Brown Bag/Lunchbox Meals for Kids & Adults

[hjshorter]

Some of my 6-year-old's favorites:

Cold cuts rolled, and stuck with an olive on a toothpick.

Cheese and crackers.

Hummus with pita and/or veggies.

Peanut butter (regular old Jif) and jam on whole wheat.

Tuna salad with celery and shredded carrots, either as a sandwich, with crackers, or by itself.

Leftover pasta and parm reg with a small container of marinara to dip in.

Macaroni and cheese or beanie weenies in a thermos.

Boursin, lettuce, tomato, and turkey rolled in a tortilla and cut into pinwheels.

Mini bagels with olive cream cheese, or plain.

Soy "corn dogs" or "chicken nuggets" with barbecue sauce. She eats these room temp after being previously cooked.

Fajitas or bean burritos, also fine at room temp.

Yogurt cups. Horizon and Stoneyfield farm sell kid-sized cups that are lower in sugar than the major brands.

Cucumber and pepper slices.

Any fruit, stone fruits and pears chunked with a form to eat them with.

Our school forbids sodas, chips, cookies, and candy, so she never gets dessert. She has survived so far.

Rubbermaid sells a small juice box sized container with a straw and a flip top that you can fill with the beverage of your choice. Much cheaper and better than milk or juice boxes.

Edited August 17, 2005 by hjshorter (log)

[Milagai]

are you sure your kid won't like cut up veggies?

or is there a common myth that kids won't like broccoli?

why is it considered so odd to give kids vegs?

my dd took broccoli, asparagus spears, cherry tomatoes, carrot stix,

just about any kind of veg to school.

either raw or steamed (with light seasonings) as appropriate.

ds is now doing the same. they don't share any genetic material

so either we got lucky on genetic prefences or it's upbringing

my whole family takes packed lunches because preschool

demands it, and my ps-aged older kid much prefers home cooking to

cafeteria fare.

so typical lunches:

vegetable + tofu fried rice, cherry tomatoes, yogurt cup

lemon rice, cucumber slices, yogurt cup.

rolled up chapatis (with cream cheese and some kind of veggie spread inside), some kind of sliced or steamed veggie, occasionally a cookie (though preschool REALLY discourages cookies), so often it's applesauce.

idlis, chutney, grapes, yogurt,

spinach filled theplas with similar sides as above,

veggie couscous + similar

smaller shapes of pasta with vegs in sauce, + etc.

etc.

so i guess our pattern is:

some main item, some kind of fruit or veggie cut up, and

yogurt or applesauce or similar.

often chips or murukku or something similarly crunchy,

especially for the older one whose appetite is larger.

water, (milk is provided at preschool)

we adults take larger versions of the same thing.

works for everyone, no extra or different cooking or packing

which i would strongly resist since i'm the one landed with the job.

milagai

[tejon]

Our pattern is similar: main, fruit/veggie, snack (usually a carb of some sort: home made cookies, crackers, etc.) with water as the drink

Some favorites for my 6 year old:

sandwiches - almond butter and jelly, ham, turkey, cheese on whole wheat bread

tortilla roll ups - almost anything can go here: meats, cheese, lettuce and other crunchy vegetables, condiments, the sky is pretty much the limit

leftover pizza (I make it up every couple of weeks and plan on extras)

bean threads with chicken and soy sauce

hummus and pita to dip

falafel with tahini and pita

nuts of all kinds

dried fruits and fruit leather

fruits of all kinds (berries are a particular favorite)

carrots, celery, sliced cucumber, broccoli

No chips, candy (I'm amazed at how many kids get candy in their lunches!), Lunchables, soda, or junk food in my son's lunch, ever. I refuse to send him to school with something that isn't healthy. Thankfully there are a ton of choices that are both healthy and delicious, so we're both happy.

[SuzySushi]

Good timing for this thread!

As some of you may know from another thread, my daughter (who'll be 9 next month) was just diagnosed with diabetes. She's a picky eater, so making sure that she eats the required amount of carbs & protein for lunch at school can be difficult. In the past, if she hasn't liked what they have for lunch, she's left it over. She can't do that any more.

