Back to School Lunch Ideas
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Many of you must be getting ready for your kids to go back to school, as I've gotten a lot of requests to feature ideas for what to pack kids for lunch that they will actually eat. This list is a compilation of ideas that some of you have shared on the Facebook fan page for this site, in e-mails, and what I pack for my own kids. These ideas could be used for kids as well as adults that pack their lunch for work!
I have 4 kids and have been packing lunches for over 10 years. I'm not saying my kids love everything that I pack, but they do seem to like variety, or just something different once in awhile. Here are some ideas if you are looking for inspiration or even want to give your kids a list of things they could pack for themselves!
Main
- if you make sandwiches, consider offering a different type of bread, using a tortilla instead of bread, using a bagel or bagel thins ( a new product that isn't as thick as a bagel), mini bagels, or even roll lunch meat up in a piece of romaine lettuce
- bagel with cream cheese
- sandwich wraps made with tortillas with cream cheese, veggies, and or meat
- cheese cubes with crackers
- small thermos with leftovers from dinner, spaghetti, soup, rice with soy sauce, noodles tossed with olive oil and Parmesan cheese
- make your own nachos with cheese and salsa
- peanut butter and crackers
- cereal in a bowl that they can add milk to and add fruit on top
- hummus with pita wedges
- make your own yogurt parfait with yogurt, granola and one reader likes to pack almonds which she has soaked the night before in filtered water which she says are delicious and easy for kids to eat who have braces!)
- salad with meat, cheese and a separate container of dressing. If you kids like this, there are salad shaker containers that work great.
Sides
- baby carrots (with ranch dressing for dipping)
- celery stuffed with peanut butter or cream cheese, or plain
- cherry tomatoes, or cucumber slices with ranch dressing
- apples, oranges (my kids love clementines because they are easy to peel), grapes. I'll be honest, I usually don't back bananas because they are easily squished.
- unsweetened apples sauce or flavored applesauce such as blueberry
- mini blueberry or banana muffins
- trail mix
- granola bars
- chips or pretzels
- salsa and chips
- pickles or olives
- yogurt or gogert (some people like to freeze the gogurts)
- nuts (if allowed at your school)
Dessert (Some mom's only pack this on Fridays)
- pudding
- cookies, fig newtons
- banana bread
- fruit snacks
- fruit snacks, fruit leather
- chocolate milk
If you've been packing lunches you probably already have insulated lunch boxes or bags, bpa free re-fillable water bottles, freezer pucks to keep things cold, and if you're going green some reusable containers. I find my kids loose a fair amount of these things so I try not to to invest too much money in them. If your kids are more responsible, you may be able to locate a "bento box" at an Asian mart. This is a nifty container with small lidded containers that all fit neatly together and resemble a lunchables box, only you can fill it with much healthier and less expensive foods.
As for packing lunches hopefully you will fair better than I do getting your kids to pack their own! I usually offer to pack the sandwich or main feature and have them pack the sides. I do reserve the right to edit their choices if they are too junky but if they help pack their lunches, I'm hoping there is a better chance that they will eat it!
Thanks again to those of you who contributed your ideas of what to pack for lunch!
If you have any friends who are getting ready for back to school, feel free to forward this e-mail by clicking the "forward e-mail" link at the bottom, left.
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