Problem: My kids get hungry during their 8 hours at school. I feel badly if I don’t provided them nutrition. I also am not a huge fan of the school lunch system. 
Have any of you heard of the “Smart Snack” problem instituted by our fine government at the bidding of Michelle Obama? All I have to say is that SCHOOL LUNCH used to be pretty dang great. We had lunch ladies that really cared about us, they really tried to make food that we liked and would eat. We would go help them make it and I actually learned a few things.
Now it’s a formerly frozen quesadilla or chicken nuggets that they slap on my kids Styrofoam tray. There’s no love, and there’s no preparation. I’m not blaming the lunch ladies, but there HAS to be a system to allow more freedom for school districts to produce lunches that will actually feed our kids, rather than what we have now.
Wow, check out that soapbox! I’m just saying things used to be better, and I’m not sure why they changed. Perhaps the money they give for subsidized lunches isn’t enough to cover what it would actually cost to create a healthy meal? Do you know what changed?
ANYWAY, onto how we make lunches at our house. I think there are 7 things to remember when making lunches:
1. If you have a tiny kid, make them a tiny lunch. Paige gets half a sandwich, and a little bit of fruit and her treat. It certainly doesn’t take up her entire lunch box, but she can barely get that in her body between socializing and judging other people for their poor behavior. The girl {no pun intended} has a lot on her “plate” at lunch. 🙂
2. After you’ve sent broccoli 12 times, and it’s come home all 12 times — stop sending broccoli, at least for a while. There isn’t going to be a magic fairy that comes to the cafeteria to make your kids eat broccoli. I have actually stopped sending veggies in general, and have chosen to pack in fruits because they actually EAT the fruit. I used to do a main dish, a fruit, a veggie and a treat. Now I just do a main dish, a fruit and a treat. Life is going on and I’m wasting less produce. I’m also really pushing veggies at dinner when I have some sense of control (even if that sense of control is only a figment of my imagination). I’d also try new things at lunch. I can sometimes get cucumbers in for a few days, or cherry tomtatoes. Then, they get wise to me and stop — and I just have to vary my approach.
3. Vary it. Sometimes I feel like if I change up to something different for the “main” part I can sometimes lure them into eating a vegetable at the same time. And sometimes I don’t.
4. Use reusable containers when possible. We have some resuable sandwich containers that I find helpful. They’re easy to rinse out. Most lunch items aren’t crazy messy). I get a nice laugh over the bento boxes some people pack. I’m throwing in items while my kids are screaming about things they can’t find that are in front of their face. Pretty isn’t my goal.
5. Do it in bulk. I try to make a few days of sandwiches at once. Now, I’m using homemade delicious bread and that may help. I’ve pulled out a sandiwch a couple of days later and I still found it tasty, so I figure my kids are going to live with that too.
6. Have them do it themselves! Princess P is in Kindergarten and I haven’t had her doing much lunch packing up to this point, but it will slowly come and by the end of 2nd grade I am hoping she is fairly self sufficient. I had a friend say that potty training was easier than getting her high school girls to pack their own lunches. I had a nice laugh.
7. Give them a TREAT. I mean, don’t you remember the best part of your day was the tasty treat your mom would throw in your lunch. Kids NEED that. Sure, sometimes it’s homemade cookies, but a lot of times it’s oreos or some pre-packaged goodness filled with artificial blech. My kids get that 4 days/week. They love it. I love them, I give in sometimes (my kids get school lunch once a week).
Here’s what we tend to rotate through at our house:
- Sandwiches, ham and cheese and PB&J
- Cheese and Crackers
- Peanut butter/graham cracker and celery {WHICH IS A VEGETABLE, but don’t tell my kids!} — I tend to use the jif to go containers with this because it just makes for easier clean-up.
Other things we’ve tried:
- Quesadillas wrapped in foil
- Soup (our thermos almost ALWAYS seem to leak, anyone else?)
- Kid Kabobs (HUGE hits when I have the will to make them — these are best for really young kids, I’d have to make kabobs for days to satisfy my high school kid!)
Do you have great lunch ideas that you’d like to share!? Link them below. I’m always looking for something to nutritionally brighten my kids day. You might also want to check out my Pinterest Lunches {bag it} board.
Lynness says
Totally with you on the bento boxes! Yeah, school lunches are nasty, but I think they were even when I was a kid. I don’t remember most of what I had, but I do remember limp, greasy french fries in middle school and canned peas in elementary school (the absolute worst way to serve peas- I thought I hated them for years because of the school ones). I remember oh-so-causally covering my peas with my napkin so that the janitor wouldn’t see that I hadn’t eaten them. (Because I thought the reason he stood by the trashcan was to check our plates…) How deceitful of kindergarten me! 🙂 We give our kids a new privilege and a new responsibility each birthday once they turn 8, and one of the first ones I gave my son was packing his OWN lunch! But now he’s in 7th grade and too cool for that (or else running too late every morning, one or the other…) and buys daily.
Hilary says
I guess I mostly remember them preparing it AT school… who knows. And to think I walked both ways uphill. 🙂
Havok says
Pretty sure the school lunch program went out the window because they raised the “bar” of what they could serve, without raising funding to the schools. So, prices went up, but “quanititiy” went down – and if you live in a “nicer” area, you’re probably getting less funding, and that doesn’t help balance it out, either. I know my high school (’05-’09)was in alower income area, so everyone got free breakfast (an actual item, a fruit, and a milk), no matter what lunch plan you were on, and at least half the kids at school got reduced lunch prices (and regular price was only like 1.80 or something a day). There was an entree, full salad bar, random other fruit and or vegetable choices, and milk. And delicious! But, that was before the lunch-system-overhaul…I’d hate to think what they’re doing there now – but hopefully nothing has changed.
Hilary says
I am a fan of kids who really need reduced lunches, I just wish we were giving them something better.
Ang says
I remember polony and salad lunch plates and the best melted cheese and tomato toasties. Mum used to go on roster occasionally and we always ordered lunch on those days for a treat. For my own kids, I like to do big cook ups every few weeks and freeze a heap of stuff that I can just pull out and plonk in the box without any other prep required. Sausage rolls, quiches, pizza rolls, sandwiches etc etc. Since we homeschool and only pack lunch boxes once a week it’s not hard to keep stocks up, I also have a list of snack ideas pinned up inside my pantry door. It’s here if anyone wants to check it out: http://angathome.com/2012/04/07/no-or-low-sugar-snacks-for-kids-morning-and-afternoon-tea-snack-ideas/
Hilary says
Holy Guacamole, those looke great! Good ideas, I should print that off!