One of the things I’m dreading about back to school is packing lunches for Kate. I know it sounds silly, but it adds an extra step into my morning, and most of the time I don’t have time for that! Kate packs her lunch about half the time, I’d say, and honestly most of the time I’m scrambling to figure out what to throw in there. Mom of the year award, coming right up.
I’m determined to be better prepared this year, so I’ve done a little googling and found some good ideas to keep lunch interesting… something beyond the standard peanutbutter and jelly. Here’s my list so far:
— Bagel sandwiches
— Turkey and cheese roll ups
— Fruit skewers
— Sliced apples and caramel
— Yogurt and granola
— Homemade snack mix
— Muffins
— Spaghetti, soup or chili in a thermos
— String cheese
Or, my personal favorite, Ants on a Log.
Yum… I could eat that every day.
What am I missing? What do you pack in your kids’ lunch boxes?
**********
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Country Crock via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Country Crock.
when i was in the 7th grade, during the heyday of rob schneider on SNL and the headshop skit he did with adam sandler, my dad put a butter dish in my lunch with a post-it note that said, “you can put your weed in here.” i still have it to this day and it is sitting on my desk at work. unfortunately, there is not weed in it.
You are a better mom than I am, because I make my kids eat the school food. Today they weren’t too happy about the bbq beef ribs on the school menu. I can’t say I blame them.
We freeze the Horizon “squeeze” yogurt and throw one of those in there…I also pre-bag grapes. He always always wants either a plain turkey sandwich (no cheese or anything else) or peanut butter and jelly or honey so the kid is totally easy that way. This year he only wants the school food, which (thanks in part to Michelle Obama) is actually very healthy and tasty (they have six or seven veggie/fruit choices and salads…). Also, why don’t you pack the night before? If I had to pack a lunch at 6:30 am my son would be getting an unopened can of soup or something.
While working at school, I ate school lunch almost every day. It was fast, easy, inexpensive, and I could usually find something I liked.
Now that I’m back in the “real world”, I take a salad every day. Every day.
I know first hand how hard the lunch room ladies work to make the food as presentable and palatible as possible, so, to let them eat school lunch…it relieves the hassle, saves time, and is generally nutritionally balanced if they get an entire meal and stay away from the pizza line!
UP
Oh, yes, many people can qualify for free or reduced lunch and don’t know they can. It’s worth looking into if you’re trying to stretch a dollar.
UP
My daughter likes “banana wraps.” They are 1/2 banana wrapped in a tortilla cut in half with peanut butter spread inside. This way she gets her peanut butter too! 🙂 I like because she gets a fruit, carb, and some protein…plus it is simple and cheap!
I do that with peanut butter and Miracle Whip! They are GRRRRRRRRRRREAT!
UP
You should look into the book “Vegan Lunch Box.” It’s got GREAT ideas for easy to more complex lunch recipes (a lot that you can make ahead of time) so the food doesn’t get boring. Plus the author shows how to sneak more veggies in. Even if you didn’t want to actually go vegan with it, you could always sub regular cheese or meat for the recipes in there. They have a few copies at most of the libraries, it’s well worth a look through!
Carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and hummus (or whatever chopped veggies they will eat).
I can’t stand making school lunch every day either!! So I seriously stock up on prepackaged items when they are on sale – fruit cups, jello cups, string cheese, raisins, granola bars, Capri Sun, etc. That usually has me at least only having to fix a sandwhich or something. Don’t forget the beauty of leftovers too! Mom and Dad bring leftovers to work for lunch, the kids can bring it to school for lunch too!
Oh! One surprising thing I found out my daughter likes for lunch is cold pasta salad! So it’s easy to make up a batch and pack in some meat and veggies and send it a few days of the week!