So I'm hungry for lunch ideas she will eat! (30 grams starchy carbs, 2 ounces protein, 1 fruit)

Some good ideas here... keep 'em coming!

[bavila]

and cold cuts rolled into little tubes.

←

We call these "turkey wands" (or ham or whatever). Glad to see the topic as preschool (with optional lunch) starts for us soon as well.

Other items my daughter likes that travel well:

beans and rice

nuts and/or seeds

egg salad/boiled eggs

dry cereal (so far her repertoire includes only Cheerios and Kashi)

dried fruits

A foodie friend sends her son with whatever leftovers they have. I think proscuitto and melon is a big one for him.

Also, in case you haven't seen them, Horizon (organic dairy) makes milk boxes. The serving size is probably still a bit large for a 3-year-old, but I'd rather that than Capri Sun.

Suzy--a friend who was recently diagnosed with diabetes relies heavily on cut veggies and cottage cheese. And I'm sure sushi would still work, right? Good luck with all of that!

I'm inspired to start making pizzas again. Must get a new stone.

[odysseus]

my son (3.5) loves baby carrots, fruit (apples, pears) cut up, hummus on pita, juice boxes, small containers of yogurt.

[kdl1221]

Deleted 

Edited July 11, 2019 by kdl1221
Deleted (log)

[SuzySushi]

This year, my son has been banished from bringing his lunch box, since he kept leaving it at school... and we gave up on those cute little containers for veggie dip, etc... those amazingly vanished each day. So, for this year so far.. we have opted for those brown paper bags. I am a little obssessive/compulsive when it comes to 'room temp' foods. So, he has yet to take any meats/cheeses.

~Kim

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My daughter has an insulated soft plastic lunch bag that she sticks in her backpack. The little containers perpetually vanish, so I save empty yogurt cups, etc. for such purposes. She forgot her lunch bag at school once (not recently) and the ants colonized it over the weekend. After that major yuck, she's never forgotten it again!

I usually prepare sandwiches the night before and freeze them, then stick them in the bag frozen so that they'll defrost and be "fresh" by lunchtime, or I stick in a frozen juice-pack that doubles as an ice pack and also defrosts by lunch. (Why do frozen juice packs seem heavier than liquid ones???)

[hjshorter]

I usually prepare sandwiches the night before and freeze them, then stick them in the bag frozen so that they'll defrost and be "fresh" by lunchtime

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I tried that once and got major complaints about soggy bread.

One thing I have started doing about sogginess is lightly buttering the bread before adding mustard or mayo. I noticed all of my more old-fashioned cookbooks call for this, and it works as long as you can afford the calories.

[Terrasanct]

Someone mentioned chicken salad--that would be good in cream puffs, too. They're small enough to be fun, and definitely "cool" enough.

My kids got homemade bread in their sandwiches, which was just fine when they were in school. I was embarassed by it when I was a kid. Well, having egg salad sandwiches was pretty bad, too. I loved them at home, but when you're in grade school, anything that smells like farts will make you the butt of a joke very quickly.

One thing my best friend always got that I always traded for was cream cheese and pineapple sandwiches. Sounds strange but it was really good.

I think any kind of small fruit or veggies are fun for little kids--snap peas, baby carrots, blueberries in a small container. Even better if they can do something fun, like assemble their own little snacks (probably why lunchables are so popular.)

[Trishiad]

Some fab ideas here! I hadn't thought of salads with crackers as utensils. I love it.

It's not that I have anything against broccoli, it's just that my son won't eat it. He'll sometimes bite the tops off of 1 or 2 florets which have been steamed for dinner but I am hesitant to trust that broccoli will tempt him at lunch surrounded by distractions.

What else is fun? Anyone make animals shaped crackers or fruit kebabs or something like that?

What about tiny muffins as a treat? Too desserty to pass the healthy lunch test?

[jhlurie]

We've merged a whole bunch of brown bagging and lunchbox topics together into one. While it would have made sense to keep parts of these discussions seperate (brown bagging for adults bring lunches to work and lunchbox discussion covering preparation of lunches for kids), a review showed that people were mixing discussion of these two circumstances anyway.

