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Our school now charges $2 a day for school lunch. That is $360 a school year! If your child is like mine, they nibble at everything and then throw it in the trash. That’s a lot of money down the drain! So this year I plan to pack her lunch everyday. I’d love some ideas, tips, tricks, and more from you guys on school lunches.
Great idea. I am going to start by maintaining a month calendar for lunch ideas to make planning easy. I have been also referring to https://www.whattoexpect.com/family/ for everything related to pregnancy and babies, and it is quite useful. Hope this helps your readers as well.
I take my lunch for school at college and for the kids at school too. I have made peanut butter crackers at home with saltines and pb. I also make pb and J sandwiches. Fresh cut up fruit and veggies are always nice. I also have gotten deals lately on small canned fruit like pineapple to take for lunch. I divvy up big bags of chips into smaller portion baggies as well as cookies etc. for the week for all of us. It saves time later when making our lunches later.I buy large size packs of soda or juice boxes. We also like fruit roll ups and granola bars for lunch.
My 16 year old high school sophomore, swimmer son would spend waaay more than 2.50 is he bought al a carte lunch or went out every day (they have open lunch). He does go to “Moe Monday” nearly every week for $5 burrito, chips n salsa and drink but other than that, takes his lunch every day. This was initiated by him (with strong suggestion from me:) so he makes his lunch the night before, saves $ and eats way healthier than he would. He competes on a national level with his swimming so nutrition is important. The value of him learning $ saving and how to put together his own meal is great! Now that he drives, when his time allows I also does the shopping for his lunch items. Wish I would have been doing this with my older kids as well.
I have a picky eater that is starting Kindergarten on Monday. We have been experimenting with lunch options. I found a doohickey made by wonder at my local Albertsons (think I saw it at publix yesterday too). You put i on the sandwich & then press the outer square down to cut off the crusts, then you press the inner square down & it seals the sandwich into a pocket. We have made (and loved) PB&J, Nutella & jelly, and american cheese. Much cheaper then Smuckers uncrustables.
We have also tried making some sandwich wraps. So far he liked PB&J & smores (nutella & marshmallow) which we heated in the microwave for 10 seconds to melt the marshmallow. I am thinking it would be better to use fluff instead for a packed lunch for desert
I also use cookie cutters to cut his sandwiches into different shapes to give them different looks to keep him interested in the same old sandwiches.
My sons LOVE their Coleman thermoses (especially the fold up spoon that stores in the lid!!!)… I got them at Wal-Mart in the camping section for $15… They take all of their favorites for lunch… chicken nuggets, soup, mac & cheese, hot dogs and even dinner leftovers like spaghetti, ravioli, stuffed shells, etc… They LOVE a nice warm lunch and I love that I know EXACTLY what they are eating!!!
My daughter starts kindergarten this fall so I love seeing all of the creative ideas. We’re planning to send her with a packed lunch the majority of the time and might send her with milk money ($.50). I haven’t bought a thermos so I’d love to hear which ones are best from veteran thermos packers. I’m hoping to take inspiration from the bento-box style lunches. I experimented a bit with that over the summer and the kids seemed to enjoy it very much. My main struggle will be planning ahead!
I flash freeze then bag up all the fresh fruit we get great deals on during the summer. Then when I pack her lunch I just grab a baggie from the freezer and she has a fresh fruit side in her lunch and I don’t have to wash and chop it during the already crazy morning!
Like most, we use the reusable containers (small round Glad ones) – easy for PreK, Kindergartner to open. Use a water bottle filled with filtered water (we use a Brita pitcher) and sometimes I pack in a Kook-aid fizz as a special treat. Lots of PB&J cause that’s what they like. And we too do our own homemade lunchables. Sometimes leftovers (mac&cheese with ham and peas), plain spaghetti noodles with butter and parm cheese packed in a little container to add at lunch time. Always fruit or veggies with dip. Small portions (half sandwich each cause they won’t eat a whole one). Remember, they’re talking with friends and they have a short lunch time period.
For birhday and Christmas, my mom sould give us Five “Buy mu lunch at school today” coupons. We could redeem them anytime we wanted. It made us more choosy about when we would buy lunch as we got just 15 per school year – 5 when we went back to school, and then 5 for each holiday. That was actually one of our favorite gifts too!
“Buy my lunch….” not Buy mu lunch….hahahaha!
When I was little my mom always wrote a note on my napkin – the other kids were jealous and it made bringing a lunch feel “cool”!
My Aunt has 4 boys {ages 7,8,10 &12} so it would cost her a fortune to have them all buy every day. She made a new rule this year that they must each pack their lunch a minimum of {I think} 3 days a week. When I say “they must each pack” I do mean they pack!! She made a list of items that are to be packed in their lunch each day. I do not know exactly what her list is but here is an example: Column A is the types of sandwich they are able to make for themselves. Column B may be the fruit/veggie they are required to take daily. Column C could be the snacks they may choose from {cookies, fruit snacks…} and they MUST check the serving size and if says 4 cookies, they only get 4 cookies! She also has a reminder list of things like napkin and spoon so they don’t forget those things they may need. Obviously she checks their lunch bags to make sure they got something from each column but this way– they get to pack what they want and not complain about what she gave them and they learn responsibility while taking some things off her lap to do in the morning.
I think its a great idea!!
One of the things my girls love is when I just pack finger foods. So instead of a sandwich they would get crackers, little cubes of meat or slices cut up, some string cheese, maybe some apple bites (cut up apples). They think that is totally cool (not excatly sure why).
My aunt bought my son some alphabet cookie cutters and I try and make some fun letters out of his food when I can. Colored plastic wrap makes things fun! I always stock up when it’s Easter!
Wow, lots of comments… I have 4 kids in school. Lunch here is from $2.10 to 2.25 per day. My kids are allowed one day per week to buy lunch. If they choose not to buy a lunch that week, I pay them $1 since I figure I save at least that much by packing a homemade lunch. So far, 2 always buy once a week and 2 prefer the money. Each fall, we update a lunch ideas sheet that I’ve saved to my computer. Basically, it’s everything that I (or the kids) can think of to have for a school lunch divided into the categories of main dish, fruits/veggies, side dishes and desserts. They put their first initial next to foods that they will eat. I then hang this page up in a sheet protector on my fridge. Helps me think when I’m packing lunches in the early a.m. I try to pack at one item from the first 3 categories per day plus a reusable water bottle. Desserts are Tuesdays and Fridays. Any food that they aren’t able to get to for lunch is often eaten for after school snack. For main dishes, we do sandwiches, wraps, pasta dishes in a thermos, mini-pizzas, cheese quesadillas, and cracker stackers (lunch meat/cheese and crackers stacked in roll and wrapped in plastic wrap.) Side dishes are often popcorn, crackers, string cheese, nuts, homemade breads, trail mix, yogurt, pickles, trail mix, or hard boiled eggs.
my sons school charges $2.50 a day. the school i work at charges $1.90 and there are tons of people who wont pay that! we ask many many many of them to fill out the free/reduced lunch form no matter what. The rules for that are simple and will save people hundreds of dollars a year! HINT HINT!!
We make our own lunchables when the kids get tired of sandwiches…. lunchmeat cut into squares, cheese slices and crackers. I would love to win a lunch kit for the kiddos! Thanks!
I do not have an option of school lunch. I have to send lunch everyday. My daughter will start kindergarten this yr. She is attending a charter school and they do not have a cafeteria. While she was @ pre school a couple days a week I found it easier for her lunch if she picked out what she wanted for the day and helped pick it out @ the grocery. She seemed to enjoy that & was happy with what she packed. I will have to get a little more creative since I will be adding 3 xtra days of lunch on. We also save mayo packs from fast food places so I use them if she has a sandwich. She also loves the round bread so that makes it easier when crust is the issue. Thanks Again!!
You can put condiment is a plastic bag, and they can clip the corner off and squeeze out if you do not have packs ( like mayo) and the sandwich will not be soggy
I am seriously gonna pack this year. My son’s bill in middle school? $5.50 a day!!!
Ahh forgot to add something .. my kids lunches are $3.00 a pop so its really worth it for us to pack lunches..
My tot hates the crust of breads. So I invested into some sandwhich cutters. We have the Evriholder Sandwhich Cutters. So my middle gets to have Dinosaur sandwhiches and ChoCho trains and Hearts. Its very exciting for her, its a new sandwhich everyday.
We also bought the Big Jars of apple sauce and got some tubberwear small containers to add apple sauce for her, since the convience packages were getting too expensive. I also invested into a thermas kid double wall insulated water bottle for her, as we are now stoppping water bottles all together since my kids are well kids and leave the water caps everywhere which is now dangerous since we have a new youngster who is learning to crawl. So NO more water bottles. I’m also making some re-usable sandwhich and snack bags. I sew for my kids and these are all the new rave.. so that will save us some cash on plastic bags. I know your mom in law sews maybe she can make a few for your kids…
I like doing a homemade lunchable type meal.
I roll up a couple pieces of ham and add a cheese stick for protein. Next is fresh fruit such as grapes, apples or strawberries in a small container. She doesn’t ike crackers, but loves biscuits, so sometimes I will throw in a biscuit or a muffin. Occassionally, I will give her a cookie or cupckae instead.
We let our daughter eat hot lunch once a week, usually on Fridays since that is the day they usually have her favorite foods. This saves alot of money, as the rest of the week we pack sandwiches and other healthy things for her. Getting the Jif To Go Free coupons sure helps!
Great ideas. When my daughter was in 1st and 2nd grade, we let her buy lunch once a week ($2.25). I see that this year the price of lunch has gone up to $2.50. In one more year, I will have two kids at school at lunchtime. It seems like I can put together a lunch that is healthier and cheaper on my own.
