Chicken satay on SKEWERS??? For middle-school-age children? That's an accident (or an assault) waiting to happen! All those dipping sauces sound pretty messy, too. And I would worry about the meats being unrefrigerated all morning. But some of the combinations sound attractive and would make interesting lunches at home ... for me. My kids always wanted sandwiches, nothing too outlandish that would mark them for teasing by their friends.

Sue

I must be officially old at 46.
For 5 years in elementary school, I ate either a ham sandwich or peanut butter sandwich every single day (with milk and a package of chips OR a little debbie)
Every few months, I had a cafeteria lunch.
And I thought it was good.

Brie? Pork tenderloin? Monchego cheese? Sounds like a gourmet alfresco lunch for two rather than a school lunch.

I think it is best to let the child help decide what he/she wants to pack for lunch. My DS#2 did not like sandwiches in kindergarten, so I fixed toothpicks with cubes of ham, bologna and cheese that would serve as protein for his lunch. I like the mini sliders made from meatballs and mini bagels spread with cream cheese would fill up a youngster if they like them. Barbecue Cups made with canned biscuits is another idea; also mini meat pies made with Crescent Roll dough or pigs in blankets.

Some day I'll buy a June Cleaver apron and try some of those ideas out. [In all honesty, the only meal listed that would stand a chance of being eaten is the chicken nuggets, but only if they were store bought.]

In the meantime, I'm all about what Sue said. I'd love to petition the school district to require fridges for our kids' lunches. For now I'm quiet, but wait until the day that they disallow peanut butter sandwiches!

You mean your kids can take PB sandwiches to school? They haven't been allowed in my school district for over 10 yrs, when they were the ONLY kind of sandwiches my kiddoe would eat.

I always included an ice pack in my kids' lunch boxes, which worked pretty well at maintaining proper temps.

My youngest is going into grade 12 this year, and it is extremely difficult to provide her with any kind of lunch that she will deign to eat. Mind you, she's taking Foods again this year. Too bad she isn't using the opportunity to make and consume nutritious choices.

Some of the combinations sound pretty good. I too only had sandwiches (and got really tired of them). I like to mix it up in DS's lunch.

Fritattas and pasta salads work well using up leftover pasta and whatever's in the fridge.

Wraps of all kinds are good, like that turkey soft taco.

I'm not big on dipping sauces, guess it depends on your kids.

I like to pack easy to eat, snacking foods like edamame, carrot sticks, apple slices, strawberries, ham rolled around a cheese stick, peanut-butter filled pretzels.

I try not to pack things that require utensils or are too messy.

Most schools in our area don't ban peanut butter sandwiches, but they have one table that those who are eating PB to sit at, and that is the only table they can eat PB. There are a lot of allergies to nuts, but at least they allow kids to have it. My granddaughter lives on PB&J sandwiches!

Getting to the subject, I have seen various magazines give lunch suggestions to make things different and more interesting for the kids. Some of the items would really be a treat for my GD to have, but nothing real complicated of she won't eat it.

blizlady - Sounds like my district. My son is entering first grade, and from his kindergarten experience he's very mindful of those who are allergic, and washes his hands well after every peanut butter meal. If he had a classmate who was one of the one-in-a-howevermany people who can't so much as smell an elephant from behind, then I'd more than gladly comply with a no peanut rule. Until then, I'm happy to have ONE way to get protein into the kid.

Yes, I just can't see a total ban when concessions can be made for those who are allergic. My GD is allergic to tree nuts, but not peanut butter - weird but we're happy for her after school snacks of peanut butter and celery or apples.

Nice list Shaun! I might steal a few ideas for dinner, LOL.

I'm apathetic about school lunches. I can and do monitor what the kids have for breakfast and dinner - but I've seen too many lunches come home uneaten in elementary school days, and shake my head at what other kids threw out. As long as they get something at lunch, I'll round out the rest of it nutritionally over the day or even week.

