GainesvilleMoms.com

What do your kids like in their lunch boxes for school?
I am always looking for easy fast ideas for the kids. That are mom approved too!

We do PB&J's go-gurts, fruit (apples, bananas, etc) veggie sticks, granola bars, etc.

Do your kids have combos they favor over others?

What an excellent question. I'm in the same boat, always looking for health lunch-box lunches.

Here are some things I've tried that have been well accepted by my daughter through the years:

- a snack size amount of a healthy trail mix (almonds not peanuts, with granola and raisins)

- a ham and cheese sandwich with a bunch of fresh spinach (makes the sandwich crunchy and the spinach flavor is mixed in)

- grapes or cherries (be sure you have an ice pack to keep them cool)

- water instead of juice or soft drink

- my daughter really likes those crackers with ham and cheese Oscar Meyer Lunchables, but they're kind of high in salt so I do the same thing -- cut up ham and cheese and (in a separate ziplock) crackers or Triscuits

- instead of bread, she has started eating pita or wheat wraps (makes the sandwich more fun)

- a small apple or peach (if it's too big, she'll take one bite and throw it away...yikes!)

My daughter did pack for a few weeks last year before deciding to eat the school lunch. This year with the price of lunches, I've decided I will be packing her lunch more often. It will be much healthier for her too I'm sure.

She enjoyed using mini bagels in liu of bread. I would sometimes make it with PBJ or cream cheese. I also gave her crackers and meat/cheese to do stackers with as the last mom suggested. Other than that, I wasn't very creative. Fruit, veggies and a snack typically accompanied the main item.

I'm not at this stage with my own kids, but I remember when I was little my mom packed a lot of leftovers that could be eaten cold the next day: fried chicken, spaghetti (mmm, love cold spaghetti) and pizza. We'd always pack veggie stick and dip, too.

Do your kids like lettuce? You could always send a yummy salad (with the dressing on the side so it doesn't get mushy). Or you could try buying some cheese and lunch meat slices and rolling them together.

I really like this conversation! It's giving me some great ideas. It's always tough to think of new and exciting things to put in a lunch box (other than junk)!

1) Slice an apple thinly on the vertical axis (makes sorta potato chip-sized apple slices. Spread with peanut butter and put them together like a peanut butter sandwich.

2)Wrap sandwich: Spinach tortilla spread with hummus, turkey & cheese. Roll up and slice. My son likes it sliced in pinwheels.

3) Crispy Green freeze-dried fruits - available in the produce section of Fresh Market in silver pouches. They're expensive, but hey, it's a serving of fruit. There's no added sulfates, corn syrup or so forth.

4) Snack-size cottage cheese. Also available with a fruit spread to mix in.

5) Make extra pasta with dinner; save some out of the sauce. Make pasta salad for lunch with whatever veggies they'll eat.

6) I confess I take the time to wash and slice fruit and pack in plastic containers. He's so much more likely to eat it that way.

7) Genisoy Soy Crisps - low in fat, calories and sodium. Loaded with soy protein. We like the apple cinnamon.

8) Rice cakes spread with hummus, peanut butter etc.

9) Try almond, cashew or sunflower seed butter for a change of pace.

10) A hard-boiled egg (if desired, sprinkle with salt or Mrs. Dash)

11) My son (3 yo) will still eat the sweet potato puree stage 2 from Gerber Organics. We call all purees "apple sauce" and he eats them. They come in resealable platic containers.

Because my son is young, I avoid choking hazard type food for school lunches (grapes, carrots etc.). We save these for eating at home.

Westwood MS offers such good lunch choices that our healthy daughter chooses to eat at school. However, for our son, I have to monitor what he eats since he would live on junk foods, if we allowed.

For lunch, we always give him the same thing...a healthy fruit juice or bottled water, some form of healthy sandwich, a low-fat yogurt, a fruit (which he MUST eat first) and a small dessert such as gummies (which he can only eat IF he has eaten everything else).

The first time I sent our daughter with a very healthy lunch (she was age 3), the school sent a note home telling me that I needed to give her a "better lunch" (ie. sandwich). That was so funny since I had given her 2 fruits, some wheat crackers, healthy cheese and a canister of low fat milk. There was plenty for her to eat and I had been so impressed w/ the lunch I had sent. However, to her teachers at the pre-school, a sandwich or one of those high-salt, high-fat cracker/cheese prepared packs was a MUST.

I like some of the ideas, especially the peanut butter apple sandwiches. My son loves that combo, so I know he will get a kick out of that one!

What great ideas. I will definatly use some.

What a great topic! I have four children's lunches to prepare this year and am always looking for new ideas. I love the apple/pnut butter spread idea. I, too, cut and store fruit and veggies for lunches. I also buy the really small plastic containers (Gladware) and fill them with salsa and then add chips. I also put dip in them for veggies or fruit. Chicken-ranch wraps are a favorite too, made with pre-cooked chicken, lettuce, cheese, and ranch dressing. I really try to use containers that are reusable to cut down on garbage. My favorite are the plastic "juice boxes" that are available at Publix. I just fill them with water every day...the kids LOVE to drink water!
Thanks for the ideas!