[Judilyn]

I need some new suggestions on what to pack for school lunch. We prefer to bring our own but get so tired of the same old -same old thing. We just started the school year so right now they are ok but soon it will be the old "mom there is nothing to make for lunch" even though we have a house full of food.

What do your kids pack in their school lunch. I need some new suggestions.

Thank you

Judilyn

[DianeS]

I just got a list that was circulating around some women I know... here's what they came up with

Sandwiches:
**Plain cheese (comes in different types, not just American or Cheddar - send them with Swiss, Montery Jack, or Pepper Jack one day for a change)
**Peanut butter (don't always use the same jelly - serve it with or without apple jelly, grape jelly, banana slices, roasted apple slices, strawberry preserves, peach preserves, etc and alternate chunky with smooth peanut butter)
**lunch meat (again, not always the same bologna or ham. Introduce them to salami, pastrami, mesquite smoked chicken, etc.)
**leftovers (sandwiches with meatloaf, roast beef, chicken, turkey, hotdogs, hamburgers, vienna sausages, spam, etc)
**And don't forget to vary the toppings! Offer ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, horseraddish, honey, lettuce, tomato, pickle, etc. You can send ketchup, etc in the single-serve packs like fast food places do to be cool or avoid the "soggy bread" problem.
**You can change types of bread, too. Just because you always have eaten slices of wheat doesn't mean you have to continue to. Get hoagie rolls, or pita bread, or bakery rolls, or croissants once in a while.

You could also send a container of
**mac-n-cheese (with or without hotdogs or ground beef),
**stirfry (don't forget the soy sauce),
**stew/soup (beef, vegetables, chicken noodle, etc. Campbells has terriffic pull-and-peel tin cans of soup if you're worried about spills - but check with the school to be sure the sharp edge won't get your child in trouble)
**ramen noodles (already cooked, but with the liquid in a separate container so the noodles don't get mushy too quickly)
**pizza slices
**chicken legs
**pasta (ravioli and spaghetti-os are favorites)

One mother of 4 kids cooks a special meal or two over the weekend and packages it for school & work lunches. Great for Monday and Tuesday, so sandwiches the rest of the week aren't so bland.

(Be sure to find out if your child would rather pull out an already-assembled lunch and just start eating, or if he would rather have separate bags of ingredients and make it himself. Some children detest PB&J sandwiches, for example, for school lunches not because of the taste, but because of how mushy the bread gets if the sandwich is assembled and sits for 4 hours before being eaten. With a child like that it's better to send the jelly in a separate container in order to keep PB&J on the schedule.)

As extras, you could include
apple
orange (already peeled)
pear
grapes
strawberries
banana
mango
basically any non-staining fruit (avoid plums, for instance)
Vary these, too.

Also popular are chips - but they don't have to be from potatos
Corn chips,
tortilla chips,
chicken-n-a-biscuit crackers (they have broccoli ones with real broccoli now!),
banana chips,
apple chips

And for dessert, pudding is a favorite. Buy the disposable sooden spoons so they don't have to remember to bring anything home. Including a pack of melted caramel to go with apple slices would be nice, too. Mini candy bars or a few Hershey kisses (along with the standard "a kiss from your Mom" note) or Oreo cookies.

And if your kids like "odd" things, there's nothing wrong with surprising them with a Tupperware container of mushy french fries once in a while! Or whatever else they like to eat - peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, for instance.

And last but not least - consider having your children pack their school lunches several days in advance. Plan the mass packing on a day you're not likely to feel stressed and when the children are well-fed and rested. There will be fewer complaints, and you'll be better able to handle the ones that do surface.

Maybe have them make their own food to pack, too. When you're a teen, chicken legs you cooked and seasoned yourself taste pretty good even if you're bored with chicken.

Children can also participate in making the grocery list - if they can all agree on ONE special item they'd like to pack for the next week, consider buying it for them.

And consider letting the kids pick one day every so often when they'll buy lunch at school. Maybe a once-a-month pizza day or something. That also gives you leverage to keep them from complaining - they have to have non-complainingly packed a lunch from home for X number of straight days for them to get the money from you to participate in that favorite school lunch day. Otherwise they pack that day, too!

OK, that was more than you asked for, but I thought the tips at the end were pretty good, too. Hope that helps!

[sweetnoodle]

Yougurt, (Yo Crunch has granola or oreo or reese's pieces to mix in-- it's a great way to get calcium) half a can of spaghetti o's or ravioli, oscar myer lunchables (only onece a week), boiled eggs for those who like them.

Vary your juices too, there are SO many kinds now. I even just found little bottles of water that have flouride added to them.

Skip desserts and put the chips, popcorn, cheeze-its as desserts. Feed 'em good food and the not so bad carbs as the dessert and skip all the caloric chocolate, cream and marshmallow stuff.

Pickles, cashews and peanuts mixed with goldfish and/or pretzels.

Homemade cookies or unfrosted cake once in a while. Two carrot sticks are better then none. A real live hamburger from the grill once in a while never hurts. Kiwi and plums for those kids who haven't been too scard to try them at home.

We have a rule, no matter if dinner has been eaten or not, no matter if you finished your lunch or dinner, no fruit or vegetable that a kid wants to eat will ever be refused. Junk food can be refused. Carbs and drinks can be refused. Fruits and veggies will never be refused.