I was just reminded of one of my favorite kid music albums - Cheech Marin, 'My Name is Cheech, The School Bus Driver' - great for car rides with elementary age kids, fab song: 'Trading Lunches'. I picked up and encouraged that trick!

Here is a link that might be useful: Cheech! Yes, THAT Cheech.

Shaun - that list sounds a little pretentious to me, too. My daughter would only eat the chicken nuggets - and like someone above said, only if they were store-bought.

I gave up on trying to please my kid - she's perfectly happy eating in the lunchroom each and every day. Even though it's expensive, I don't have to worry about buying the stuff, preparing the lunch, and then making sure she carries it with her each and every day.

I put her in a new school this year - one we're actually zoned for - and she loves the food. Said it's much better than her old school.

All of those sound good. That said, I can just see my seven year old GD if most of it were packed in her lunch. It would go straight in the trash can. She would only eat the mandarin oranges, banana and chunks of cheese (if it were American only). And if there is any pasta it has to be warm mac and cheese. Kids are so spoiled these days!

Good Lord. I just have to laugh at the gyrations parents go through these days to get their kids to eat.

My Mom made 10 sandwiches Sunday night (a sandwich was meat or cheese, with mayo or mustard and bread, that's it), along with 10 little packets of celery/carrot sticks, radishes, olives, or pickles. There was a bag of apples or oranges in the veggie drawer, and paper bags in the pantry. My brother and I grabbed a sandwich, a veggie packet, a piece of fruit, and if she had been particularly homemaker minded that week, we might get a bonus of a slice of cake(no frosting) or a cookie as well. This was lunch, along with milk or water, and we ate it or went hungry. Mostly, we ate it, being active children (and consequently hungry by lunchtime) and not having the option of whining for something else or money for vending machines or cafeteria food (which weren't available anyway, even if we had!)

Goat cheese and grape tomatoes (sliced horizontally!), mini bagels with hummus (a couple of different kinds!), mango chutney, sweet potato chips, baguettes with fig(!)jam and Brie...

Jiminny Crickets, I'd have thought my Mother gone mad!

Honestly now, these suggestions came from a humor column of some kind, right?

Great list Shaun! I appreciate any new ideas.

Some of these work for me better than others. And since my kids vary widely in age, what works for my 5 year old (yes, Lulu's going to K!) won't work for my 12 year old (yes, D's in middle school!), and the 9 year old is just a PITA anyway. I agree that if they're getting a solid breakfast and dinner, the lunch will work itself out over the course of the week, but I admit that I work harder than most at making their lunches interesting and healthy.

I've found that having a variety of bento boxes or lunch boxes makes things intersting and cold packs are essential since there's no refrigeration. We try to use as few disposible products as possible. Buying school lunch isn't an option for us for a variety of reasons, so we make every day. Some days are better than others. On days that milk is available, they like taking dry cereal in one section of the bento, and mixed berries in another. My older two like taking ramen noodles with a homemade spice packet since they can get boiling water.

My biggest "light bulb" moment was when I realized that between chatting with their friends, and the extremely short amount of time they have for lunch, it's best to make things as bite sized as possible if I have any chance of getting them to eat it before they toss it to run outside to the playground (why don't they play BEFORE they eat?!?). A whole piece of fruit is way too daunting for my tiny five year old, she needs two hands just to hold it and it would take an hour and a thousand of her mouse sized bites to finish. I cut it into pieces and spritz it with lemon.

My older kids love to make california rolls, so we do that about once a week. Leftover chicken works as long as there's a dip. I have a small thermos for each kid, so particularly in the winter, I send something warm, usually leftover pasta or meatballs.

There are a small number of parents that will bring their kids a hot restaurant meal to school during lunch time. There's a Japanese place near the school, so bento boxes and sushi are popular. I'm way to busy with school and work for that, and quite frankly, a little jealous of their extra time and $$, but those kids get a great lunch!