While I do know that my method is not very “green” I have to pack all disposable items with both of my kids. It has to be all plastic baggies, plastic utensils, and juice boxes as my kids only get 15 minutes to get to the lunch room and eat, so since they are always rushing, I had so many re-usable containers thrown out in the school trash that I dont want to have them worry about whether they have to bring it home or if they accidently threw out a good plastic container.
The price of lunch in the cafeteria at my sons school $5.10!!!!! I need all the help I can get!!!!
There are a ton of comments, so this may have already been mentioned, but I like to make fun shapes out of my kids’ lunch items. Using a cookie cutter to cut sandwiches, fruit, veggies, cheese – they always enjoy that!
My son has a small thermos ( hot or cold) that he likes to take soup ,stew ,mac n cheese,salad, skys the limit… or the left over from dinner last night. While we are getting ready in the morning I will warm up the selection. He has warm entree to look forward to and if he wants a salad the thermos holds just the perfect amount for his young tastes.
The year my daughter left school (We homeschool now) lunches were $3.25!!! I would only let her buy lunch once a month. Other than that she would eat leftovers, cold waffle strips with a little cup of syrup to dip, pumpkin butter on tortillas (she is not a pb& j girl) or I would let her decide the night before wh at she would want.
I always get 24 packs of milk cartons for the kids for cheaper at Costco than at there school! I’m not sure what the cost is now, because we moved 6 months ago but it always saved me about 15 cents a carton.
I keep things simple – sandwich, cut up fruit, juice box. They bring home what they don’t eat. Sometimes leftover quesadilla or pizza.
My daughter is at a peanut-free school. No problem, we use almond butter – very yummy.
My son is starting school this year and he usually just wants pb&j. I was looking at getting some reusable sandwich/snack bags, but they can be costly, so I have looked into making some myself and have gotten very excited about project. And I’m in the process of looking for a lunchbox. It would be great to win one.
I have two in school this year. The past two years for my son we allowed him $50 in hot lunch for the year (our hot lunches are $2.50) This allowed him to decide when he wanted hot lunch at about 1 a week. The other days either I packed his lunch or had him do it himself (he’s 11 now) One of the treats he liked was the Go-gurt’s frozen – by the time lunch comes around it’s still cold. We plan on doing the same thing for our daughter who starts Kindergarden this year.
I let my son buy lunch about 2 times a week. His favorite lunch for me to pack is a chicken wrap. I chop several pieces of cooked chicken and add a little taco seasoning and freeze individual portions. The night before I take out a portion of chicken so that it is thawed by morning. I add a little shredded cheese to the wrap. They have a microwave in their cafeteria and someone heats it for him.
whenever I buy a bag of chips or crackers – I separate them into their prospective serving sizes. So if the box of Cheez-its has 12 servings I go ahead and pull out 12 snack size ziplocs and then they are ready to throw in the lunch box! This is really helpful and controls our portion sizes (ok somtimes we don’t always get the right amount – but it helps)…
My daughter is a nibbler too. However, she does love the squeeze applesauce pouches. I buy them for $1/box (4 in a box) at Walmart.
We make a lot of wraps w/ham, shredded cheese and lettuce. Some times my kids like to take leftover pizza or pizza rolls and I wrap them in aluminum foil. They aren’t hot, but they are semi-warm and they like them. I just hit Meijer this week and stocked up on Capri-Suns buy 8 and they are 77 cents a piece.
We love pudding cups with a plastic spoon. Those are an awesome way to end the meal. Also, surprise her sometime and put a cute note in there for her. Just a have a great day or I love you note is something special :)
My daughter is going into K. For the last 3 years she went to preschool a couple of days a week and we always pack her lunch. Her preschool teachers were amazed at what she would (avocado, sandwich with lettuce, real fruit etc.) Last summer I found http://www.easylunchboxes.com They are great and she can open them by herself. The only problem is you can’t put anything liquid in them because they will leak-but again she can open them herself. On their website they have lots of pictures of yummee and mostly health lunches. I taught school for 9 years and you can tell who eats a healthy lunch and who doesn’t I am trying really hard to pack healthy stuff for her. Funny thing is, when I do pack chips or things like that she usually doesn’t eat them all.
Tons of great ideas shared.
I don’t have much to add to save cost but I sometimes like to add a sticker, a little note or comic strip cut from the newspaper in my daughter’s lunches.
I don’t do it too often so the “surprise” factor does not wear off quickly but I do find they are more excited about the lunch I have packed. Whether it correlates to more eating I can’t say but I love the excitment it brings when they get off the bus to tell me what they found.
sometimes for my son’s lunch I’ll make roll-up sandwiches and he loves them. I use the whole wheat tortillas and put either pb&j or ham, mayo, and cheese in it, then roll it up and cut it into little rolls. I think it’s easier to eat that way. When I was making him a regular sandwich, he would always ask me to only make him half.
Something fun: fruit kabobs! I also send raw baby carrots w/ranch dipping sauce from Chick-fil-A (saved from a previous visit)
Personally for lunches we LOVE Bento Boxes. Our neighbors are Japanese so they’ve taught us about them. Now my Bento Boxes look nowhere NEAR as gorgeous as the “professional” ones do, but I use the same idea; food left over from the night before. In Japan mothers almost always cook a bit extra at dinner time, such as extra rice. Then they put the rice, some protein like a hot dog, some fruit, and some veggie into a little Bento Box. What I love is that not only do I not have to do a huge amount of additional work, but also that of the few bites they’re actually taking, everything they’re getting is something they actually like as well as something that is filling.
My kids like hot lunches like spaghetti O’s in a thermos for lunch. Sometimes it’s soup or leftovers. But it does make their lunchbox kind of heavy.
For lunch at my son’s school, it is $3.50…or on pizza days, $1/slice. He gets tired of having the same old food for lunch, though-so it can be a struggle.
I am packing my sons lunch everyday too! Mini sandwiches made on haiwaiin rolls are great! Carrot sticks, pudding with crushed oreos and worms (I scoop some pudding out of a pudding cup and put it in a reusuable snack container. Then I sprinkle the oreos and put some worms on top.)
Here’s some cute labels to print:http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/free-printable-lunchbox-notes-tags-stickers/
http://www.kidprintables.com/lunchboxnotes/
http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/107980/51_ideas_for_smileinducing_lunch
I always pack lunch for my son. I have an insulated thermos for soup, spaghetti, meatloaf and other warm meals. He always appreciates a hot lunch. I pack veggies in the thermos too. We just do a lot of leftovers for lunch because it is an opportunity to pack in nutritious meals at lunchtime. I pack chicken salad sandwiches, and once a week he gets a mystery lunch surprise on a random day. We have Santa radar (which is the backup cam that beeps on my SUV) so I tell him that if the radar shows he ate a good lunch, he will get the treat, which is usually just a homemade cookie. We don’t buy junkfood, (I coupon for paper products, personal care and when there are healthy products avail with coupons) so my kids just know how to eat healthily and I can also tell if he has eaten lunch when he is not famished at the end of the school day when I pick him up- O know the fat and protein will hold him over.
I do lunches on a daily schedule so it’s mindless to prepare, M-F: tortillas, meat & cheese sandwiches, PBJs, noodles, meat & cheese sandwiches again.
I would love the name of a good easy to open thermos, I have bought two and they seem hard to open. As for lunches, I have twins going to first grade that have become picky eaters. (PB&J every day) I bought fun post it notes in the dollar section of Target and send little notes reminding them to eat the “healthy” items I send. That has helped eliminate the “I forgot to eat my applesauce” comments… excited to try some of the new ideas.
My son takes his lunch every day. He is a nibbler too!
Woo so many great tips, it took me forever to get to the bottom. The one tip I most agree with is pack less stuff. I was surprised at how little my kids actually eat during lunchtime. Instead I use one bento-style container, I prefer the kind that are actually made for a whole sandwich, and pack their entire lunch inside. Honestly you would be surprised how much actually fit inside. A typical lunch for my girls is half a sandwich, a few peices of fresh fruit, four baby carrots, a few pretzels (or crackers) and a small treat like a wafer cookie. And yes all that fits in one container.
Bento lunch are fun, but can get expensive when creating theme lunchs–my favorite website for inspiration is AnotherLunch.com
My kids had cold lunches for the past two years because our lunches have been anywhere from $1.75 to $2.50 per day/child and with 2 kids in school, it wasn’t something I wanted to pay for. My kids love the gogurts, we would freeze them and then they were unfrozen by lunch time. I would add a grain, fruit cup, veggie and a dessert. My daughter wasn’t too keen on sandwiches which made it really difficult, but didn’t mind if I cut up meat and cheese and added crackers (homemade lunchable).
In the school they are currently at, because of kids “nibbling” on their food, the kids are not allowed to talk during their lunch period. Which to keep younger kids quiet when they have to be quiet the rest of the day…..isn’t easy…we will see how this year goes.
My kids love cold pizza. We make some kind of pizza be it regular, on a loaf of french bread or on an english muffin during the week and they’ll eat that two or three times a week.
For the past four years I have packed my kids lunch for school. They do get tired of sandwiches so we do have to get creative. One thing that I have found that they love is turkey with cream cheese & chives spread on it then roll it up and cut it into bite size pieces to make pinwheels. Sometimes I put the cream cheese on a flour tortilla and add the turkey then roll it up and again cut to make pinwheels. I also give them two other choices to put in their lunchbox; one has to be either a fruit or vegetable. Hope this helps.
Ask them what they would like to have. Ask them what other kids have in their lunches. I never gave them things that I knew would be an issue.
Instead of using the individual juice boxes or “capri suns” Get a re-usable liquid container. Invest in one of those bigger juice mixes (the powder kind). Put a couple scoops in the liquid container and have your kids add the water from the drinking fountain at lunch time. :) You can get the juice powder for 1.50 – 2.00 and it lasts for months.
