Whats in your lunch box?

[Jusk]

okay.....so it's the age old back to school question.............what to send for lunch that is healthy....cheap....and different????

[BzyBee]

I am looking forward to seeing the answers as this is the first year my kiddos will be in school. We will probably pack lunches most days but I don't know if they have microwaves for warming or if we will have to pack cold stuff.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

my kids mostly eat at school. Its cheap IMO and pays for itself in the one less thing I have to do department. LOL

[Jusk]

costs way too much for my kids to eat at school...one in Middle school and the other is High School.....they don't eat the regular lunch....the do the ala cart and it costs $3-$5 bucks each a day depending on what they eat.....

In past years my kids were in school from 7:30am-1:45pm (this year it will be until 2:30pm).......so they eat lunch as early at 10:15.......guess what happens when they get home at 2? Starving again and eat lunch at home again....

[3swimmersmom]

Thermos brand products for...
cold milk, juice, fresh fruit, tuna salad, chicken salad, cheese
hot soup, spaghetti O's, Ramen noodles, taco meat(chips in a bag)
or
sandwiches, peanut butter & jelly, turkey, bologna, ham
cookies
pringles chips
mott's applesauce

3 kids x 1.50 a day x 5 days a week=22.50
I can pack lunch for a lot less than that!

Everybody gets to pick one day a month that they want to buy lunch

[mama22qts]

It's $1.35 each here for lunch...but that still adds up to over $10 a week and I can make sandwiches and other stuff for less than that. Besides mine will just throw the tray lunch away. Can't blame them -- but if our tray lunches were like HCMs used to be, then I wouldn't have to worry!

We have bologna sandwiches, chips, pudding (or applesauce) carrot sticks, sometimes DD wants to take vienna sausages and crackers. PB&J, Peanut butter and honey -- apples, bananas but they do seem to bruise easily

Just the standard fare I guess.

[texgirl]

In past years my kids were in school from 7:30am-1:45pm (this year it will be until 2:30pm).......so they eat lunch as early at 10:15.......guess what happens when they get home at 2? Starving again and eat lunch at home again....

Mine too, except they ride the bus home and don't get home till 4:30 (no I'm not kidding). Even before gas prices were so high, it was still too much to drive 16 miles to town 2x a day so they use the bus. I tell my ds to try & do some homework while he's on the bus.

My kids like lunchables, but I don't like the price. So I make lunchables for them by cutting the meat with a small busicut cutter, slicing cheese in small portions and adding some crackers. Add some baby carrots and a fruit snack and there's lunch!

[cutenirish]

i hated school lunches YUCKY! I had Baloney (i can do that my madien name is Maloney), a apple cake snacky thing and a drink and some other THINGY--- i am sure it was cheaper than buying and it tasted way BETTER!!!!!!!!!!

[MaryMary]

Try an egg sandwich instead of tuna, ham, bologna, etc.
In the morning fry a sunny side up (OK even if the "sun" breaks out) only cook it a bit longer, put it inside the bun or between bread slices, add a cheese slice if you like. Tastes OK even cold. Experiment with tomato slices, hummus, other spreads and veggies.

[kurlisola]

When I was a kid (several decades ago-lol!) the cool kids would have a mouth watering deli pickle in their lunches:-) Yummm...could smell that 3 feet away. A mini veggie tray with dip makes a nice finger food so that they can talk & wave their hands while munching. I actually used to like a boiled egg, with a small packet of salt, packed away in my lunch (deviled eggs would be great if you had some left over from the evening before). Maybe a couple of meatballs to finish off the meal? Cheese & meat & cracker spread (fresh, not the oscar mayer ones) would be nice & filling.

I say, go with what you know your child likes to eat anyway. Thats what my mom did & we ate our lunches. I knew other kids who's moms sent stuff that they wouldn't eat at home anyway & so were just traded or more likely, tossed in the garbage.