Packed lunch brainstorming thread

[pugz]

I am having my second grader help pack her lunches this year, hopefully will transition to her doing it all by herself at some point but right now we are doing it together.  Can you share what kinds of things you pack in a cold lunch? I'm going to make a list for her broken down by category to help decide what to put on the grocery list for the next week's schools.  She refuses to eat cheese we pack in her lunch because it doesn't stay cold enough.  Which I understand because I only eat cheese when it is right out of the fridge. Here is some of what we do already. Add yours!

main dish:
pita/naan with hummus
leftover cold pizza
PBJ
crackers and pepperoni

fruits:
berries
grapes
apple slices
canned oranges

veggies:
broccoli
carrots
grape tomatoes (yeah I know technically a fruit)


other stuff:
hard boiled egg
goldfish
chex mix
pretzels
mini cookies
yogurt tube

[ohgillian]

veggies:

pea pods
frozen peas (they're thawed by lunch time)

[abs]

These are DD's main go-to's:

Protein:
Rolled up deli ham
Hummus with mini naan
Black beans and rice kept kind of warm in a thermos

Fruit:
Berries
Kiwi
Grapes

Veggies:
Carrot sticks
Celery sticks
Red pepper strips
Marinated artichokes

Other:
Applesauce
Cookies
Cereal Bar
Pretzel sticks
Boom Chicka pop
mini babybel cheese

She picks one protein, one veggie, one fruit, and two from the other section. Mini water to drink. She's generally starving at lunch as they have both recess and PE before lunch.

[namasteak]

Protein
-diced chicken apple sausage
-small breakfast sausages
-sliced pepperoni
-salami
-pb&j


Veggies
-bell peppers
-baby carrots
-cucumber
-dried broccoli
-dried snap peas

Fruit
-berries
-mandarin oranges/clementines
-fruit cocktail
-diced peaches

Dairy
-diced cheese (with sausages)
-sliced cheese (with pepperoni)
-string cheese (with salami)

Carb
-pirates booty (with chicken apple sausage)
-bread (with pbj)
-kodiak cakes pancake (with breakfast sausage)
-crackers (with pepperoni)
-veggie straws

[Poppy]

Main:
Sunbutter and crackers
Yogurt and granola
Apple and sunbutter

Veg:
Edamame

Other:
Raisins
Muffin (we make a bunch and freeze)

[mbcdefg]

Some good ideas here: everydayannie.com/2014/09/10/school-lunch-inspiration-over-20-lunchbox-ideas/

[mmmomof2]

Frozen yogurt tube

If she can open a thermos you can do pasta or chicken nuggets. Really any casserole type food, but those are most popular with my kids.

[scm1011]

My DS pretty much has the same main lunch everyday because it’s healthy and he likes it:
Meat (usually grilled chicken or pulled pork), half an avocado sliced, and black beans. Once in a while we do noodles and meatballs in a thermos.

I also pack 2-3 snacks:
Hummus + veggies
Yogurt
Fruit
Cheese
Banana muffin

I need to branch out so I’m excited for this thread.

[mrsGreeko]

Well yesterday my 2nd grade took meatloaf and mashed potatoes in a thermos (frozen Marie callender’s that I cooked that morning because he’s my 3rd kid and I’ve resigned myself to the fact that first and foremost I need these kids to EAT, especially him and he gets hangry like you wouldn’t believe), rice a roni that he ate at room temp, a mandarin orange cup (that he says he threw away), homemade apple cinnamon fruit roll up, and muffins.

Today he took pizza rolls in a thermos, strawberries, muffins, homemade apple cinnamon fruit roll up, and I think that’s probably it. It was one of those mornings.

Sometimes he likes homemade pizza lunchables. I use mini pita breads as the crust and pack a little pizza sauce, mozzarella and mini pepperonis to make his own little pizzas.

Sometimes I warm up a hot dog in the morning and wrap it in foil and then he assembles it in a bun with ketchup at lunch to eat. Sounds kind of gross to me, but he likes it.

He won’t eat sandwiches and won’t let me pack anything with nuts in his lunch because he sits at the allergy table to sit with his friends.

My 5th grader normally packs a Nutella sandwich (for lots of reasons I allow this even though I’d prefer peanut butter because sugar, but this kid literally starved herself to the point of needing medication to get her to eat so we allow it), manadarin orange cups, a pickle or olive cup, strawberries or a plum, and then things like homemade fruit roll ups, beef jerky, etc.