I would love to win an insullated lunch sack. I see this as one way that we could improve our budget as well as the overall nutrition of the meals that we give to our kids.
i have a few suggestions even though my little boy is not even 2. I am a student and take my lunch every day because lets face it, I have no idea who can afford eating out everyday. I stock pile snacks that are shelf stable and can last for a few months. Today in fact I bought 10 boxes of Nutrigrain Bars for 1.50 each plus a free Vitamin water for every 2 that I bought. I will now always have a granola bar in my lunch. Now, I can eat the same thing over and over again but I am sure that my children (when they are older) will do that. So, I have looked through parenting magazines and these are the suggestions that I really liked and plan to use.
1. make muffins or breads ahead of time and freeze them. I would plan on making a months worth at a time (I would probably do a different variety for each week) and put them in freezer bags. You can take one out the night before and then it would be perfect for the next day’s lunch.
2. Make your own trail mix. My husband and I did this for our lunches and my husband even did this on a trip to Madagascar. We would go to a bulk store and buy different nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. Especially if you shop the seasons, you might be able to get a lot for cheap. (we love pumpkin seeds in ours but that can get a little pricey.)
3. Instead of buying juice boxes, maybe you could get a freezable water bottle and put all juice or half juice/half water. This means that you wouldn’t have to buy those stinkin expensive juice boxes. I would still give my kiddo a water bottle though in addition. Of course I am sure that the teacher (I can say this since I am in my student teaching now) will realize that your child is completely hydrated when they are using the bathroom multiple times after a bottle full of juice and water.
Again, these are suggestions that I plan to use but my little one is too little. Gotta love this website!! Its amazing how so many moms can rally and work together for life’s everyday problems!
Not sure how old your kiddos are, but I try to have my kids pick what they want the night before, and pack their own snacks like crackers, chips, grapes, etc. Then in the morning, all I have to do is make their main item (sandwich, etc) My son has been having me make him a quesadilla.
And of course don’t forget the special “note from mom on the napkin”. I have been doing this since they were little, this year my daughter is a sophmore and I kind of jokingly asked her if she wanted me to write her a note, and she smiled and said “I don’t care”. So she’s 16 and she still gets a note from mom on her napkin, I love it. When the kids were in elementary school, I would make up silly sentences using their spelling words for the week :)
I”m loving these ideas! My twins are entering Kindergarten this fall and I’m worried about the whole lunch thing. Our school lunches are $2.00 as well, so that’s $20 a week for us- yikes!
I really like the suggestion of making a “menu” and letting the kids choose items they want every day. I want to give that a try and see if it works for us. I’d hate to waste too much food!
My daughter has a wide palate of liked foods – she regularly eats shrimp and seafood as her lunch!
IF your kid is responsible and can remember to bring plastic containers home – then that’s a great idea and better than sandwich baggies. My son sometimes forgets to even bring his lunch box home – so I don’t even try to send anything else that would need to be replaced. If he forgets that, then I just send his lunch in a plastic sack until he brings his lunch box home again. (Oddly enough, he usually returns home with the plastic sack BEFORE the lunch box….whatever!)
I found out – from teachers on duty in the cafeteria, that my kid wasn’t eating all his lunch….so I started sending less. AND sending things that don’t necessarily need to keep cold all day. I send half a sandwich and some other snack – granola bar, cheese stick, fruit, and MAYBE a juice box or bottle of water. (But I make a whole sandwich and cut it in half – then I don’t have to make one the next day.) I often do NOT send a drink b/c he doesn’t drink it. His school has a “leftover milk” table where the kids who don’t open their milk from their school lunch put it – whoever wants it can have it. It’s not opened, perfectly good milk that the cafeteria has to throw away otherwise.
I DO like to buy the “lunchable” type things when they’re on sale b/c he thinks those are a treat – they’re much easier to throw in the bag – and if I can get them for $1 or less…it’s not costing me anymore than what I’m sending anyways.
This is just what works for my kid who does NOT like to eat lunch. Yours may be a good lunch eater! I will say this – no matter how old she gets (mine is going into 6th grade) make sure she empties the lunch box when she gets home! I thought we’d be ok in this area and on the last day of school found half a turkey sandwich in there….and I hadn’t packed his lunch all week. EW!
Freeze a little Crystal Light, tea, etc. in your child’s thermos the night before. Top it off in the morning and they’ll have a cold drink for lunch without it being watered down. Drink boxes/pouches can be frozen too, but you might want to soak them in warm water for a few minutes. If they’re fully frozen, they aren’t likely to thaw in time.
My kids are currently making “school lunch lists” – a list for each of them of what kinds of lunches they do and don’t like (my daughter hates PB&J for example!), what snacks they like or don’t like for aftercare, and so on. So they won’t be able to say, “I hated the sandwich you put in my lunch!” I’ve also got thermoses to let me send leftovers for lunch. They also take a water bottle to fill up throughout the school day but I do have them buy milk at lunch – I’ve found it doesn’t really stay cold enough in the thermos and they both need to drink more milk.
I’ve also turned a drawer in the kitchen into a “snack drawer.” I get big bags of snacks and divide them up into single servings, as well as buying some prepackaged (yay for BOGO at Publix!) and the drawer always has a variety of different types of snacks. The kids can pick which snacks they want in their lunch bags each day and pack a family snack bag for days when they’ve got some afterschool activity.
I also pack my lunch on days I go into my office – it’s crazy to spend $5-8 on a fast food lunch on campus!
Great information it is actually. We have been looking for this tips
I have two kids so the cost of buying adds up. They each get one school pizza day a month the rest is packed lunches. I have found that variety is key. I change one thing in their lunches each day, the fruit the main meal or the snack. Gogurts are a favorite. I picked up their lunch boxes last year at the thrift store for .99 each. Plain adult ones but worked just fine. Zipper broke on one during summer :( Each kids has a package of golfish single serve crackers they keep at school, for any day they are extra hungry.
I sometimes make my own lunchables. Bolgona, cheese, crackers. Comes out much cheaper than buying the actual lunchables.
Also, my daughter loves Tyson chicken fries and fish sticks. In the morning, I heat them up in the oven, let them cool, then pack them in a plastic container or bag. They are still good by the time she eats them.
Other sack lunch ideas…pudding, yogurt, cheese sticks, peanut butter crackers, chips, goldfish, Cheese Nips.
I can’t wait to have time to read what everyone else has posted. I would love some ideas myself. It can get pretty boring bringing the same thing to school everyday. :)
we use our thermoses a lot…soups, chili, mac and cheese. I make muffins and freeze them ahead of time….we even have leftover chicken strips in lunches.
My kids favorite: my husband cuts up frozen hot dogs with chunks of cheese and puts in soup carrier. The hot dogs thaw some by the time they have lunch but keep cool ( which the love ) and bonus it keeps the cheese cold! They ask for this often
I buy in bulk from sam’s or bj’s snacks for the lunch box as well as juice pouches. Our school recycles the juices thru terecycle.com. My only costly items are the lunch meat or nutella that they eat. I have 3 to make lunch for. Also if you heat chicken nuggets up for 2 mins. and double wrap them in foil they stay hot for lunch.
I am a teacher and I bring my own lunch everyday. $3.50 for the same thing as an adult that some kids pay $2, $.40 and free is kind of ridiculous. Also, its usually not that great of a selection. I love all the ideas of the different containers because I’m on WW and I like to have variety. I will have my oldest in school for just breakfast this year (she’s doing preschool for half a day) and I’m needing some ideas for things she can take at breakfast. I hate to pay $1.75 when I know she won’t eat what’s there (and I can send a pack of poptarts and a capri sun for cheaper than $1.75). Thanks for any help!
My kids’ lunches are $4.25, if you can believe it! There is also an additional charge for a drink, so it can get really pricey. That’s for an all-organic, healthy lunch, though. I only let my kids choose one lunch a week, max. You are all right about most of it going in the trash!
My son is still WAY too small for school but I do pack my lunch as well as my husband’s on school days. At our college, lunch is at least $7.00 a person, and they count our son (who is 8 months) as well! (We take our son to the college and switch off on childcare duty between the two of us all day as we need to.)
We got bento boxes and get things in bulk to put in them. I’m a snacker, so mine always has bits of everything- cheese, grapes, pretzels, homemade granola, etc. I make sure nothing in mine needs to be refrigerated since I eat mine all day long. My husband likes “meals” so his is always a casserole of some sort with a dinner roll and fruit. We make two lunch-style casseroles and one breakfast one on Sunday that get put right into individual saran wrapped portions. They are put in the freezer and he grabs one of the lunch ones each day. For breakfast, we eat the casserole, its just faster to make and freeze. The dinner roles are made from scratch on Sundays as well and are popped in the freezer too. Luckily, we have access to a microwave so this works for us. My son gets whatever he can eat in his own bento box.
We get powder Gatorade put it in the formula dispensers for a baby- the ones that have three spots- to mix in our reusable water bottles. That way, we have more than one flavor to choose from and I tend to drink more if its not unflavored.
My mom is a high school teacher and we still qualified for free lunches when I was younger. I was on the opposite end of the spectrum than most of the comments above- the food was NEVER enough, and I’m by no means a big girl. We always brought snacks and kept them in her classroom so that we could grab a handful of whatever when we were stopping in. I was lucky enough to be able to eat lunch with my mom every day, and after about a month of seeing what they served for hot lunch, she bought a microwave for her classroom and we warmed up leftovers. I love my mom! :)
We have been making lunches for 4 years now. The kids make their own sandwiches (as I find they eat them better if they make them). Then we add fruit, chips and cookies in a ziploc, and carrots with ranch in very small plastic container from dollar tree. Oh and the sandwiches are in a sandwich plastic container to keep shape. For drinks my kids use a washable water bottle filled with water. I Finally, a special note from Mom. I make everything the nite before and the kids male their sandwiches prior to leaving so the bread does not get soggy.
