School lunch ideas for real kids

[tvguy]

Fluffernutters are HUGE here in New England. Peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff. It's delicious!!! Oh heck, now I have the Marshmallow Fluff jingle from the 1960s running through my head!

We used to eat butter and sugar sandwiches at camp in the mid-60s. Such a treat, right? I guess until your family didn't have much, then it stretched the budget. I also knew kids who brought sandwich spread- that's mayo and dill pickle relish (or probably chopped dill pickles), kind-of like tartar sauce. When there's no money, ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

Sort of like the Lobstermen's kids, so poor all they brought in their school lunch was lobster sandwiches!

 

[bethbuchall]

It's been a while since I've had to pack a lunch for a child, since they're all grown now. They didn't eat a lot at lunch time because they didn't have a lot of time. Even into high school there were many days that they only wanted a half sandwich. Oldest: peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat, Middle: peanut butter on whole wheat, Youngest: deli turkey with mustard and cheddar cheese on whole wheat. I baked cookies every week, so they each had a cookie. They also got a piece of fruit (usually an apple, but tangerines, grapes, berries also made an appearance), a few pretzels, and a bottle of water. They didn't mind taking basically the same lunch every day, so that made my life easier than if I had to try for more variety.

 

[wenrob]

Thank you DIS for educating me on fluffernutter is! That would be kind of sweet. I remember 3 girls that lived two doors down. They used to bring sugar sandwiches. A little butter and sugar. Their parents had filed bankruptcy, had very little money, and no free school lunches (1962-1970ish) and sugar was cheap. The school nurse was going to counsel their mother on nutrition, until she learned she was a nurse too!

My great grandma would make us butter and sugar sandwiches on white bread.

 

[anniemae]

I’m surprised at all the mentions of PB&J. Around here, kids are not permitted to bring foods with any sort of nuts in them. Is that not a common thing? (we live near Toronto)

At our school PB is allowed, there is an allergy table in the lunchroom for kids with allergies.

 

[BLAZEY]

Real parents who also happen to volunteer in lunch rooms at school might say that unfortunately some such lunches wind up primarily in the trash.

Our school doesn't have trash cans. It has recycle bins. Garbage goes home with the kids. My kid take a hot lunch in a thermos, a side of raw veg or fruit, and either a cookie or crackers for a snack. What she doesn't eat for lunch is her after school snack .

 

[BLAZEY]

I’m surprised at all the mentions of PB&J. Around here, kids are not permitted to bring foods with any sort of nuts in them. Is that not a common thing? (we live near Toronto)

No peanut butter here, Victoria BC. Kids eat in the classrooms, so no segregated tables for allergy kids. Once out of elementary school, they don't ban nut products. I guess the figure the kids are old enough to manage since the rest of the outside world isn't nut free.

 

[BLAZEY]

My kids get to choose one “snacky” thing for lunch. Sometimes it’s chips, sometimes cookies. Like klayfish, they can also have one when they come home. They pack their lunches like they’d have a meal at home: carb, protein, fat, fruit or veggies.


My DS didn’t like cut apples because they’d turn brown and the pre sliced ones from the grocery store have a chemical taste. I discovered the pre sliced organic apples at Trader Joe’s. They don’t turn brown and no chemical taste. Not sure what kind of wizardry they use but I can’t buy them fast enough because they love them so much.

Lemon juice does the same thing.

 

[Samantha Morgan]

I love to pack lunches!!!

 

[tcufrog]

I've been packing my kids' lunches in these bento boxes since they were 18 months old.

They are called Laptop Lunches. Ever since they could safely stand on a stool next to me at the kitchen counter they've "helped" me make their lunches and have had say within reason regarding what goes in them. Since they've been doing that for so long they started making their own lunches at a pretty early age. DS8 makes his own lunch without any interference from me unless he needs help getting something off a high shelf or opening a stubborn jar. I really like these boxes because it's made it easy for my kids to make themselves healthy lunches for so many years. Last night DS8 packed an almond butter and banana sandwich, string cheese, applesauce, and a Clementine. I didn't choose any of it. They've put everything from sushi to ants on a log (celery smeared with almond butter with raisins on top) in them. The sets are dishwasher safe and microwaveable. If they lose the boxes inside I can buy new ones online.

The school cafe serves amazing, healthy food but it's expensive so I only left him buy once a week. The cafe has a salad bar and a fresh fruit bar plus a sandwich station and a pasta station. There's also different hot lunch available every day and ice cream or dairy-free popsicle available every Friday. The only drink options are milk, water or fruit infused water. One of the school's families has a local popular restaurant and they took over the school cafe contract when their son started Kindergarten. The food is of the same quality as the food at their restaurant and is made fresh. A lot of parents check out the monthly menu and will eat with their kids on the days that an appealing hot lunch item is served. I watch for their lasagna. It's incredible.

DS12 has moved on to other options. His current school has microwaves and fridges available to students. He quite often takes leftovers that he can heat up in the microwave along with fruit. The school is too small for a cafeteria but on certain days they will have food delivered from local restaurants for the kids who order it.

 

[wenrob]

I love to pack lunches!!!

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Those look awesome but do they have time to eat all of that?

I've been packing my kids' lunches in these bento boxes since they were 18 months old.