My 8th grader normally packs herself a salad (black beans, greens, cilantro, cucumbers, and avocado with balsamic vinaigrette, and an assortment of snacks to go with it.


Mostly I heavily encourage the hot lunch option because the variety is so much greater than I can provide in a lunchbox.

[bk1]

This is my first year packing a lunch for my daughter. She's been in school just over a week and this is what I have done so far. 

She gets 1 main item, 1-2 veggies, 1-2 fruits, a go gurt, 2 snacks (for snack time) and a reuseable cup of water. She has been eating the majority of her lunch and usually 1 snack. She tends to ask for the other snack right when we get home. 

Main:
rolled up deli ham/cheese
salami/cheese/crackers
almond butter sandwich
mini pancakes
refried beans/chips for dipping


Veggie:
baby carrots
sliced bell peppers
grape tomatoes
cucumber slices
celery sticks


Fruit:
apple slices
pear slices
blueberries
strawberries


Snacks:
pretzels/goldfish
raisins
applesauce pouch
teddy grahams
granola bar
fruit snacks

[arehopsveggies]

DS usually chooses Greek yogurt as his protein. He also likes slices of ham rolled up.

To save time, I made a whole loaf of pb&j for the freezer. Easy to grab if I realize he needs a lunch last minute. (He usually eats school lunch but is begging this year to pack lunch more often)

[nessness]

Our list overlaps a lot with yours, but a few things to add:

Main:
Bean and cheese quesadilla (she'll eat this cold - I don't know if most kids would)

Fruit:
Melon slices
Peach/plum/nectarine slices
Dried apples
Dried apricots

Veggies:
Bell pepper strips

Other:
Trail mix (use seeds and dried fruit if you can't do nuts. Add a few chocolate chips for a treat)
Veggie straws
Popcorn

[boiler717]

Do you keep an ice pack in her bag? That helps us a lot. I alternate between cold lunches and doing a main in a thermos with sides (no ice pack).
For cold lunches:
Sandwich or wrap (deli meat, sunbutter)
Pepperoni or ham + pretzels + cheese (obviously skip the cheese if needed)
Protein pasta salad with chicken or shrimp
Chicken, tuna, egg, or chickpea salad on bread or with pretzels/crackers
All of the above with veggies (peas, green beans, Lima beans, corn, black peas, chick peas, etc) and fruit (berries, kiwi, cuties, grapes)
Sometimes hummus or a HB egg for a second protein option depending on what I’m sending
For a thermos lunch:
protein pasta with a vegan “cheese” sauce (butternut squash/sweet potato purée), broccoli, and tuna or chicken and a fruit
Soup with crackers, fruit, and veggie + hummus
Burrito bowl with rice, beans, veggies, chicken or shrimp (usually this is a leftover)

[readyin07]

Can I just share that I totally sympathize with an "only liking cold from the fridge" problem??? Except my kids extend theirs to more than just cheese. I do use ice packs - sometimes 2 - but maybe what I have isn't good enough (just use either the plastic or flexi mat ones). Mine don't like lunch meat unless it's super cold (they only eat it rolled up, not in sandwiches), any kind of chicken salad and turn their nose up at carrots, melon and most berry type things unless they're really cold (I do "make" them eat that sometimes). They also aren't crazy about foods from the thermos. Not hot enough. It makes lunch really hard - basically PBJ, peanunt butter crackers, Ritz Bitz, graham crackers with peanut butters (clearly I am grateful they don't have a peanut free school).

[readyin07]

I include applesauce pouches and single serves in the fruit category. If desperate maybe fruit cocktail in water and not juice. Sometimes drinkable yogurt instead of tubes (only one will eat this though - the other says it isn't cold enough). My kids will eat the mini cucumbers cut up. They don't get as soggy as the bigger slices do - soft fruits and veggies are the main complaint about lunches!

[thebreakfastclub]

Most of these ideas would be a hard pass for my child. He has 20 min to eat so I keep it simple.

His favorite lunch is a sandwich thin, mini container of pizza sauce, and shredded cheese, as a diy pizza lunchable. Otherwise, he does a ham or Nutella sandwich on a single Hawaiian bun. Add some pretzels, fruit and a cookie.