I’m with everyone using reusable containers. Just make sure ahead of time your children can open them. My daughter is going to help plan out your lunches. Here are some of our ideas:
Freeze – drinks, yogurts, grapes
Cut out cute designs – veggies, cheese, meats
All the suggestions are helping us out. Thanks everyone!
soooo many good ideas here! I almost forgot to post my own. :D Like many others said, have the child help you pack the lunch, even if it’s just putting the sandwich into a bag. I let my kids pick their lunchboxes (from the ones we already have on hand!!!), then put in at least one serving each of meat, bread, cheese, and fruit/veggie. The “lunchable” is a huge hit, and I like to use those plastic mini-muffin trays that come with the brownies (I got them for 50 cents a box, wahoo!) for that. I like the Ziploc Evolve bags for lunches, because I do NOT want to mess with cleaning a bag that’s been sitting with food in it all day. I usually put an ice pack (the “first aid” flexible ones are great!) in with the lunch, to keep things fresh longer.
we do alot of leftovers, depending on which of the 3 kiddos i am packing lunch for. one loves pb&j sandwiches, but another won’t touch them, so he gets leftovers. we have had great luck with thernos products keeping the food warm. we pour hot boiling water in the thermos and put the lid on for 10 minutes. then we empty the thermos and put the food inside. we do the same type of thing for cold food-cold water in the thermos and place the thermos in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. we don’t eat alot of processed foods, so we try to keep everything as close to it’s natural state as possible. but an oreo every now and then is a special treat! :)
Our lunches are up to $2.35 a day! Right now we only have one in school….the other two aren’t even in school yet. We let our 10 year old have hot lunch once a week at school. The other days I pack him; cereal and milk (this is what we have and it works great! http://www.amazon.com/EZ-Freeze-Cereal-on-the-Go/dp/tags-on-product/B0015H1D4E
Other things we pack are gogurts, snack mix (cheeze it’s, rasins, pretzels), fresh fruit; apple slices w/peanut butter, grapes, strawberries. Crackers and chunks of cheese or string cheese, Celery and carrot strips, Ham and cheese roll ups, leftover pizza (he loves it cold), and hummus and pita bread.
We try to plan our lunches on Sunday for the week. Planning makes things go so smoothly for the week.
The precooked chicken for salads etc is great for kids with a little container of ketchep to dunk it in, and much healthy then nugguts, easy enough to make your own and great cold
i let my daughter buy once a week, but she’ll often decide to pack because then she gets more time to actually eat.
My children aren’t in school yet, but I love the bento box idea! The cream cheese and fruit on a tortilla is a great idea I plan on using for lunches at home!
Do a variety – I pack my own lunch everyday, and eating the same thing all the time gets old.
Use reusable containers and never buy lunch-pack size servings. You can place chips, sandwiches, cheese, crackers, fruit, veggies, desserts and even drinks in these containers. Look for sales or clearance for the sizes you need. Use an ice pack and freeze anything else that will freeze the night before to keep the lunch cold. The lunch bag needs to be thermal. This is better for you pocket book and the environment!
My kids started packing their own lunches from the very beginning. Lunch at their private school is $4 per meal – not affordable on my teacher’s salary (my kids get to go on scholarship since I teach there – wow for us!!) My daughter started in 4th grade and always packed her own lunch. My son started in Kindergarten and packed his lunch with my help for a few years and has been packing it independently since 3rd grade. He’s starting high school this year – I hope he can pack enough to keep him full!!
They have microwaves at our school for student use, which opens up his lunch choices immensely. He often takes leftovers or foods that I have created and frozen for him. I make burritos, sandwiches, homemade hot pockets, granola bars, muffins, pancakes, and mini pizzas and freeze them individually. I can put pretty much any filling in a tortilla, freeze it, wrap it, and he will pack it for lunch and eat every bite!
If my daughter were still young (she’s a freshman in college) I would buy her a Bento box. She would love that style lunch. Check it out!
I started packing my children’s lunches not because of price but because of the amount of salt they put in the food. I discovered this after eating a “Thanksgiving” meal with one of my children one day. I ended up drinking water by the gallon the whole rest of the day and swore I would be a better mother!
Things I love are their Thermos brand hot food containers. My daughter even has a disney princess one. We have 2 for each child in case one is in the dishwasher. I also love the reusable snack and sandwich bags from Mixed Bag Designs. They have a velcro closure and it cuts down on ziploc bag use.
Things I love to pack, chicken noodle soup and beefaroni are faves.
They love carrots with ranch, nuts, chex mix, goldfish and string cheese sticks.
Bananas are a must and small apples.
My daughter likes tuna salad and crackers (much to the dismay of her school mates). One child likes turkey sandwiches and one despises bread but she does like a slice of turkey rolled up with a smear of cream cheese (about 3). They do have their favorite things that they serve at lunch and once a month they can pick and it gives me a day off!
I buy juice in gallon jugs and pour a little in a refillable bottle. I also like the aqua pods when they go on sale.
I freeze go-gurts and they are the right temperature by the time they eat.
Really, for a well balanced lunch with milk ($4 a gallon here) $1.60 for lunch is not too bad in our district. i don’t have a picky eater, so I don’t have to worry too much, but if I were you, i’d get input on healthy items your child would like to pack in her lunch by having her help plan out the menu and help pack her own lunch.
Schools in our area (houston) follow a schedule. The first few weeks of school we keep track of what was for lunch and usually by the first grading period we know the pattern. This way I can ask “do you want nachos at school tomorrow?” and can decide what to pack.
A lot of kids trade snacks and things with others so I get around that (most times) by baking cookies on a weekday and sending them as a surprise. We also mix up the sides. fruit one day, a cupcake the next. Another thing is to change the drinks! Dont just always pack apple juice for example.
We do the thermos. I remember it cost about $12 and I was slightly annoyed but that was 3 years ago and it’s still like brand new. Our son is very picky but loved chicken fingers so we would heat it up put it in the thermos and they’re still be warm at lunch time.
In the midwest where we live, our meals are $2.40/day for a child. I do know many parents that qualify for reduced lunch costs through a program the school participates in. Unfortunately we don’t qualify. We do pack some lunches, but I’ve really tried to teach my kids to start eating what they serve because no one else in your life will cater to you either!! ;)
I haven’t read through all the responses so I don’t know if it has been mentioned..but my little girl will eat pretty much anything in a tortilla. I have done pb&j, turkey, “pizza”, hummus….on and on. Her favorite thing for lunch though is spinach and eggs in a thermos with vinegar (she is the daughter of a vegetarian and eats lots of stuff that most kid’s would describe as weird or just yuck). I also have always stuck a note or card in her lunchbox.
My son’s lunch is 1.75 every day but most of the time they don’t like what’s being served. I have packed them lunches which have included PB&J, Fruit and I take the gogurt and freeze it the night before so it thaws slowly for them at lunch time and it keeps their juice box cold! I would love a insulated bag!!
We do a different theme every day…it makes it fun and it’s still pretty cheap.
HIs favorite is Chinese Day – sushi – peanut butter on tortillia wraps rolled and sliced with jelly in the pack on the side. Can do that with ANY sandwich filling. served with cold ramen noodle with tossed english peas, chopsticks and a fortune cookie =]
Another favorite is Dipping day….everything is cut into slices and dipped in something. fruit, vegetable, sandwiches, cake…whatever!!
Capri sun, fresh fruit, pepperoni with cheese and crackers, yogurt, pretzels.
My sons favorite…… Two waffles with jelly in-between. He loves it and it’s so easy
I don’t have a school-aged kid, but I do have a hubby that I pack lunch for…and I really like what Heather (just above) said. Even as an adult, my hubby doesn’t always eat all his lunch, so I’ve started making sure I only send things he will eat, or things that won’t go bad if he doesn’t eat them right away. (for example, I found out –after 3 days of his crackers coming back in the lunch box untouched– that my darling hubby will only eat crackers if he has cheese to go with them! So I packed some cheese the next day, and voila!)
For kids, smaller serving sizes are great. My two year old will eat yogurt like crazy, but if it’s in too big of a container, he leaves most of it there. The smaller containers ensure that he eats it all! (and in truth, it’s about the same amount of yogurt that he’s eating, and the lack of waste makes up for the extra money one might spend on the smaller containers).
Reusable tupperware is also *very* helpful with kids. As long as they know to put it back in the lunch box afterward and not throw it away! The amount of baggies needed to pack a fruit/veggie, sandwich, crackers/chips, etc. is a huge expense when you add up all the meals your kiddos go through in a school year!
I don’t have children, but I saw this idea in Woman’s Day (I think) a few years ago: make PB&J the night before putting the peanut butter on both slices of bread, put the jelly in the middle. Freeze over night, put it in the lunch box & it will be thawed by lunch time.
Another new one I came up with: Make a pack of the Knorr/Lipton teryiaki (sp) noodles and how ever many you want prepackaged thawed chicken nuggets, mixed up they make a nice make shift stir fry (have not tried this cold though).
Like I said, I don’t have kids but I take both for myself for lunch at work.
I am a preschool teacher and i can tell you, these kids waste so much food! They often have lunchables but only “like” one or two items, they peel apart sandwiches and only eat the fillings, parents send them too many snacks so they open them and only eat a few and throw the rest away. I often see children throwing away unopened packages! Please be aware of what your child is actually eating. My son knows if he doesn’t eat it all to bring it home and also to eat the perishable items such as yogurt first because it will not be good later but pretzels will be fine.
I like to save little containers from Chick Fil A and KFC and use those for my daughter to take to school with her lunch items in. Then if she throws them away I don’t get upset about her throwing away expensive tupperware containers and I don’t have to clean out nasty leftover stuff that stinks after not being refigerated the rest of the day.
One thing I did last year that my son really liked was take the little throw away container and put canned fruit in them and then put jello in. He really enjoyed taking them in his lunch.
I work in a school, and let me tell you the among of food thrown away could feed a small country. It breaks my heart to see kids dumping out tupperware full of fresh strawberries, as I know how expensive they are ! Practically entire sandwiches, unopened individual snacks, juice boxes that are still full. I hear a cha-ching with each drop, lol! I am willing to bet their parents assume they are eating everything….