They are called Laptop Lunches. Ever since they could safely stand on a stool next to me at the kitchen counter they've "helped" me make their lunches and have had say within reason regarding what goes in them. Since they've been doing that for so long they started making their own lunches at a pretty early age. DS8 makes his own lunch without any interference from me unless he needs help getting something off a high shelf or opening a stubborn jar. I really like these boxes because it's made it easy for my kids to make themselves healthy lunches for so many years. Last night DS8 packed an almond butter and banana sandwich, string cheese, applesauce, and a Clementine. I didn't choose any of it. They've put everything from sushi to ants on a log (celery smeared with almond butter with raisins on top) in them. The sets are dishwasher safe and microwaveable. If they lose the boxes inside I can buy new ones online.

The school cafe serves amazing, healthy food but it's expensive so I only left him buy once a week. The cafe has a salad bar and a fresh fruit bar plus a sandwich station and a pasta station. There's also different hot lunch available every day and ice cream or dairy-free popsicle available every Friday. The only drink options are milk, water or fruit infused water. One of the school's families has a local popular restaurant and they took over the school cafe contract when their son started Kindergarten. The food is of the same quality as the food at their restaurant and is made fresh. A lot of parents check out the monthly menu and will eat with their kids on the days that an appealing hot lunch item is served. I watch for their lasagna. It's incredible.

DS12 has moved on to other options. His current school has microwaves and fridges available to students. He quite often takes leftovers that he can heat up in the microwave along with fruit. The school is too small for a cafeteria but on certain days they will have food delivered from local restaurants for the kids who order it.

I saw one of these on Amazon that had a thermos like compartment built into it in addition to the rest. It looked pretty cool!

 

[SaintsManiac]

For 4 years straight she’s been eating PB&J cut into Mickey head shape. Usually there are goldfish on the side, but sometimes she wants a different type of chip.

At summer camp and drop in days she eats what they serve, as she goes to a nut free center.

We are slowly coming out of the picky eating phase, but she won’t change her lunch. Everyone is happy, so whatever.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Speaking of, wow have school lunches changed over the years.

<----grumpy old man voice.... "In my day" school lunch was frozen pizza and canned green beans. I remember the snack they would offer would be left over taco shells and they were $.05 each. Drink choice was regular milk or chocolate milk. Now they have Chick-Fil-A, not to mention all kinds of vending machines.

Exactly & we ate that, because that was our only choice. I literally didn't know one picky eater that wouldn't eat what was served to them growing up. My friends & I were thrilled that we could choose chocolate milk & not have to drink the nasty white milk in elementary school. We could choose fruit drinks in middle & high school, if our parents were willing to pay for them. The girls who paid full price would often eat from the salad bar in high school. I think I ate a salad every day for 4 years. The boys always ate the hot lunch served in the cafeteria. No one packed their lunch.

 

[tcufrog]

Those look awesome but do they have time to eat all of that?

It was half of a sandwich really. One slice of bread folded in half. He also cuts off the crusts and peels the Clementine in advance.

Do you remember where you found the one with the thermos compartment? That sounds really cool. Occasionally, DS8 takes a thermos and some fruit but I'm not a fan because I don't have a lot of time to deal with thermoses before school.

 

[wenrob]

It was half of a sandwich really. One slice of bread folded in half. He also cuts off the crusts and peels the Clementine in advance.

Do you remember where you found the one with the thermos compartment? That sounds really cool. Occasionally, DS8 takes a thermos and some fruit but I'm not a fan because I don't have a lot of time to deal with thermoses before school.

Oh no, I was asking the poster above you if their kids had time to eat all the food in those pics. I know mine wouldn’t and I have a 13 year old boy who can eat like nobody’s business. By the time they get their lunch and are seated they have barely 20mins.

Here is the Bento I saw. I think they might have larger sizes as well.
https://www.amazon.com/OmieBox-Leak...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2RYYBB8QRSBM41MFC92C

 

[amberpi]

I love to pack lunches!!!

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We're going to have to hire a service for this level lunch boxes.

 

[Samantha Morgan]

Those look awesome but do they have time to eat all of that?

Yep. Everybody so often something comes home, but most days it’s all gone. I sometimes send a little bag of pretzels with my oldest if he still wants a little something st the end.

 

[Samantha Morgan]

We're going to have to hire a service for this level lunch boxes.

It’s really not hard. Maybe 15 minutes or so the night before.

Some things like the pancakes I make extra small ones if we have breakfast for dinner or use extra bacon. Sanevwith the pasta. I put a few extra noodles in.

 

[angelbaby129]

I love to pack lunches!!!

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Where do you get your containers?

 

[wgeo]

The kids think chips are too "pointy" or I'd give them to them sometimes.

I don't mean to laugh at you - but that just makes me smile. I love kids and all their crazy idiosyncracies. (unless of course I'm exhausted and they're driving me crazy - then it's a "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit moment") But now that mine are older it's usually that I buy something that ends up getting thrown out a few months later, and I swear it used to be one of their favorite things to eat and they just roll their eyes at me and say Oh no mom, I don't like that anymore.

 

[wenrob]

I don't mean to laugh at you - but that just makes me smile. I love kids and all their crazy idiosyncracies. (unless of course I'm exhausted and they're driving me crazy - then it's a "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit moment") But now that mine are older it's usually that I buy something that ends up getting thrown out a few months later, and I swear it used to be one of their favorite things to eat and they just roll their eyes at me and say Oh no mom, I don't like that anymore.

I just had this conversation with my kids. They eat something just about daily and then out of nowhere just stop eating it. Which is fine but you could TELL ME before I buy two weeks worth on my regular grocery run.