So let's handle all of this here. Be descriptive, of course, and identify any differences between your adult and child lunch selections and preparations.

[Carrot Top]

It's not that I have anything against broccoli, it's just that my son won't eat it.  He'll sometimes bite the tops off of 1 or 2 florets which have been steamed for dinner but I am hesitant to trust that broccoli will tempt him at lunch surrounded by distractions.

What else is fun?  Anyone make animals shaped crackers or fruit kebabs or something like that?

What about tiny muffins as a treat?  Too desserty to pass the healthy lunch test?

Actually I've done both fruit kebobs with a yogurt dip on the side and meat/fish/veggie or whatever kebobs such as ham, pepperoni, cheese, and peppers. . . or shrimp, cucumber, and cherry tomato. . .with veggie dips or hummus on the side. They love it. And to avoid any potential injuries, you can do it using plastic straws for the skewer.

Mini muffins are great. They always get eaten.

Remember that unless your school has a policy of "no-trade" at lunchtime, that it might happen that if you stay completely away from providing sweets that your child will get them through trading anyways.

Personally it seems to me that one of the great things about childhood is being able to eat an Oreo cookie without guilt. Same, for cheetos. So I put those lovely junk foods in the lunchboxes too, in moderation.

P.S. Have you tried calling broccoli "little trees" and ooh'ing and aah'ing over them? That works sometimes. . .

[ruthcooks]

To solve the container dilemma, find a restaurant supply house and buy a quantity of plastic "souffle cups" and a package of matching lids. Plastic spoons are available in quantity for a penny or pennies each. There are tiny containers for salad dressings and dips, and cups the right size for a serving of fruit. For bigger sizes there are also Chinese takeaway containers to recycle. The kids thrown it all away and no worry of rotting food or lost Tupperware.

If you're worried about landfills filled with plastic, well, you have to choose your poison. It would probably take a lifetime of lunches to do the damage of one days trash from a McDonalds.

[Rebecca263]

OK, folks, my daughter is an absent minded slob and at 15 we've lost VERY FEW containers. Here's why: I go to the craft shop and buy those puffy paint pens; every couple of years we get different colors, right now it's purple, 2 years ago it was a black 'n' red pirate theme. We decorate her containers and write her name on her flatware and her thermal containers too. Kiddle LOVES anything personalized and arty like that, and she rarely loses anything. Well, unless she loses the entire lunch bag, but that's another thread completely.

[helenjp]

We're back in New Zealand for a month...and my sons are taking packed lunches to school, a big change from hot school lunch in Japan!

I'm amazed at the great variety of hummus from Lisa's Hummus, a NZ company which makes all kinds of bean or vege based spreads and dips. I use them daily instead of butter in sandwiches and roll-ups - moist not greasy, quick and easy...when I get frenetic, I wax poetic...

Favorites in my boys' "trail mix" boxes contain things like chunks of mild salami, firm gruyere cheese, hazel nuts, chewy dried mango strips.

So far, drinks are mostly water with a squeeze of lemon juice, because I can't find drink containers that are easily cleaned out after more exotic drinks!

[Rehovot]

I usually prepare sandwiches the night before and freeze them, then stick them in the bag frozen so that they'll defrost and be "fresh" by lunchtime

←

I tried that once and got major complaints about soggy bread.

One thing I have started doing about sogginess is lightly buttering the bread before adding mustard or mayo.

←

My husband and I both brown-bag it to work (or plastic-box it, I guess), and somewhere we picked up this tip: toast the bread before assembling the sandwich, and it won't get soggy. It helps to have seriously sturdy bread, too, of the crusty variety.

You can also toss a sandwich like roast-beef-and-cheddar in a nonstick pan for a minute or two, or grill the sandwich. Mmmm, melty cheese.