My tip is having them bring everything home so i can tell what things they are actually eating. I hate wasting food!!
Costco! I have five kids. Two are in a school with no lunch available. I have to drive across town to get them to school…so I need to have lots of options and bulk amounts. A box of plastic forks and spoons from Costco lasts all year. They eat a lot of peanut butter and honey in sandwiches and as dip. I try to buy a few different bulk type snack items each month so we have a selection. This year I am hoping to get them to eat more veggies if I can make some new dip items for their lunch. I need to find a mini dip try with three sections.
We do alot of wraps also. Or we make our own lunchable. As a special treat I will sometimes pack a uncrustable. The love those! I always send the capri sun flovored water and a fruit and a snack of some sort. Usually crackers or pretzels. I need to find a thermos that fits in there lunch box it seems. Never thought of it for a drink before.
My daughter will only eat a sandwich if it’s an “uncrustable” but they can be costly so I started making my own. They don’t have to be PB&J, you can put anything between the bread and then cut them with a sandwich cutter/sealer, I use the Pampered Chef one.
I read a tip somewhere from a woman with a son who hates to eat crust on his sandwiches. She said she saves the crusts in the freezer and makes french toast sticks for weekend breakfasts! I thought that was clever!
My 2nd grader(yikes) will be taking lunch everyday. We use reusable containers. He likes sandwiches.. turkey and provolone cheese, PB&J, He also takes fruit, cheese sticks, yogurt tubes.
I gave the teenager a budget and had her help plan the lunches for her and her little sister. I also bought small containers to separate food. I also had to resort to the old school metal lunch box for the little one (age 5) because often containers did not get properly sealed and nothing is worse in the insulated bags than the smell of rotten food/milk (that has seeped into corners before you can wash it out!) Now I just spray down the lunch box and it’s clean as can be.
that seems insane!!! what about the people who have 2,3,4 kids in school? geesh, that adds up! anywhoo…….my mom just gave me a cookbook called “Insanewiches”. “101 ways to think outside the lunchbox” there are some SUPER cute ideas in there! check it out! :)
You are so right about kids just nibbling so what I do is put several small containers: cut up fruit, veggies, maybe some dip, crackers, cheese, turkey, etc. Kind of a healthy, homemade lunchable.
Thanks!
I agree that most of the times my kids want me to pack their lunches, but with 3 in totally different age groups it can be hard. So they do both. My oldest likes to pack her lunch but because of her schedule at school (she graduates H.S. this year) she has way too many books in her book bag. But when she can she packs her food. My younger two are picky but they will eat at school when it is something they like.
Sometimes the school lunch does not give enough for the kids to eat on somedays and on other days too much! So this year we will try to figure out a way for the kids to pack their lunch more and on days we can’t buy it at school. Hopefully, we can pack more than buy!! I need very badly to get my dose of Disney!!
Luckily we get reduced lunch, it is only .40c – but the menu stinks. I have been packing nearly everyday. We are vegetarian, and they only have meat options.
my oldest son loves peanut butter and jelly, but I introduced him to banana dogs and he loves them. You take a tortilla shell put a bit of fluff on it (you can use peanut butter if your school allows it) and roll up a banana in it. easy and yummy.
My suggestions have already been mentioned…I bought a dinosaur shaped sandwich cutter. Also buy snacks & chips in larger bags & divide into reusable containers or ziploc bags.
My kids like pickles! We get them BOGO at Publix with two coupons (Mt. Olive Brand) and it’s super cheap.
The prices keep going up here. My son is going to be in 8th grade and thinks its uncool to bring a lunch…any suggestions?
Diane,
Be sure he gets to pick out his own lunch container. My middle schooler packs her own lunch now. We try to come up with ideas for “cool” lunchbox items together. She loves to take homemade mini pizzas, pb& j wraps, a chef salad or sometimes a hot dog with a bun. I give her a set amount of money in her lunch account each month so she does buy about once a week. Also, I’ve had good sucess with splitting the savings with my kids when they choose to brown bag instead of buy. They think the extra money is very cool. Good luck!
I love the ideas for cutting food into shapes! I am more cost aware! I buy all snacks that are on sale, have RR, have coupons doubled…etc. I have an 8 pack of Jiff- to -go from the free coupon a while back, free rice krispie treats from Wags last week with RR (and they have a blank space to write a special note on them!), cheap cereal you can put in baggies to munch on, and cheez-its from Wags. I also like to buy containers with RR or overage when possible so I have a nice selection to pack different foods in!
As a teacher………the kiddos are all the time wasting food. Definitely get your kiddos involved as to what they would like to see in their lunchbox. Do small sizes (snack sizes) and request that your kiddo not throw anything away (except liquids) so that you can get some feedback on what they are actually eating/wasting :)
I send my daughter with pretty much a snack size Items as her class eat a few time a day she is a special need child, but I pretty lucky she love veggies and fruit, so I send about three bags of veggies and fruit, some pop corn and crackers, also she eat when she get home…I plain on doing something smiler for my son who start her in a week or so at a head start program,
My 12 year old loves taking my Dove Chocolate Discoveries dips in her lunch! Her fav is white chocolate raspberry daiquiri (virgin of course). She dips fruit, pretzels, and more.
Apples I start with a corer/chunker then put all this in the box..cut up unbrown apples:) nut free too!
Another fav is build your own meatless taco….cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and more!
My child and I cut coupons, look at ads and decide on what is for the next two weeks of lunches. My child really gets into searching ads. She also loves the fact she is planning her lunch and is getting help and guidance from me. Once she bought into the plan it worked and the lunch actually got eaten
I pack lunch for my husband. He likes to take pringle chips. We found a small can of them at a gas station. He kept the small can and we just buy the large cans and refill his small can so he can easily take it to work. It works well when we get the Proctor and Gamble Pringle coupons. He also likes to take bugs on a log (Celery with peanut butter and raisins.) These would work well with almond or sunflower butter, etc. if peanuts are not allowed/tolerated.
I let the kids pack their own lunch with some guidance. They know they need some type of sandwich, chips, fruit, and a snacky item. I have never had a problem with them not eating everything. I am looking forward to seeing some other ideas though! :)
Thanks for all the awesome ideas! We will be experiencing lunch @ school for the first time & I plan to send home lunch nearly every day. All your tips are MUCH appreciated here!
I always had my lunch made, and I have always made my kids lunches. They do not even like the school food.
My kids are teenagers, and they do not like sandwiches daily, so I sometimes use a Thermos and fill it with ravioli, chicken noodle soup, chili, left over casseroles, etc. With that I ways put either a bread, garlic bagel chips, Funyuns, or some crackers. Also a fruit like peaches, applesauce, or grapes. And of course, mom can’t forget the dessert! Cookies, mini candy bars, M & Ms, or a piece of cake. I also slip in a water bottle or Gatorade. The waters alone last year were $1.75 at their school!
I hate the $2 lunch but even more that I send a check, and they allow my 7 year old to get extras that cost extra, so he runs out of money too fast! When I was in school, you had to pay cash for extras. Anyway, I’ve been using the goldfish bread, and my son likes that. We’ve also done tortilla wraps in the past to break the sandwich rut. I also buy bulk fruit at Sam’s and wash and put it into small baggies to make quick lunch additions for the week.
Our school allows us to set daily limits including no extras or extra milk only, etc. You might see if yours allows that too.
My son is in 7th grade and has never once bought his lunch! My daughter rarely buys hers so I always stock up on lunch totes :)
Definitely go with reusable containers for sandwiches and snacks. My daughter is pretty picky so I let her decide what she is going to pack, this way I know it’s stuff she’ll actually eat instead of ordering the school lunch and just throwing it away. And whatever she doesn’t eat at school during lunch, she leaves in her lunch box to eat on the way home from school.
We use the thermos brand FUNtainers for drinks and save a ton, because we don’t need to buy juice boxes. I make juice from frozen concentrate which is also cheaper. I fill the bottom of the thermos with a small bit of juice and stick it in the freezer at night. In the morning I add juice and stick it in their lunch box. My kids rave about how cold it is, you can even do it with milk and I promise between the container and being frozen it will be very cold. Another favorite is ham cubes. I buy them a lot to mix in macaroni and cheese or scalloped potatoes but if I buy a block of cheese, cut it in cubes and send the cubed cheese, ham and some crackers, it’s another favorite.
Freeze drinks to keep the box cool. It may involve trial and error based on lunch time
I do not buy bread on sale. I am not a bread eater. I teach and have a daughter in school. I would choose a few lunches a month for her to buy and send lunchables (on sale) for most. She was in preschool so did not like much. Good lunch ideas are fruit/applesauce cups, etc. Jazz up sandwiches with different cheese (ex. gouda) and meats. Also, reusable containers. I use these for everything but chips. Splurge and buy nice ones or cute ones. You will use it!
Mine like to take cold cereal in their thermos and then add milk at lunchtime….or leftovers from the night before.
I was going to day the same thing as Tanya. I wait untill the bread goes on sale and buy several loafs (usually I have a stock of jelly & peanut butter)I use my pampered chef sandwich maker & make several large Ziploc bags full of them at a time. They freeze very well. The morning of school I just put them in a reusable container. It also saves myself so much time in the morning!
