School (and other) Lunches

[pellegrino]

So our oldest began Kindergarten and after seeing the options available in her cafeteria, we've decided to have her take lunches from home. This can be challenging because she's a slow, picky eater who eats very little. We made pizza one night (her favorite meal) and gave her the leftovers to take. They came back untouched with the excuse of not having time to eat it .

I thought about lamenting the demise of the school cafeteria as an example of the degenerate, corporatist culture that has dominated American culture since the Civil War, but instead I'd like to dedicate this thread to a brainstorming effort for those who have children and make their lunches for them or for those who make their own lunches in an effort to either save money or lose weight.

I'll start. One thing we've had success with for now (who knows what she'll like tomorrow) is peanut butter and banana sandwiches. She eats it up most of the time, but if we make it too often (three times a week) she gets tired of it, complains and doesn't eat it. Other meals are hit and miss, but she'll eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich most of the time.

What about you? Stuck in a rut with your own lunches or your kids? Have you had success with certain menu options? What are they? Do share.

[marsupial]

So our oldest began Kindergarten and after seeing the options available in her cafeteria, we've decided to have her take lunches from home. This can be challenging because she's a slow, picky eater who eats very little. We made pizza one night (her favorite meal) and gave her the leftovers to take. They came back untouched with the excuse of not having time to eat it .

I thought about lamenting the demise of the school cafeteria as an example of the degenerate, corporatist culture that has dominated American culture since the Civil War, but instead I'd like to dedicate this thread to a brainstorming effort for those who have children and make their lunches for them or for those who make their own lunches in an effort to either save money or lose weight.

I'll start. One thing we've had success with for now (who knows what she'll like tomorrow) is peanut butter and banana sandwiches. She eats it up most of the time, but if we make it too often (three times a week) she gets tired of it, complains and doesn't eat it. Other meals are hit and miss, but she'll eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich most of the time.

What about you? Stuck in a rut with your own lunches or your kids? Have you had success with certain menu options? What are they? Do share.

They really don't have a lot of time to eat lunch at my son's school and if the kids get a little too chatty, they might miss out entirely.

[marsupial]

As for ideas, we bought my son a thermos. He likes soup and will take that in his lunch. I have also sent him lasagna in his thermos and a baked potato.

[Babs]

For one, you absolutely have to have a reusable freezer pack. This will give you a lot more options. You can get them for $1.88 near the lunchboxes at Walmart. My kid won't eat anything in thermoses, but like Soup said, a thermos will really expand your options as well.

My kid is super picky, a slow eater, won't eat peanut butter more than once a week, and won't eat anything from the cafeteria. We rotate:


pb and jelly
pb and honey
pb crackers
ham and cheddar
triscuits with swiss
yogurt and whole-grain pretzels
leftover chicken
leftover pizza

and my absolute lifesaver:
the five-for-5.95 Arby's roast beef. He loves them refrigerated.

[pellegrino]

They really don't have a lot of time to eat lunch at my son's school and if the kids get a little too chatty, they might miss out entirely.

Oh, I know, and I know how slow of an eater she is. In pre-school she was always the last to finish eating her snack, which was usually a piece of fruit. She can also be very chatty. I guess the frustration is that we thought pizza would be a good option because she loves it so much and she eats it willingly at home. Turns out it just wasn't in the stars.

[faith]

Our son can be very particular when it comes to lunch food. He refuses to eat the school lunches. Some of the more successful lunch snacks that we have given him include: Hummus and pita, peanut butter and apples, eggsalad sandwiches, and beef jerky.

Good luck.

[Chachi]

Our oldest started kindergarten this year as well. The first couple days of school she asked for me to make her lunch. She requested PB & J, a bag of doritos, applesauce cup, fruit snack and some goldfish for her snack at recess. She wanted to buy milk at school. I'd send her off to school with a lunch and a snack and she would return home with a lunch and a snack. I was shocked that no teacher noticed this itty bitty child sitting at the lunch table without anything to eat. She claims she forgot her lunch box the first day and the second day said she didn't have time to eat it.

Breakfast is $1 and lunch is $1.50. She probably buys half the time. We tell her what's on the menu and she'll say yay or nay. She is a milk snob. Only whole milk for her...but she will do 2%. She says their milk is nasty so she gets choc. milk if she doesn't take a capri sun.

Instead of a sandwich, she has asked for a mini bagel, an individual cup of cream cheese (I bought the WW ones since Philly was more expensive) and a couple slices of lunch meat. Since I had reusable freezer pack from breastfeeding, I slip a Similac freezer pack in her lunch box which always does the trick.

My daughters school started Aug 5th, so they've been at it for a little while. The first couple weeks she struggled with eating fast enough. She too eats like a bird. She's 5 for crying out loud and weighs 32 lbs. Now that she's used to school, she does fine. She does get noticed now everywhere she goes since she has a hot pink cast up to her shoulder.

[Babs]

Breakfast is $1 and lunch is $1.50. She probably buys half the time. We tell her what's on the menu and she'll say yay or nay. She is a milk snob. Only whole milk for her...but she will do 2%. She says their milk is nasty so she gets choc. milk if she doesn't take a capri sun.

An aside on the chocolate milk: a lot of people don't realize that the school chocolate milks have more sugar than Dr. Pepper and Coke. OTOH, it doesn't sound like your little one is exactly having to watch her weight. :-)

[hostile]

My kids aren't so much picky eaters as they are easily distracted eaters - there is either a recess game to get to or a friend to talk to. I used to get frustrated after packing what I thought was a great lunch, only to have it come home with only the cookies eaten. I'm still working on it but I've tried to make lunch easy and quick, but still nutritious. Surprisingly, beef jerky, fruit and string cheese with some pretzels seems to go over pretty well.

[wuapinmon]

We used to have to clear out plates. It's ASTOUNDING how much food gets thrown away at schools. I mean, ASTOUNDING. They have to give them so much to meet USDA guidelines, but those guidelines are crazy and make for odd combinations like Pizza, peas, and peaches.

Who eats that together? Nobody.

[Soccermom]

As for ideas, we bought my son a thermos. He likes soup and will take that in his lunch. I have also sent him lasagna in his thermos and a baked potato.

We do the thermos thing too. My kids like chicken and rice, chow mein, soups, and once in a while left over steak with veggies. We also do lots of sandwiches. I try and make my peanut butter/ham and cheese sandwiches more appealing by finding fun ziploc bags and cutting the sandwiches into shapes.

Our kids have 20 minutes to eat lunch and that 20 minutes goes by extremely fast.

[Surfah]

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=9481052