What did you pack in your child's lunch box today?

Mommy F.

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 10:47 am

I wanted to start a new thread on what parents pack in their kids lunches. Assuming your school doesn't give food to the children. My school that my kids attend is nut free so we can't give them peanut butter sandwiches. I am looking for new ideas of what to put in their lunches. Do your child's teachers put their lunch in the fridge? I am nervous to give them tuna or egg sandwiches because I think the mayonnaise in it would go bad. We leave to school at 8:00 and they eat lunch at noon. 4 hours of raw eggs (in mayonnaise) that's not refrigerated can give salmonella poisoning, no? What do you think?
Well here's what I gave them today: I try to put in some healthy foods and some noshy foods:

-banana
- bread sticks
- apple juice
- water bottle
- deli sandwhich
- plum

Looking forward to some new and exciting lunch ideas for the kids!

Mommy F.

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 10:51 am

you don't find the cut up apple gets brown? do you drizzle lemon juice on it so it's stays a nice color?
I heard that there is 1 brand of apple that will never brown when it's cut, I can't remember which one though.

chaylizi

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 10:51 am

usually I give dd 2 snacks (for both recesses). school started at 9:30 today though. so our truncated lunch for the day is:

strawberry yogurt
2 string cheeses
mini applesauce
water bottle
(bag of chips for snack)

BrachaC

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 11:18 am

Our kids started an hour late, but they go until 3:30. I sent:

Bagel and cream cheese
strawberries (morning snack is "healthy snack")
carrot muffins
corn chips

The baby got yogurt, string cheese, banana and crackers

Chanie

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 11:26 am

My son tells me he 'hates' everything.
He often takes plain bread to school for lunch.

Today he had in his lunch box:

2 slices of bread
cucumbers and dip
homemade blueberry/apple sauce (chunky so more filling then the store bought ones)
plum
slice of apple pie
snack size zip-lock of corn chips

He's in school today from 10-4:30

My 2 younger ones are in pre-school, where they still provide lunch & snacks.

frumamn

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 11:26 am

We have an hour drive to school, so we leave 7 am and lunch for preschool is at 11:30. I always put an ice pack inside to keep everything fressh. My kids have been eating browned apples and bananas forever, they don't see any difference.......
Today was
pasta salad- (macaroni, pickles, tomatoes, tuna and corn)
string cheese
banana
diced peaches
brownie

other things I use as we are also a nut-free school are pizza, chummus sandwich or chummus with pita triangles, all kinds of hard cheese and spreadable cheese sandwiches and tuna sandwiches

youngbubby

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 11:30 am

I actually enjoy packing lunches for evereryone every morning...I sort of taylor make them because everyone wants something different....my youngest who is 13 always likes tuna fish and a fruit and pretzels and some sort of mezonos..like cookies..and a water bottle then if she wants to add something she will. My next daughter who is 16 is always on a diet so she gets a hunger filler bread sandwhich which has diet mayo and a peice of cheese and a tomatoe ,,then snacks are rice cakes and cream cheese. I but little palstice containes with lids for the cream cheese....sometimes celery and peanut butter..and a fruit and pretzels. She also like pickeles for a snack. Its hard to come up with good sandwhich ideas.THen I also pack my elderly mother a lunch because I have to go to teach and she needs a lunch when Im gone...now if anyone has any ideas for that I would love it...my mother dosent like anything heavy not to chewy,,not to much not to little Im sure u get it by now,,its really hard to leave her a lunch and think she will eat it. any ideas???

Raisin

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 11:30 am

the school provides fresh fruit so I don't bother packing those.

yoghurt (toffee of forest fruit flavour)
peanut butter/jelly/butter and honey sandwich, in bread or pita, depending on kid. Other days I do tuna or cheese as well. (meat is not allowed)
bottle of water
cereal bar (granola bar)
pretzles

greenfire

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 11:39 am

Mommy F. wrote:

she's got braces and that is all she likes to eat ... put it in a baggy and suck out all the air ...

Mirabelle

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 11:49 am

Today is a meat day, so I sent:

deli sandwich
grape tomatoes
strawberries cut up
juice box
corn chips

DH sent a cut up apple last week and she really liked it, even though I am sure it got a bit brown

They also do sell those (expensive) little packets of cut up apples that are treated with something to keep them from turning brown...

Marion

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 1:03 pm

Deli is just as bad to leave out as mayo. The mayonnaise I buy is made of pasteurized eggs...I assume that if I can get it here you can get it there!

DS#1 leaves for school at 7, he gets "breakfast" at about 10. He gets a chummus sandwich (sometimes one and a half sandwiches) and cut up fruit. Today it was slices of plum & pear. Then he has a hot lunch provided around 2.

MiamiMommy

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 1:05 pm

My kids are in school from 8:15-3:45. My son is still in preschool so he gets lunch from the school. My dd take lunch and snacks for 2 recesses.

chumus on whole wheat (her fav)
apple
cheese stick
piece of honey cake
pringles snack pack

The honey cake is a treat that's not usually included! She likes to take a salad to eat with her sandwich, but today is a shorter day so I didn't think she'd eat it. I send the salad in one container and the dressing in another.

She also likes to take tuna in a container with whole wheat crackers on the side. I've tried offering her more exciting things but she's not interested!

I always put a small ice pack in the lunchbox.

morahaviva

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 1:33 pm

We arent allowed to send fleishig to school, but on days that the school serves it I send deli sandwiches anyway. My son in Mesivta is allowed to bring whatever they want - since they eat lunch in the classrooms anyway.
This is what I sent today:
DD#1- egg sandwich (mayo spread on white bread, hard boiled egg and pickle cut up inside)
DD#2 - yogurt, crackers, string cheese
DS#1- salad with strips of deli (sometimes I send him salad with whatever meat/chicken leftovers we had the night before - he is on a diet)
DS#2- mac and cheese

I am a short order cook in the mornings, I miss the days when my kids would eat school lunch and eat cereal for breakfast - would save me hours in the morning!

bella

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 1:37 pm

Mommy F. wrote:

Lemon is good but if you cut the apple into quarters or halves and then piece them back together and wrap them in plastic it will help with browning. If you remove the core, that bit will be exposed to the air, but the other areas should stay good.

I have to try the sucking out the air. I actually have one of those Reynolds vacumn pack machines, but I'd hate to waste one of those bags. If I knew the kid would bring it home, I could reuse them.

realeez

Tue, Sep 29 2009, 2:15 pm

Mommy F. wrote:

4 hours of raw eggs (in mayonnaise) that's not refrigerated can give salmonella poisoning, no? What do you think?

I'd be just as worried about the deli. Some people freeze the juice box so it serves as an ice pack and is defrosted enough to drink by lunch.