[highchef]

My kids have also rebelled against the cafeteria food. If we must make lunches every morning though, I insist that they get up with me and help. They've been in for a week now, and the meals have been modified to a large breakfast(carbs, bacon) basically an easy to put together snack/lunch of cheese, crackers, fruit and a sweet (vanilla wafers or bananna muffin type of thing). Then when they get home another fruit and off to practice. 2hours later they eat a LARGE DINNER, and basically anything they can get their hands on. Then we get up and do it all over again. I would pack them more for lunch, but this seems to 'top off' the large breakfast and gets them to 3pm. It's after the 2 hour soccer practice that they start feeling the hunger pains! They are eatin a lot of fruit.....this is a good thing.

Edited August 18, 2005 by highchef (log)

[Katie Nell]

Something what I do for myself a lot is make Stromboli. I usually use a store bought dough of some sort and fill it with whatever I have on hand... sometimes it's roasted red peppers, salami, and mozzarella, and then sometimes it's just whatever leftovers we had... roasted chicken, corn, cheddar, etc. Then, I bake them off and wrap them up. They're good warmed up or at room temperature.

[helenjp]

Highchef, I agree about the big breakfasts! When in Japan, our kids have a hot school lunch, but here in NZ, they want to play at lunchtime, and my elementary school boy will only take a small lunch...but he will happily eat weetbix and banana with hot milk, plus scrambled eggs and tomato, AND a slice of toast for breakfast!

Meanwhile, I'm amazed at the kids who are just plain not getting enough to eat. Sometimes I collar them as they are buying their tiny bag of crisps at the local store on their way (late) to school, and manage to give them a yogurt, but how many empty stomachs are heading off to school every morning, ready to be converted into empty brains?

Off to buy some plastic spoons so I can have a ready supply in my pocket ...

[Rebecca263]

Those stromboli sound great.... I'll bet even the wee ones would like that, especially if you let them 'help' make them.

[momlovestocook]

My dd's are 5 and 8 and start school in a little over a week. My youngest was not allowed to bring anything that was remotely unhealthy(the teacher checked all lunches as well as snacks). For the older kids, lunches are not checked but snacks need to be moderately healthy. They do have microwaves at school and have help from the older kids when they need something warmed up. My oldest is VERY picky but will eat the same thing over and over. My youngest is very adventurous when it comes to food but will not eat the same thing more than a few days in a row(wants it all the time then won't eat it for months LOL). When I do send sandwiches, they are made on homemade rolls. When I make pizza, I will take a few little balls of dough, flatten them and cook them without topping. I then put them in their lunch with little containers of pizza sauce, cheese, etc and they make their own pizzas(cheap lunchable). I try to have healthier banana muffins in the freezer to just pop one into my older dd's lunch(thaws fast).

By the end of the school year, I am happy to put the lunch containers away LOL.

Sandra

[Carrot Top]

Wow. Sandra, I am curious. What sort of school is this?

The schools that I have seen are so overburdened even when running on a good budget base that the idea of a teacher taking time to check all their student's foods for "healthiness" would simply never, ever, happen.

Karen

[momlovestocook]

Wow. Sandra, I am curious. What sort of school is this?

The schools that I have seen are so overburdened even when running on a good budget base that the idea of a teacher taking time to check all their student's foods for "healthiness" would simply never, ever, happen.

Karen

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We live in rural Ontario. My youngest dd's teacher was a bit of a control freak so she even wanted to control what they ate(she would even write notes to parents if she thought their hair was too long )

The kids eat their snacks at recess so the teachers just stand at the door while the kids are heading out and check the snacks-doesn't take that long.

Sandra

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

My 6 and 8 year olds start school again on Tuesday. For my 8 year old, it will be his 3rd year of eating lunch at school, but the first year for my 6 year old.

My 8 year old has food allergies, so we pack his lunch every day. He likes to take pizza, burritos, left over roast chicken, salami or turkey sandwiches, spam musubi or a veggie sushi. Occasionally we send him with leftover ribs or spaghetti. We generally include a juice box, cookies or pretzels, and a fruit or veggie.

My 6 year old likes bagels, mac and cheese, sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwiches, or plain pasta. He has no food allergies, so I anticipate letting him buy lunch occasionally.

Cheryl