[brady2012]

Aug 22, 2019 17:12:05 GMT -5 readyin07 said:

Can I just share that I totally sympathize with an "only liking cold from the fridge" problem??? Except my kids extend theirs to more than just cheese. I do use ice packs - sometimes 2 - but maybe what I have isn't good enough (just use either the plastic or flexi mat ones). Mine don't like lunch meat unless it's super cold (they only eat it rolled up, not in sandwiches), any kind of chicken salad and turn their nose up at carrots, melon and most berry type things unless they're really cold (I do "make" them eat that sometimes). They also aren't crazy about foods from the thermos. Not hot enough. It makes lunch really hard - basically PBJ, peanunt butter crackers, Ritz Bitz, graham crackers with peanut butters (clearly I am grateful they don't have a peanut free school).

I haven’t posted here in a long time, but we were having the “food isn’t cold enough” problem with my daughter and basically wasn’t eating her lunch. I bought this lunchbox for her last year and she no longer complains. Both the top and bottom are frozen. It’s usually still somewhat cold when I pick up at aftercare. I just clean it and stick it back in the freezer each night.

www.amazon.com/PackIt-Freezable-Classic-Lunch-Blue/dp/B01MZ1R6YV/ref=asc_df_B01MZ1R6YV/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167135973835&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8534948981713619434&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007772&hvtargid=pla-307085881867&psc=1&th=1

[tiki]

Two things not listed already that my kid will eat at any temperature are Trader Joe's Scallion Pancakes and Dr Praegers California veggie burgers. I keep both in the freezer for those days when I wake up and realize I have nothing to feed her.

[CloudBee]

DS almost exclusively eats cream cheese & jelly sandwiches because his school is nut free. (He doesn't like sun butter.)

A friend was telling me yesterday that her son loves cream cheese & jelly, and she recently started doing goat cheese or feta and jelly. She switches it up. And he likes both. I just added them to my Prime Now shopping cart so we can try it out with him this weekend. She suggested crumbled vs. spreadable, as it's not quite as intense.

I aim for high protein carbs, even if they aren't incorporated in his sandwich.

Some examples:
- potato sandwich bread
- dense wheat sandwich bread
- Hawaiian Sweet Rolls from TJ's (high protein, but also a little more sugar than I would prefer)
- pita chips (TJ's also has the highest protein pita chips of any brand I've found)
- bagels

Other entrees:
- salad
- eggs (several different ways, never in a sandwich)

Veggies he'll eat in his lunch:
- spinach salad
- baby spinach with lemon juice for dipping
- carrots
- cold (cooked) corn on the cob, snapped in half
- cucumbers

I always keep a Pyrex bowl in the fridge with cubed melon. Honeydew or cantaloupe.

In the fall / winter he almost always gets a mandarin/clementine in his lunch or snack.

We send milk about 4 out of 5 days to boost the protein in his snack or lunch, too.

Additional fruits:
- bananas (I protect them in a cloth napkin)
- nectarines
- melon
- grapes
- mango
- berries
- apples

[fancynewbeesly]

I seriously have no clue what DD will bring. She eats between 7-10 foods (besides fruit) and NONE of them are portable. She refuses to buy. 99% of items she won't touch. I feel like she will just be starving when she comes home. Her doctors aren't worried about it because she is 50% for weight. And she is on steroids 5 days every month until December, so she inadvertently gains weight then.

[lilac05]

I’m loving all of the ideas! I’m not sure that I have anything to add. I’m hoping my kids will take lunch more often this year. Now that they’re both in school, I’m going to encourage taking lunches more often. I don’t know that DS1 did a single day last year. With 2, it gets expensive! Plus when one was at home and one at school, if I packed a lunch, I was making two lunches a day. Now I’m just making one...just earlier. The bus doesn’t come until 8:15, so that makes it more likely to happen, too!

It’s nice to have the variety of hot lunch, but one day last week, the main dish was garlic bread. Sometimes it’s basically a cheese stick.

My plan at the beginning is to include more fun stuff to encourage them to like taking their lunches. Whatever they don’t eat at lunch is their afternoon snack, so it all balances out.

fancynewbeesly, what kinds of foods does she like to eat?  Maybe we can help you find a way to make it work!