Check out these photos. Now here are some moms with time on their hands. (I admit to owning a bunny hard boiled egg mold! It's really cute!)

Here is a link that might be useful: bento boxes

Well I see most of you thought what I thought; and Sue, my first reaction like yours! Those skewers, sharp skewers in the hands of middle schoolers? Those would be considered weapons in our middle school.

Most of those lunch ideas my son would run from. He's a picky eater; always has been. This kid wouldnt eat a PB&J sandwich til he was about 10 yrs old. But there were a few that I thought were good ideas.

Rachelellen no, I don't think they wrote it to be humorous. I think this was a serious article.

It's interesting to see the different perceptions about this list. My son is not a picky eater, and eats what we eat. I don't make special meals for him. And what he gets for lunch is often put together from what we have the night before along with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, many from our garden. I work at home, so what I make him for lunch is often what I have for lunch as well (wraps, fritatta, quiche, hummus and crackers, etc. as well as sandwiches).

Yes, in a list, the article might seem over the top, but look at it this way, what would you rather have your child eating?

goat cheese, cheddar, parmesan cheese or "processed cheese products"

simple pasta with milk, butter and parmesan or mac and cheese with 580 mg salt per serving (I checked a certain "blue box's" website for the info)

homemade roast chicken (which we all have lots of easy and great recipes for) or breaded, frozen, processed chicken nuggets

Pork cutlets (cooked the night before as dinner) or "lunchables"

On this forum, we go out of our way to discuss and revel in well-prepared meals. We discuss ways to get rid of excess fat and salt from our diets. We celebrate the great fruits and vegetables of the different seasons. Why would we want less for our kids?

Just ran across this article and thought there might be some ideas worth sharing...

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: WebMD - 15 Fresh Brown Bag Lunch Ideas

Terri - those look great. Do you heat them up in the morning before putting them in their lunches? I'm not sure my kids would eat them at room temp, but I'm going to give it a shot.

My kids also tell me that the others are jealous of their lunches.

AM

Please, I hope nobody thought I was sneering or finding fault. By all means, if Moms have time to pack inventive, healthy lunches (and their kids will actually eat them), I've nothing critical to say about it!

I just thought it was funny, thinking back to what my brother and I took to school. Healthy food, but not terribly exciting or enticing in and of itself.

I remember that two sandwiches I absolutely hated to take were tuna or egg salad...because the bread would get all squishy by lunch time and other kids would groan at the odor. Luckily, these didn't make up ahead of time very well, so we only got them if my mother hadn't been organized enough over the weekend to make our lunches up ahead for the week. To this day, if I take either as my lunch to work with me, I pack the salad in one container, the bread in another and make the sandwich when I'm ready to eat it. Of course, the kids would have thought that was weird when I went to school! God only knows what they would have thought of a bento box or a wrap! :D

AM, The rolls are something I just started doing over the last month as "pool" lunch...I take them right from the oven and put them in take out boxes..sometimes they are still warm when they eat them..sometimes they are room temp.

My kids will eat bread/pizza any way but cold from the fridge.

Give it a whirl.

spacific, I agree with what you are saying..For me it's about controlling ingredients and I'm also a recycle, reuse, reduce fanatic...LOL

My mother never...or hardly ever made my lunch....and I ate the same thing almost every day...Boiled ham from the
German deli and a slice of imported Emmenthaler on Pepperidge Farms white bread ( back when it was good!) and a hard boiled egg. And I very rarely remember making lunch for my kids...they came home, ate hot lunch or packed their own.
But I sure have made lots of peanut butter on whole wheat, with some carrots and chips for the grand kids!

I am a volunteer now at a grade school where we meet the kids for lunch in the cafeteria and then read with them for half an hour. I am amazed at what they eat equally amazed at what they throw away, and at what some parents send!

I think I have now packed my last school lunch!
Linda C

Those are some BEAUTIFUL lunches!

