiled eggs, mac n cheese, whatever leftovers we have from the night before, etc.
For snacks, it's usually whatever fruit is in season, nori (seaweed), nuts, yogurt, and/or whatever treats we have in the pantry.

jcc64 replied: Thanks for the lunch recipe idea link, Dee Dee. Lots of good stuff on there. Corey loves sesame noodles--gonna try that one.

youngmomofone replied: Thank you for that site. I will use some of those ideas on the weekends/days off school. I let my dd eat at school b/c she is picky and usually she will try everything for her teacher . She started eating hamburgers last year because her teacher begged her to try. lol.