I remember when my little brothers elementary school was charging him 2.50 a day for breakfast and lunch. I decided to set my alarm early enought to make breakfast for my brother so he wouldnt have the need to go eat breakfast at school. Saved us $2.50 there. So after a week of handing him $12.50 for lunch we decided to have him write down a list of all the his favorite foods. That way it was easier for us to work around that and decide what to do next. Luckily he made everything clear and simple for us. P&B and J sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, home made dried fruit, fresh cut fruit, spaghetti w/ meatballs, pasta salads and really healthy stuff. Since we stock up on pasta and sauce alot that was all tooken care of. We made the meatballs with store bought ground beef. Ground beef here in my city always goes on sale for really cheap so we try to stock up on that aswell. Home made dried fruit wasnt also a big deal because fruit is also cheap for example, apples go on sale the cheapest 6lbs for $1.00 and we also have oranges, peaches, strawberries and other fruits growing in our backyard it made it even a bigger savings for us. we buy our wheat bread at Costco. 2 Loafs in one bag for under $3.00. Lasts us about 1-2 months. Everything went really well for us. So instead of handing him $12.50 a week, which is $50.00 a month, and $600.00 a year. We ended up not spending all that. Huge savings for us really.
Our school lunch is $3, just for the food. I usually have to send $4 for him to eat and have a drink and I used to only let him have one school lunch a week because it’s basically junk food, but this year he’s only getting one a month for good behavior.
I like packing lunches. I try and stick with this formula for every lunch. One entree + One fruit or vegie + One snack + One drink…
For the entree I mostly make sandwiches, wraps, homemade lunchable fixin’s, pizza, etc. I sometimes will use leftover pancakes and waffles to make pb and j sandwiches in the middle….just for something different.
I will be providing lunch for 2 in school this year. I was able to grab a great deal on Lunchables ($1) so we grabbed 30. I use the snack bags with a small amount of fruit or one cup of fruit and water.
My friend makes these awesome washable reusable sandwich bags that are food safe and bpa free. Check out her etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/MaxsonCreations
In order to get my reusable containers and lunch boxes back each day they don’t get a dessert if they don’t bring them back. :) They want those sweets in their lunches each day so they tend to bring stuff back home.
I like that idea alot!!! Mine are usually pretty good anyway, but the extra incentive is nice
I do that too – no desert if you didn’t eat all your lunch that we packed.
My son is in 2nd grade and I have always packed his lunch box for school. Usually we do pb & j sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, cheese sticks, fruit, chips, and fruit chews for a treat. This year my daughter will start kindergarten and she will be taking her lunch box too. She loves turkey and cheese sandwiches, fruit of all kinds, chips, and fruit chews for a treat….She also likes those small cans of spaghetti and meatballs I bought a thermos for that.
Having 2 in school, one of which is a bottomless pit teenage boy, lunch can get tricky and costly. I am big on the food that goes into my kids mouths actually be good for them. Tupperware bottle of juice, water or Gatoraid are big in my house. We don’t buy the little bags of chips, we use plastic containers to hold chips, grapes and such. The costliest thing is the sandwiches. The oldest eats two at a time. Buying on sale and freezing helps. I figure it may work out only a little less making our lunches but it has to be better for them.
you can also freeze the small size individual milks so they will stay cold and be thawed out by lunch my daughter likes alot of yogurts, salads including ckn salad, and other things that require temperature maitnence to be safe. so i will freeze the milk, smoothies, yogurts cheese cubes/sticks, even freeze the fruit that way i know they will be cold and even act like ice packs for the mayo in her sandwhiches. also save all those little condiment packets you get from fast food and samples and pack them in there lunch also. i live in south texas so its like summer 8 months of the year spring for 2 and winter for 2. my daughter loves soups so if urs does to make sure to invest in a good thermos. add crakers and a grilled cheese and there you go. use cookie cutters and food dye to jazz it up a little and make her feel special and dont forget a little love note. i pack little notes in both my daughter and hubby’s lunches everyday.
I have three kids in school. That’s a lot of lunch money! I put so much in each of their accounts each month. They decide which days they want to take lunch and which they want to buy lunch. We often have money left over in their accounts each month. I buy in bulk for some things. I also get them involved in making their lunches. The middle one won’t eat sandwiches but will make wraps out of lunchmeat and veggies. The actually prefer bringing lunches as they have more time with their friends and less time standing in the lunch line.
Due to some awesome sales lately and a lots of coupons, I got stocked up on some things for my kids lunches today. I use the thermos a lot. We are peanut free around here. I pack soups (which my boys love), crackers, cheese, and a fruit. Sometimes I will pack a Gogurt I have frozen and it thaws out in time for lunch, but keeps the cheese and fruit cool. I pack ravioli, Pizza rolls, corn dog nuggest, and the boys love cold pizza.
Last year I invested in a Laptop Lunchbox. My daughter likes the fact that her food is compartmentalized and I like the fact that we’re not using tons of disposable bags. She likes the pizza Lunchables but I very rarely buy them. Instead, I buy all the components (pizza sauce, mini pepperoni, mozzarella, and flat, round sandwich bread) and put them in her lunchbox. She loves making her own little pizzas.
My daughter prefers bringing her lunch and I like knowing what she eats every day! My daughter also brings home any uneaten food which helps me gauge what she likes and does not like.
The school my children attend do not have lunches. You have to pack your own. I love packing my children’s lunches because I know they are getting healthy things to eat. They get a capri-sun (flavored water), a sandwich of lunch meat (I switch it around) & cheese. a piece of fruit & either pretzels, yogurt, or the welch’s gummies. My daughter loves when I pack carrot & celery sticks with ranch dressing! =)
The school does provide a snack – goldfish, crackers, etc.
Our lunches are $2.30/day for a regular lunch and $2.90 for a “big” lunch. Thankfully, we bring most days but there are occassions where she wants to buy (and it gives us a day off too). Now the media here is scaring everyone about lunches that you bring aren’t safe and the freezer packs aren’t keeping foods cold enough or thermoses not hot enough. They are scaring people and encouraging them to buy lunches. The prices are crazy.
Wide Mouth Thermos: By the time I was in middle school I was way over the sandwhich and my mom started packing me hot lunches in a wide mouth thermos. She would boil a hot dog, put the hotdog and boiling water in the thermos and send me to school with a bun and packet of ketchup. I guess if your kids are small this wont work but by 7th and 8th grade I was doing fine with hot lunches. I got left over soups and stews in the winter. She never over did it and packed a lot of food, but if your kid are at the age where they need something heartier (with sports and things) the wide mouth thermos is a good idea.
My daughter used to bring lunchables but I found she only ate the meat and drank thr juice box, so now I buy deli meat and put that in reusable containers along with caprisuns, a small bottle of water,(we refill it with tap at home), and a container with chips or pretzels, and fruit of some kind. She eats more this way.
Every child is different, but I think people are worried about packing too much in their kids’ lunches. What does your child eat at home? Mine live on yogurt and fruit for lunch with the occasional PB and J or lunch meat roll-ups. That’s what I pack for my 6 year old, but for school I will stick a granola bar or something for extra staying power. I’ve done lunch relief for my daughter’s class, and some parents pack a sandwich, yogurt, fruit, cookies, and chips. Those kids throw out a lot of that food – its simply too much. I say save money by packing a normal portion size of healthy foods. Kids don’t need cookies and chips at every lunch – and those are the most expensive part.
*buy large containers of fruit IN JUICE not syrup and split it up into lots of little tupperwere containers.
*Don’t over pack, I have trouble with this one and give my kids WAY too much food, just think about how much they usually eat.
*There is a great deal on Quakes right now, and my kids LOVE them, so I stocked up on the healthy choices to put in my son’s lunch instead of chips.
*some schools are totally ANTI peanut, which is tough on the budget. Try making your own nut butters, adding lettus and tomato to lunch meat sandwiches or tiny pieces of celery in chicken or tuna salad (make sure there is an ice pack in their lunch on those days.)
*A nice way to let your kids know how much you love them is to add a little flair to their lunch. If they are old enough to read add a note on their napkin, all kids love it when you make things with their food and it makes them more willing to eat it as well. Make flowers with fruits and veggies etc. Check out Bento sites for ideas. They don’t have to be elaborate just a little something to let them know you are thinking of them.
*Don’t be afraid to put last nights leftovers in their lunch (as long as they liked it!) or make a little extra of the things they LOVE to put in their lunches the next day or the day after.
*try pitas or wraps to change things up when you can get them on sale, freeze them for later.
*Kids love to dip so be creative in what they can dip:)
*instead of plain applesauce get the flavored kind with real other fruits and juices.
Bento lunches are super cute and make lunch time fun and enjoyable for children, my kids don’t really like sandwiches but shaped like a dinosaur they will eat it. :)
My son just started pre-k and I have to pack his lunch. He loves to help. We mainly pack PB and J, chicken nuggets, ravioli and corn dogs but sometimes we pack soup or leftovers. On special days he might get lunchables.
Instead of buying juice boxes I bought the schools’ watterbottles for a $1.50 each and I fill them with Crystal Light, strawberry orange banana is a favorite with my kiddos. ( I make the 2 quart containers)
Also, the income limits on the reduced/free lunch program are fairly high, so you can always look into that as an option as well. In our district, even the reduced price kids get their meals free, both breakfast and lunch. We’ve qualified every year so far.
You know…my kids’ school has pizza as an option EVERYDAY!!!! I think that’s just crazy!!!
Although we homeschool, it makes the morning go more smoothly if I pack our lunches so I don’t have to interupt teaching time to do lunch prep. Our family using multi-grain tortillas to make wraps or quesadillas. The tortillas are homemade, we make PB&J pizza slilces, turkey and veggie wraps and/or melt cheese in them. I’ve calculated that our lunches for all the family costs us about $75/month and that includes lunches for weekends as well.
Our hot lunch is $3.25! My kids like to pack a bowl with cereal in it and then buy a milk and have a bowl of cereal for lunch with some fruit. It mixes it up with PBJ.
I also pack lunched for my son. Though last year I would do turkey sammiches…I heard there are studies being done that these type of sandwiches made with lunch meat aren’t staying cool enough at the right temperature even WITH the insulated bags and freezer packs. Which is very dangerous for our little ones! So me, I am going back to the same old (but safe!!) PB&J lunchable sandwiches and fruit! Better safe than have a little sick one!