It may just be our school, but in middle/high school:

- the kids don't go back to lockers after lunch, so no cold packs or lunch boxes.
- there is no room in their backpacks, let alone in the halls. Savvy kids, not mine, have taken to "rolling backpacks" to save time and, god bless them, their backs! The halls are so crowded, I don't know how they navigate.

That said, my son has had the same old, same old since 2nd grade and is in high school. I did find out that he twists off the lid of each peanut butter cracker and substitutes a cookie for the lid:)

Gosh, that list is making me hungry!

Cathy in SWPA

Terri_pacnw,
Good idea about the pizza rolls. We do a similar thing with calzones filled with spinach/cheese or broccoli/cheese, etc.

AM, that's a good point about the amount of time the kids get to eat. In DS's school, it's about 20 minutes, so those all-in-one items like calzones and wraps work pretty well.

And fruit, I'm not sure what it is about sliced fruit, but even at home, I can have a beautiful bowl of fresh peaches and plums on the table and no one will touch it, but the minute I pick up one and slice it and put it on the table, it's gone in a second. So I've learned that sliced or chunks of fruit or berries get eaten, but whole apples or plums usually get brought back home.

Timely thread, Shaun, thanks for posting it. I've only made sandwiches for lunch a few times this entire summer, so creative and packable ideas for back-to-school fare are welcome.

Rachelellen, your mom made sandwiches on Sunday for the whole week????

I never had to make lunches very often for Matt. He came home for lunch most days even when he was in High School. He occasionally stayed for lunch when it was pizza or hot dog day.

Ann

Oh yah, Ann...when she was organized. Friday's lunch was quite tasty. Aged.

We survived. ;)

Shaun, there are several things on that list that The Picky One would eat and The Little Gourmet would go nuts for - thanks for the ideas! Terri - I will also be making your Pizza Rolls they look fantastic and I am going to make it even easier on myself and pick up a ready made pizza dough at our local pizza shop.

Here is another list from a few years ago where I have found inspiration. It is similar to Grainlady's link, but there are a few differences.

14 Fresh Brown Bag Lunch Ideas

Pasta Lover's Lunch Salad. Pack a cold pasta salad and a plastic fork, and your pasta lover will love you, too! Make your salad with lean meat or low-fat cheese (so it has some protein), lots of vegetables to boost fiber and nutrition, and use a whole-grain blend pasta, like Barilla Plus. Then just drizzle some light vinaigrette over the top and toss.

Pita Pocket Sandwich. Pack your whole-grain pita pocket with chicken Caesar salad, or any other lean meat or cheese filler mixed with vegetables and dark green lettuce.

The Fruit and Cheese Plate Special. Make crispy cracker sandwiches with whole-wheat crackers, slices of assorted cheese, and lean meats. Don't forget the fruit, which goes nicely with the cheese and adds fiber and nutrition.

Peanut Butter Fun Pack. Pack 1/8 cup of natural-style peanut butter, along with a plastic knife or spoon, wheat crackers, and celery sticks, and you have a peanut butter fun pack!

Bagel With Cream Cheese, Please. Bagels are a wonderful foundation for hardy sandwiches that stand up to being in a backpack or locker all morning. You can toast a bagel in the morning and simply spread some light cream cheese in the middle. Or make a bagel sandwich with, say, a little light cream cheese, some turkey, and cranberry sauce, then top it off with alfalfa sprouts or Romaine lettuce.

Carry a Cobb Salad. Plastic containers can hold the makings of a delicious salad lunch. Fill it with chopped green lettuce, chopped hard-boiled egg, light cheese, and/or lean ham. You can buy packets of light dressing, or just use extra packets of light salad dressing left over from your last trip to the fast-food chain.

It's a Wrap! Wraps are a nice change of pace from the usual sandwich. Use one of the new higher-fiber tortillas, like the multigrain flour tortillas available in most supermarkets. Then fill 'er up with chicken Caesar salad or assorted lean meats, cheese, tomato, sliced onion, shredded Romaine lettuce, and light dressing. Just roll it up and wrap in foil.