[isabel]

main dish:
Bean and cheese quesadilla with sour cream/Greek yogurt (but my kids have access to a microwave)
SBJ
Turkey and cheese sandwich
Yogurt parfait with fruit and nut-free cereal (I bought containers specifically for this at Target)
Bagel with cream cheese (usually blueberry or cinnamon raisin)
Sometimes I'll do leftovers or pizza, but the above is pretty much standard.

fruits:
My guys eat literally any fruit. We've been doing a lot of peaches, melon, and berries this summer, but I'll also do apple, pear, etc. in the fall.

veggies:
Peppers
Jicama
Snap Peas
Cucumber
Carrots
Frozen peas or edamame (thaws by lunch)

I don't really have any "other stuff." I give them crackers or goldfish with sandwiches, but my lunch formula is main, fruit, veg. I pack 5 days worth of lunch for both of them on Sunday, so having a formula for it makes things easier.

[fancynewbeesly]

lilac05

As of now (and it changes the way the wind blows) She will eat: homemade waffles, rotisserie chicken, steak, breaded pork chops, plain hamburger, tacos, pasta with butter ( she won’t bring it to school in a thermos) toasted rye bread with butter.

Besides snacks that we don’t buy unless for special occasions (Doritos and pop tarts, etc) She will eat Polly Whole Mil block mozzarella cheese (not string cheese), fruit, maybe goldfish.

She won’t eat: anything fried, breaded, anything with cheese, sandwiches (she used too), anything with sauce (tomato sauce, ketchup, mustard, ranch, BBQ, etc), most crackers, most chips

[Poppy]

fancynewbeesly, that is really tough. I'm sorry. My kiddo was nearly that picky and it is so stressful. You must be really tired of cooking those things!

I do have hope that hunger combined with the peer pressure with everyone else eating that she will at least eat a bit, and lower her standards a smidge. That definitely helped my son. Does she have access to a microwave? Maybe she'd warm pasta and eat it then? Or maybe she can brainstorm with you about what she'd eat and that ownership of it might help. Good luck!!

[penguingrrl]

Aug 25, 2019 1:39:24 GMT -5 fancynewbeesly said:

lilac05

As of now (and it changes the way the wind blows) She will eat: homemade waffles, rotisserie chicken, steak, breaded pork chops, plain hamburger, tacos, pasta with butter ( she won’t bring it to school in a thermos) toasted rye bread with butter.

Besides snacks that we don’t buy unless for special occasions (Doritos and pop tarts, etc) She will eat Polly Whole Mil block mozzarella cheese (not string cheese), fruit, maybe goldfish.

She won’t eat: anything fried, breaded, anything with cheese, sandwiches (she used too), anything with sauce (tomato sauce, ketchup, mustard, ranch, BBQ, etc), most crackers, most chips

I’ve sent leftover burgers to school! We preheat a metal thermos to keep the burger itself hot then send the bun in a sandwich baggie.

What about putting taco meat in a thermos and the shell (or some tortilla chips) on the side?

Most of the meats could definitely go in the thermos if she’s willing.

It’s so hard! Buying regularly is cost prohibitive for us, but my middle won’t touch sandwiches of any sort, lunchmeat at all, grilled chicken, or most of anything basically (no sauces whatsoever, either, for any of my three). Oddly, despite being otherwise ridiculously picky, especially about texture, she’s fine with chicken nuggets microwaved and in the thermos.

[hermione]

I didn’t read all the responses...
Cheese or peanut butter cracker sandwiches
Sliced red peppers
Sliced cucumbers
Veggie chips

[mrssandro]

DD started packing her lunch at night. This year she has been enjoying turkey pepperoni and those little crustini breads to make a sandwich. She used to have a hummus sandwich. Always carrots and pirate booties.

[mpc]

We use a yumbox bento style lunchbox. There are 5 compartments (plus one tiny one that I may or may not put anything in), so I basically pick 1 each from 5 categories each day. There are no veggies because I haven't found any uncooked veggies he will actually eat, whomp whomp.

Protein (in general these are slices rolled up - not sandwiches)
ham
turkey
salami
pepperoni
hot dog

Dairy
yogurt
cottage cheese
sliced cheese
shredded cheese

Fruit
strawberries
canteloupe or other melon
oranges
apple slices
applesauce
berries
mango

Something crunchy/carby
chips (pringles fit great)
pretzels
goldfish
cheezits
popcorn
tortilla
crackers

Something sweet
jello
fruit roll up
cookie