My oldest child is picky when it comes to lunches at school and my middle child loves anything and everything. What we do are these money saving ideas:
1. freeze juice/capri suns, ect. this acts as an ice pack while they go to school, plus the juice is still ice cold at lunch. also, we try to reuse the containers a few times (if applicable for the container)
2. make our own versions of lunchables. we buy the meat, cheese, and crackers and viola the kids have a homemade version of lunchables.
3.i also buy any reusable container on sale, this way if the kids forget the container or it breaks, i’m not out alot of $$. i also buy lunch boxes when they go on sale after school starts. this way i can have a small stock of them. they are also great to use on vacation while driving. it allows all my kids have snacks next to them so i don’t have to hear “i’m hungry”. we stock the boxes up when we stop and keeps them going.
4. i don’t worry if my kid(s) don’t pack a meat for lunch. fruits and veggies are enough nutrients for lunch. infact my kids love grapes with cheese. sometimes less is actually more when it comes to food!
5. peanut butter.. the poor man’singredient is a great item to use for sandwhiches, inside celery sticks, and so much more!
6. i also freeze pudding containers. keeps items cold like the frozen juice containers, plus frozen pudding is great( esp when i get a great deal on them) !! hee hee. i also make up pudding and use small reuseable containers. cuts the cost also!
7. breakfast is just as great for lunch or dinner as breakfast. make a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit with a piece of fruit!
there are alot of other things we do to keep the cost down in our home. another great thing that most people forget about, is alot of schools have free or reduced lunches (and breakfast). it never hurts to look into it; what’s the worst that can happen? they say no and you are no worse than before.. they say yes and you get a break
Amy!
I tried containers, but they were always lost or left in desks and full of mold by the time they made it home. So I buy my Ziplocs in bulk or on sale. I learned (from the little boy next door) that fruit snacks trade really high on the “lunchtime market” and my son had that field cornered. When he started coming home with Gatorade bottles and Twinkie wrappers that he had scored by trading his pepperoni sandwiches, I decided to have him help pack his own lunch each day, then he’s only taking what HE wants to eat.
Our son, starting kindergarten next week, told us earlier this summer that he needed a lunch box so he could bring his lunch to school. I asked if he wan’t to buy lunch at school and he replied quickly with NO. I printed off the lunch menu and showed it to him tonight, lucky for us (and our wallet), mr. picky eater didn’t like any of the choices except for pizza day.
We have to send a snack along for afterschool care. I’m not sure what to send for that, there is no fridge or way to heat foods. But more importantly, how do we make him understand that all the food isn’t to be eaten at lunchtime?
For aftercare I’d send a granola bar, poptart, or other self contained snack and pack it in a different place, like a pocket of his backpack (that way he will have it at aftercare, but NOT at lunch:) Or if you have a bigger eater who needs more send two different lunch boxes. Since he is in Kindergarten you can label them with pictures or make the lunch one really cool, and the aftercare one plain so he doesn’t get confused as to which one to take at lunch time.
My son loves to take his hot food thermos for lunch. He often asks for dinner leftovers for lunch the next day. Like pasta or rice dishes. I just warm in the morning and add to his lunch. I also use the mini baggies for snacks. Keeps me from over packing what he may not even eat. Other than that I save on lunches by using coupons and stocking up on his favorites when available. Bologna, fruit chewy things, chips, and fruit cups. And of course reusable containerss are great.
As soon as we get our school menus we sit down and go over who wants to eat at school what days. I mark the calendar with an initial if someone wants to take their lunch. I write the checks accordingly and plan lunch box lunches for the rest.
I buy stuff with coupons and in bulk and reuse storage bags and such. Instead of buying the pouch and box drinks, we use kool aid, tea and water in reusable bottles. I would love one of these baggies for the kiddies
I use a bento lunch box like this one here:
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/spencer-bento-box-containers/
It is separated into compartments already so there is no baggie waste!
My boys love cut up fruit–watermelon, apples, cantaloupe, etc. A cute idea I got from my aunt is to write a note on their banana peel! Marker works well and never goes through to the part they eat. It’s a fun surprise. I also will occasionally put in a festive napkin leftover from a bday or other party. Mine also like pizza in their lunch. My oldest likes it cold, and my youngest will eat it warmed up in a thermos. You can cut it up into smaller pieces to fit.
I also buy bulk on the snack. Keeps the cost down and you can put it in a reusable container. I try to keep my son involved with his lunches. Ask him what he would like for the week. Then the day I make the lunch ask him what one heathy side would he like and what small treat would he like. Makes him feel like he helped.
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That lunch container is one of my favoritest things in the world, lol. They’re sturdy and can take a beating. I usually pack a sandwich and a juice box, and if I had some fruit, I can also put in some apple slices or grapes, otherwise I stick a small cold pak in the 3rd compartment to keep things cool.
My daughter will be starting Kindergarten this year, so not sure what the cost of lunch is. She loves tortillas and always asks for a Turkey and cheese “taco” or a peanut butter and Fluff “taco”. Also I will freeze juice and it’ll be thawed by lunch. (She’ll get that once a week. I’ll spring for cold milk she can buy at lunch)
She’s discovered granola bars so she’ll have something healthier I can put in her lunch.
Depending on what time your daughter’s lunch is, the juice might be thawed. I used to freeze capri suns for my son, but because he ate at 11 am, his juice was still frozen solid and then he didn’t have a drink. I now use a thermos and put some ice in it to keep it colder.
If you have problems with the juice still being frozen at lunch time try filling a thermos or water bottle about 1/3 of the way and freezing that. Then before they leave for school, fill it the rest of the way. It will still keep the drink nice and cold, but it is more likely to be thawed by lunch time.
It’s not just the younger kids packing their lunch…my 17 year-old son who is a senior this year is also packing his lunch. He needs to lose weight before joining the Navy next year. Packing his lunch enables me and him to keep an eye on calories and it’s much more nutricious than what they serve in the high school cafeteria. So both my 9 and 17 year olds will be packing their lunch this year.
I started taking some ideas from BENTO BOXES or BENTO LUNCH ideas. There are a few pages on facebook. It’s so neat!!! My kids LOVED it!!
My son has very little appetite due to meds he is on for ADHD. So I have to be creative. I send things like pudding cups ($0.25 ea), mini boxes of raisins($0.14a box) and I use one piece of bread that I cut in half to make pb & j or lunchmeat sandwiches. My son rarely eats a full sandwich so I tell him that I will only send half but that he has to eat the whole thing. My kids also love cherry tomatoes, especially if I give them a small cup of ranch(lite) dressing. Sometimes he begs me to just give him pop tarts or once in a while I will put dry cereal in a zip lock bag and send a bowl in his lunch box. He just buys a milk at school and since he never drinks a full carton it is enough for the cereal and his drink. Oh and one more thing, we mix a crystal light pkg in a bottle of water and then freeze it. So it works as an ice pack but also melts and by lunch time he has an ice cold drink :)
Luckily my children like to take their own lunch. : )
Home made lunchables (just cut up the meat and cheese yourself.. this way you can decide what meats/cheese to use.. Lunchables are FULL of sodium and aren’t very filling, at least to my kids they aren’t. If you have a sandwich sealer (it cuts it into a circle, and seals the edges together, I got mine from pampered chef) you can make little sandwiches like those “Uncrustables”.. they freeze well, and you just toss it in frozen and it thaws by the time they eat it.
Hot lunches are a little bit more challenging, and I don’t think there is a thermos out there that keeps foods hot for 4 hours. I have sent Chef Boy Ardee, just heated up as hot as I can get it without burning it, and put it in a thermos (the expensive ones really did work better). they said it was still pretty warm by lunch time, just not hot.
Great sides are fruit, veggies, home made snack crackers (oyster crackers, tossed in a little olive oil, sprinkled with ranch dressing powder and baked). Another money saving idea is to buy the large sizes of chips, crackers, etc. and divide. Its MUCH cheaper than the little snack sized bags of things, no matter how convenient they may be.
Hope this helps!
It’s $2.25 a day here, $3.50 for adults. I think milk is .50. I plan on just sending my kids to school with the previous night’s left overs. If it’s good enough for us adults, it’s good enough for the kids.
My hubby and I fight over who gets to take the left overs for lunch the next day! My poor kids would never get a chance at em, lol! Good thing they LOVE pb&j. But I get bored just making pb&j everyday! And my kids definately needed to widen out. I am loving all these lunch ideas!
Bento boxes have become one of my favorite things. My kids love different things and with the small spaces I can do cute and healthy things for each of them. Our lunches are $2.50 HS and $2.35 for my little ones.
I loved taking my lunch so much that I still take it to work.
one of my daughters loves to pack leftovers from dinner in her thermos
Resist the urge to pack too much food, they don’t need any more than they would eat at home. I made this mistake when my youngest was in kindergarten, then I started really paying attention to what he was eating. Now he makes his own: a sandwich, a fruit or vegetable and a small treat like a cookie or small piece of candy and he usually eats the whole thing. The same with my teen, she also packs her own and she eats alot more so she’ll pack soup in a thermos, a sandwich, fruit or veggies, a couple cookies and a water bottle. And definitely use reusable containers, not ziplocs.
Have your kids help you pack the lunches the night before or if you can stand it, take them grocery shopping so they can pick out what they want. Let them make the sandwich or give them the ingredients so at school they can make it themselves. Make your own cheap version of lunchables and bag separately so the kids feel like they have their own special lunches they can make themselves.
