School lunches

Any kind of fruit is always good.    I usually send water with my kids or let them buy milk.    I don't ussually send chips or anything like that, but I will buy a large package of whatever they are asking then let them portion them out  in baggies for snack size, huge money saver.    Apple sauce and yogurt you can do that too for big savings.

 

I don't even really remember what I serve,  I make my girls pack thier own lunch and my little guy never wants anything but a sandwich.
 

I'm the mom who is perpetually packing too much food in the school lunch. It turns out that this is very stressful to the child. They don't have a lot of time to eat and are so eager to get on the playground they really don't want to eat. Don't be fancy. Just pack what your child regularly eats just make it simple, simple, simple. For kindergarteners, especially, it is difficult to open certain packages so they have to wait for an adult monitor to come along to help them which may or may not happen. If you child can't open it at home without help, don't send it to school.

 

The same goes with foods that require some assembly. The idea of sending your child with a chili dog in a thermos so they can extract it and put it in a bun is a fun idea but completely impractical at the cafeteria table.

 

Avoid peanut butter unless the school tells you that peanut butter is okay - or ask to make sure your child isn't in a peanut-free class.

 

Try to avoid creating too much garbage. I told my DD that I didn't want her to throw away her wrappers. She was to just stick it back in her lunch box and I'd deal with it. That way I had a handle on what she was eating and what she wasn't. It also gave me a chance to transition her into more sustainable containers.

 

My DD hated sandwiches so I sent things like:

 

~ homemade granola bars

~ single-serve peanut butter cups (homemade or store bought)

~ Raw veggies (she eats a lot of raw veggies and they tend to hold up better than fruit): broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery sticks, "cherub" tomatoes.

~ hard boiled eggs (already peeled)

~ muffins / corn muffins

~ popcorn chicken / chicken nuggets (which are fine cold once they have been cooked)

~ "antipasta" - ripe olives, mini-pickles, salami, cheese slices

~ crackers, Gold Fish, dinner roll, pretzels

 

My DD is lactose intolerant so she normally just brings water. She gets juice and soy milk at home.

 

I always included a treat of some kind - a SMALL treat. Halloween is good for this. Once you have a stash of Halloween candy it is easy to just grab one piece and throw it in. Avoid lollipops, though. Sticks aren't allowed on the playground.

 

I make a list of DD's school lunch favorites and post it on the inside of one of my cabinet doors. It is great for inspiration on those mornings where there seems to be nothing for them to eat.

I packed lunches for most of 12 years with both of my kids. Even when they could get hot cafeteria lunches they preferred to take from home, because the lunch period is so short they'd barely get through the line before it was time to go. It gave them more time to chat with their friends.

I was NOT one to over pack. They each usually took 4 things:

A main course: For DS that was almost always peanut butter sandwich or PB on a bagel or leftover pizza if we had some. DD would take PB&J, or a yogurt, or cheese cubes with crackers, etc. Nothing fancy. They usually didn't take lunch meat, but that was more because it was a preference of theirs.

A fruit or veggie: A baggie of mini carrots, or clementines, or a banana, or strawberries, etc.

A treat: Usually a granola bar, goldfish or cheeze it crackers, cookies, etc. I never sent candy of any sort.

A drink: Juice boxes usually when they were small, but they quickly started preferring water, so they'd take disposable water bottles or carry a nalgene bottle with water.

I like your system, aliadam.  M doesn't like sandwiches, but luckily for Kindergarten I just have to send a "snack".  That's perfect for her; string cheese, crackers, a few carrots and water. I swear she would eat that every day! Guess we'll find out.

since my kids are older they pack there own, they bring a bottle of water (thermos) and sandwiches, or cheese and crackers or rollups (like creamcheese and salsa a fave) fruit or veggie, chips , we have packed soup in a thermos too, they love that on cold days , they even just eat leftovers and if its a warm food they put it in a thermos as well

My DS ate PB honestly I bet over 90% of the time he was in school.....all the way through 12th grade. So she might!! My DD ate PB&J the most, probably 75% of the time. As I said.....neither of my kids wanted lunch meat sandwiches either. Seemed boring to me, but if they'd eat it, then I was fine with it.

One of my older kids didn't like peanuts in any form. She was probably allergic - or going to be - we never found out because she simply didn't eat peanuts. Anyway, when all the other kids were having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, she would just have butter and jelly sandwiches. OMG! Those are so good. White, yeasty, squishy bread spread with real unsalted butter and strawberry jam then mashed in a warm lunchbox half the day is just ambrosia!

 

The sandwich works with cream cheese instead of butter, too.

 

One of my all time favorite sandwiches ...

 

Whole wheat or whole grain bread

Cream cheese

Diced ripe olives

Diced walnuts

Spread one bread slice with mayo just to add a little tang

Add toppings like shredded carrots and spinach leaves if you want.

This is soooooo good.

My lunches were boring.  They consisted of a sandwich (or bagel and peanut butter), fruit, cut up veggies, granola bar or treat and fruit juice (they could buy milk if they preferred).

Sandwiches, tortilla with cheese. Crackers and cheese, chips, crackers. Fruit, fruit snacks, little Debbie treats, jello, pudding, etc.

Will she have access to a microwave? If so you can send pretty much any leftover. I know last year I heated up all the kindergarten food at our school.