Here is Michelle's question.
"I would like to know what other moms are serving their kids for lunches. I'm looking for some alternatives to pb&j and quesadillas to shake things up a bit. What have they had success with? What do their kids seem to really love?" If every person reading this just writes at least one thing we will have quite the list!
(Oh and check out Michelle's super fun blog http://funonadime.blogspot.com/ for inexpensive, creative, and very fun activities to do with your children.)
3 comments:
Having a son with a peanut allergy, I have been forced to come up with alternatives to pb&j. We eat other kinds of sandwiches, but for lunches in the past I also have made easy mac, hot dogs, and homemade lunchables. I also keep these snack ideas posted on the inside of one of my cupboards for easy reference. Many of them are also good in lunches.
Snack Ideas
•popcorn
•sliced apples or pears and dip
•veggies and dip
•fruit or fruit salad
•applesauce
•yogurt
•pudding
•bread sticks
•giant soft pretzels
•pretzels with cheese cubes
•summer sausage, cheese and crackers
•string cheese and crackers
•ham and cheese
•mini bagels with flavored cream cheese
•little sandwiches
•toast and jam or honey
•breads and muffins
(banana, apple cinnamon, poppy seed, blueberry, pumpkin, zucchini)
•granola
•Chex mix
•Jell-O
•dried fruit
School age kids are old enough that they can pack their own lunches, with varying amounts of help or guidance. My kids don't pack their own lunch every day, but they do do it sometimes. It's good to have them involved, especially if you have a picky eater. If you child is complaining about the same thing day after day, have him come up with suggestions. Almost anything you serve for dinner can be portioned and sent as a lunch entree. You can go through cookbooks with him to give him ideas. It's also not necessary to preheat all the choices for entrees, even if you would normally eat them hot. Kids often like casseroles, etc cold.
My kids know my guidelines for packing a lunch. Some of you may disagree with me, but I don't think children need milk products (as much as the dairy industry wants us to think they do) as long as they have sufficient wholesome food (calcium can be obtained from vegetable sources). Meat is not necessary either-- they get enough from other sources. Meat and milk products are not priorities for me in packing lunches-- though I do use both in very limited quantities for flavor and variety. So that my children's lunches have maximum nutrition I make sure they contain one of each of the following: fruit, vegetable, legume, and whole grain. I also like to put nuts or seeds in. They don't always eat everything that is packed, but I want it to be available to them nonetheless. For drink, I pack a water bottle, otherwise they don't get enough to drink from the water fountain. One of my daughters likes a smoothie packed to drink once in a while.
Here are things we often include as entrees for their lunches:
--leftovers from dinner (these can be packaged in freezer portions if the child doesn't want the same thing two days in a row)
--homemade bean & cheese burritos (we are working on making them in a big batch ahead of time to keep in a baggie in the freezer) heat and wrap in aluminum foil
--refried beans (sometimes we layer them with salsa, guac, cheese, onions, and olives) and corn chips
--refried bean sandwiches. I know it sounds wierd, but the kids really like them.
--lettuce wraps (use lettuce as the bread of a sandwich)-- also good w/refried beans
--soup in a thermos
--hot pockets. If you make your own bread dough, it's not hard to make these fresh.
--mushroom quesadilla
I've even sent pancake sandwiches or waffle sandwiches w/ an almond butter & jelly filling when we have leftover pancakes or waffles.
One of our favorite lunches is noodles (our favorite is linguine) with butter and Lowry's Garlic Salt. Serve with a fruit and/ or vegetable. Sometimes, they just get the noodles!
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