Best site ever for lunch ideas:
http://lunchinabox.net/
I’ve used it for reference for years and I still use it now to make regular food more enticing to my mom when she’s undergoing chemo.
i have 3 kids in school and i know my grade schoolers are nibblers. so I also pack lunches. like another mom mentioned, but little containers that can be used in lunch boxes . my kids have thermos we fill up w kool aid . in winter they have a little thermos thingy i put spagettios and that sort things * cheap @ aldis*
i buy canned fruits and put in little bowls for kids to take . kids will make up some pudding or jello and we use those.
we would love a new lunch box
WOw, what a bunch of gret ideas. I too, try to buy bulk and pack only as much as my child will eat. He would never(and I wouldn’t want him to) eat a full bag of chips. I aspire to give him some healthy choices. He’s not a big bread eater and the lunchables seem to have a lot of stuff he won’t eat, so sometimes I just roll 2 or 3 slices of sandwich meat. He also is lactose intolerant so rahter than buying the other “milk” choices for 1.00 approximately each, I have a reusable container and just fill it at home. I like the reuable container idea, because otherwise I go through a ton of sandwich bags.
I like alot of the suggestions on using the containers! Way better than baggies…Also, I make a list with my kids of things that they like that I approve of…that way they are always happy with their lunch and I know they will eat it! Plus, (we are veggies) hotdog buns make great veggie subs! Also, having the kids help make their lunch the night before is really helpful!!!
My son’s lunch is $3.00 A day…I am going to go bankrupt just from buying his school lunches! A great way to save money for the kid that nibbles is to just give him A few small different things instead of one big thing. Then he or she would be more likely to eat it all :)
My granddaughter loves taking her lunch, she say she can make health choices!
I sat down with my kids this week & asked them for some ideas. The boy is pretty picky – mostly PB&J, but my daughter will eat salads, soups, and wraps. I got more ideas than I was expecting. I’m planning on adding fresh fruits & veggies to make up for the days when it’s Spaghetti O’s. :-)
Get your kids involved and give them a choice or two on what they want (i.e. grapes or apples today?) I don’t have children of my own, but I work with them in a school, and the kids who eat the healthy things and don’t waste at lunch are the ones who proudly state, “I packed my lunch today!”
Hot soup in a thermos – a complete lunch in one reusable container!
(and it was always my favorite as a kid!)
My son has packed his lunch since kindergarten (he is now entering 6th grade).
When he first started school, I made up a little menu with main items (pasta with sauce, peanut butter and jelly, ham/cheese/crackers) fruit or veggie (apple, fruit cup, apple sauce, carrot/celery sticks, pepper strips) and a sweet treat (pudding, rice krispie treat).
He had a great time picking his menu and it made it easy for the mornings.
I suggest you look into laptop lunchboxes! The Bento box is great for less waste and more variety!
We almost never buy school lunches. I have 3 different eaters. freeze go-gurts (simply ones) – make a snack mix (cheeze its, goldfish – nuts) freeze cheese sticks – fruit cups – meat and cheese roll ups – cream cheese and jelly sandwiches – peanut butter and marshmallow fluff – bagels and cream cheese
when my daughter went to school, I put her lunch in a plastic container with compartments, sandwich or cheese and sausage or whatever on one side and veggies and dip on the other or apple and peanut butter. I also had her put the lid back on when she was done and put everything back in her lunch bag to bring home so I could see what she was actually eating.
I would suggest letting your child help pack their lunch. That way they know what they will be eating and they are more likely to eat their lunch. Try using cookie cutters to make fun shapes for sandwiches. Also, investing various sizes of storage containers with an ice pack in the lid (forgot the name of the containers, but you can find them at Target or Walmart) will help keep food cold and keep costs down. I hope this helps!
I go to our local restaurant supply store and buy those small disposable containers that hold about 2 ounces, with lids. I can get 125 of them for under $2.00. I use them for ALOT of the items that my kids take for lunch. They just love raw carrots so I pack a snack baggie of carrots and put ranch dressing in the 2 oz container. Celery and peanut butter in the 2 oz container, this way the peanut butter doesn’t get stuck to the baggies. My teenager likes salads and I use the 2 oz container for her dressing. I also make jello in them and just toss them into their lunch boxes!
I love the jello idea! Thank you!
Love the idea to use those containers.
Quesadillas are a hit in our house!
My son is a picky eater. So we pack his lunches. I take him to the grocerry store and he picks out the lunchables. They have chicken nuggets, pizza,, ham and cheese. I will also pack him something a little extra and I buy him capri suns to drink. He loves and he has a say so in what he eats for lunch and he always eats every bit of it.
My children’s school sends home any uneaten food. This is a great idea since parents can monitor what kids are eating. This is how I discovered that my daughter really doesn’t like PB & J. Another thing that I have found to work is to resist the urge to fill the containers. For example, 4 or five grapes are plenty…the same goes for baby carrots.
Could we please have some peanut free suggestions? I need some ideas. I’m sure I am not the only with a peanut free school. Thanks so much!
Cream cheese and jelly, bagel and cream cheese, freeze yogurt tubes or cheese sticks, jelly sandwiches (strawberry is our favorite), fruit cups.
I have two that are allergic to peanuts so we have to get creative…… I cut out lunch meat into shapes with the little cookie cutters from pampered chef (bologna works best), i also cut the bread into shapes too so they can create their own little lunchable. My daughter likes salad to i will pack that in a container and another container with salad dressing. Depending on how late in the day thier lunch is you can pack mac and cheese, nuggets, pasta etc into an insulated container. I also just bought this week the goldfish shaped bread that Pepperidge farm just came out with…. it went over so well, they’ve all requested it again for tomorrow. For sides I use chips, pretzels, mandarin oranges, blue berris, strawberries, cookies, gold fish, peanut free trail mix and the list goes on…. hope I’ve helped :0)
I wanted to comment on the Mac-n-cheese in a container. My daughter is crazy for Mac-n-Cheese(the homemade kind) and I usually have it once a week at least. When I make it for our dinner, I will make extra and bake it in a muffin pan. Then each mac-n-cheese muffin is put in the fridge, in the mornings before school I heat one and then it fits nicely into my daughters thermos. She has had early lunches so they always are warm when she eats lunch.
my dd’s love strawberry cream chz and bananas on a tortilla. ham &chz , make your own lunchables! i send yogart with my kids also
Our school has “sunbutter.” I’ve not tried it but it looks like BP but is made from sunflower seeds. The kids seem to like it and have even argued that it was PB but with a new name. Not sure where you can get this but if the schools use it I’m sure it’s out there.
Sunbutter is a staple in our nut-free house, not only is it nut-free, but taste great!
Cut sandwiches or fruit in different shapes to make it fun. I also like to make my own “Lunchables” by giving them crackers, meat and cheese and let them put it together. I like to get fun character containers (at the dollar store or Target) to put lunch items in.
I just started doing this at my daycare… It amazes me how they’ll ask for seconds and thirds of this, but if I give them the same lunchmeat and cheese in a sandwich they take two bites and are done. My husband thought of it here. :)
I do this too – and I found some tiny plastic cocktail forks at the dollar store. I put one of those in the container. My year old loves it, she says it makes eating fun :) I was surprised that the fork always comes home!
I generally add some variety of veggie or olives in the container too.
I’m pretty lucky in that there are few things my 6 year old won’t eat – with peanut butter being one of those few…
We’ve been packing lunches for a few years now and beside the cost savings, I really like that I have more influence over what she’s eating.
On Sunday when I have more time, I try to make a few things. Usually a baked product – often muffins or cookies and I typically make some variety of pasta salad that lasts a few days. I use the whole grain, multi-colored rotini (or other fun shaped pasta) and puts lots of small diced veggies in it along with some variety of meat. I make my own vinaigrette dressings – so I can control the amount of oil and salt products. I put it in a wide mouth food thermos and it makes a great meal.
She loves leftovers, so those make a great lunch in a thermos too. I also have some of the little sandwich shaped containers and I often do homemade lunchables in those. I add a cute cupcake wrapper and put olives, beets (she loves beets!), carrots or lightly steam broccoli (baby trees) in it. She also loves all varieties of pickled things…so she often gets different kinds of pickles, pickled green beans or asparagus.
I add some kind of fruit – generally a banana or a dried fruit (she’s on a dried mango kick right now).
We also do the frozen yogurt tubes, granola bars or graham crackers. She occasionally gets a few fun shaped marshmallows too. I typically send flavored water in a strawed thermos.
I totally agree that packing less than you think is enough is totally appropriate…lunch at school/daycare is a busy and social time – they don’t eat much. That said…my little one knows that she packs everything she doesn’t eat back in the lunchbox…and any non-perishables that aren’t eaten are the first thing she gets when she asks for an after school snack.
I try to buy bulk bags of snack foods and then divvy them up into baggies, or reusable storage containers. Sandwiches go into reusable containers too. My kids like sandwiches, a very select group of veggies, apples, oranges and fruit cups. I also teach my kids to bring even the baggies home. If they only had chips, they totally get reused, stuff with wet things in them may get rinsed if I’m motivated…
my kids have learned to save the plastic spoons i send with them!! they always remember to bring home containers.
I bought the colored plastic bowls with lids (similar to the disposable looking glad kind but small) in the baby section at target. My daughter had no trouble with the lids. At the start of the year I just told her to throw her trash back into her lunch bag for me to sort out later, as I was afraid she would toss them. No problems and she now tosses her trash. I think b/c she knows not to throw away the thermos, that serves as a reminder to save the bowls too.
I’m starting a brown bag idea page on my blog I’m having trouble renaming it so don’t let the name fool you.
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Invest in some inexpensive plastic storage containers. In the long run they will save you money over using (and disposing) plastic lunch bags.
I’d save those containers for older kids. Little kids might not be able to open them. Adults in the lunchroom might be too busy to help them.
And younger kids might be more likely to throw away the containers, like my son. I learned the hard way to only pack things I didn’t expect to be returned.
Have your son or daughter decorate a ziplock container with stickers and permanant markers. Personalizing it makes them much less like to throw them away!
I remember when I was in school it was only $.50 a day for a school lunch, and you are right about kids nibbling and then throwing their food away. I may have been one of those kids lol. $2.00 a day seems crazy! I would love to win an insulated lunch sack for my kiddos!