Noodle Soup Cups. Many schools offer a hot water dispenser so kids can add hot water to packaged noodle soup cups. Some brands are higher in sodium and fat, and lower in fiber than others. Check out the options in stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.
Veggie Sushi. Not all kids will go for this one, but there are some out there who really like seaweed-wrapped sushi rolls. You can now buy pre-made sushi at many supermarkets, too. Choosing the veggie-filled sushi means there's no chance the sushi will get a little "fishy" while it's in your kid's backpack.

Toss Some Taco Salad. If taco salad is a favorite, you can pack the meat mixture tossed with the shredded cheese, tomatoes, and chopped Romaine lettuce in a plastic container. At lunchtime, your child can add crunchy, reduced-fat tortilla chips and a little light dressing.

Fried Rice Can Be Fun. When made with eggs or chopped lean ham and lots of veggies, cold fried rice can be a satisfying noontime treat. Make your own, or plan on leftovers the night before if you're ordering from a restaurant.

Talk About Taquitos. I started doing this last year, and it seems to have stuck with my girls. I pop some Bean and Cheese frozen Taquitos from Whole Foods into my toaster oven in the morning, then let them cool. Then, I wrap them in foil and make sure they stay cool by packing a frozen juice box or small water bottle. By noon, they are cold, fun finger food.

BBQ Chicken Sandwich. Your child can assemble a yummy BBQ grilled chicken sandwich fresh at lunchtime. Just pack a grilled, boneless, skinless chicken breast (you can make it in your indoor grill the night before) with some lettuce and sliced tomato in one baggie, and a whole-wheat bun in another. Add a packet of BBQ sauce to the lunch bag, and it's good to go.

Meal Muffins. Certain types of muffins work as a lunch entr. If you bake them over the weekend and keep them in the freezer, you just have to pull one or two out in the morning. By lunch, they are nicely chilled and ready to eat. Try ham and cheese muffins, Mexican Cornbread muffins, or quiche muffins (quiche filling, baked with or without crust in a muffin pan).

I think I may copy paste all the ideas and print it out and let the boys highlight the ones they'd like.

I love these ideas!! And I'll use them for myself too.

Alexa, I Love, love, love the meal muffins!! We make "surprise muffins". They are corn muffins with a surprise in the inside, usually a dollop of jelly or bite of pineapple, but there's no reason I couldn't substitute a chunk of turkey or chunk of cheese. Smarty pants, you.

I just bought a bunch of new bento supplies from I Love Obento. Cool stuff really does make lunch more fun for all of us. Last year I also started sending them with cloth napkins and real utensils. Shockingly, we only lost 2 or 3 pieces throughout the entire year. It's much more pleasant for them, makes them feel grown up and responsible, and their friends think it's cool.

Thanks for the great ideas everyone!

AM

AM, I too send them with 'real' untensils..however they are a plastic reusables..so if they do loose one..I'm not crying over my "silverware"..LOL

I really want to switch to Bentos and those cute accesories...

I printed the lists out too 3 pages between the lists...

Gonna have them go over it...

Terri

I made your Pizza Rolls (though the guys want to call them Pizza Buns LOL) yesterday so I had a trial run. I bought the pizza dough from the cute guy at the pizza shop next to my usual grocery and used my home made pizza sauce. The only change I made was to use mozzarella sticks as the very center and jelly-rolled the dough/sauce/shredded cheese/pepperoni around them. What an awesome treat! The boys loved them and I even saved a couple back and put them in the freezer. They are absolutely a huge hit and I cannot thank you enough for sharing this idea.

Alexa

OH Alexa...I'm glad..

I make them once a week for lunches right now. Usually when we go to the pool..

Yesterday was one of those days...

Pizza Buns works too..