Any good ideas for cheap and healthy lunch box ideas for kids?

Hope

How about:
pb&j (of course the old standby)
ants on a log (celery w/pb and raisins on top)
yogurt (vanillia, can add fruit)
pb&honey roll up (spread pb on a tortilla, then drizzle honey on it, rollup)
string cheese
baby carrots
have a water bottle--freeze a small amount in the bottom (about 1/4th) then fill in the morning, that way it will thaw before lunch and will keep other food cold.


will keep thinking

I give Spinner lunchables and nabs.

Storm

what's nabs?!

My kids like

cream cheese sandwiches

tortillas with sandwich fixins inside (whatever they like) rolled up and cut in half

fruit salad in a small container

chicken tenders (either vegetarian faux or misc. brands of actual)

sparkling mineral water with fruit essence (in small bottle)

pretzels mixed with misc. crackers and cereal

homemade granola bars (my kids must have choc. chips in theirs!)

Originally posted by freedomlover
what's nabs?!

Hope knows what nabs are ;)!!!!

where we grew up "nabs" are what you call those little orange crackers with the peanut butter in them that you get in gas stations for like 25 cents.
as in "hey, you goin' to the store? well, get me some nabs and a pepsi!" LOL

my earlier post was a joke, but she will get it when she reads it even without the explanation.:D

Storm

Honestly Storm, I think you are not joking!
I am going to ask Spenser next time he answers the phone!

You know, Drake is really impressed with this one girl at school, because she brings lunchables.
He would be on cloud nine if I packed him a lunchable.
And ya know what miss smarty! Chad did buy the kids some nabs when he went to Wal-Mart, a big 'ole eight pack of them.
~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for the serious answers!

Storm, go eat your potted deviled meat and hush!
Or, can y'all buy that in Fancy Orlando? Want me to send you some?

Hope

LOL!:)

Remember me complaining that Spinner got lunchables from his grandparents a few times when he was younger, Grrrr... after that he wanted them everytime we were in the grocery store.

It was one thing I actually confronted them about, oh and the capri sun corn syrup "juice". The told me I was an overprotective pyscho basically and if I couldn't read the label and see that the capri sun was "all natural" and that the lunchables were very healthy and balanced then I had problems.
:rolleyes:

It took me forever to get spinner to understand that those things were not healthy and that it was MEAT!!! the times they stuffed my baby's face full of meat just piss me off so bad!!!
because you know I am such a bad unattentive parent. Not like his wonderful father! ROTFL!

P.S.
has anyone ever noticed how I can turn alomst ANY thread into a MIL rant? Is there a MIL problems anonymous group? I need group therapy really! LOL

Storm

that is where I need some help or "main course" ideas for the lunch box.

I am only going to have one in public school this year and I have *vowed* that it will be a healthy and organic lunch from home *at least* three times per week. I think this is very doable for a busy mama. It is just so important to me. He took hot lunch all last year. :( I don't know about other districts, but our lunch program is sooooo unhealthy.

I heard there is a district in WA state that serves organic hot lunch at school <sigh...>

anyway, peanut butter and jelly is about all I can come up with. We almost never eat lunch meats because of the nitrate/nitrite content, so lunch meats are out. I wonder if I could get him to eat a cucumber sandwish with homegrown sprouts? LOL j/k - I doubt he'd ever eat that.

so...any ideas?

Found this on a web site that sold those split lunch boxes... it is really cool and has some great ideas!

Quick-Reference Lunch Ideas
Breads
bagel
baguette
bread sticks
crackers
English muffin
focaccia
lavash bread
pita bread
pizza bread
rice cakes
rolls
sandwich bread
tortillas

Fillings, Spreads & Condiments
almond butter
apple butter
avocado (mashed)
banana (mashed)
brie cheese
cashew butter
cream cheese (lowfat)
goat cheese
honey
hummus
jam (spreadable fruit)
ketchup
mayonnaise/mustard
peanut butter
pesto
pizza or tomato sauce
pumpkin butter
carrots (shredded)
cheese (lite/low-fat)
chicken
chicken salad
egg salad
hard boiled egg
nitrite-free hot dogs
lettuce
shrimp salad
sliced avocado
sliced cucumber
smoked salmon
sprouts
tofu
tuna salad

Fruits
(Dried and Fresh)
apples
apricots
Asian pears
avocado
bananas
blueberries
cherries
cranberries (dried)
dates
figs
mango
papaya
pears
prunes
raisins
grapefruit
grapes
kiwi
melon
nectarines
orange sections
peaches
pineapple
plums
raspberries
strawberries
tomatoes

Vegetables
asparagus
beets
bell peppers
bok choy
broccoli
Brussels sprouts
cabbage
carrots
cauliflower
celery
cucumbers
eggplant
green beans
green salad
lettuce
mushrooms
seaweed (nori, wakame, hijiki)
shelling peas
snap peas
soy beans (edamame)
spinach
squash
sweet potatoes
yams
zucchini

Treats
apple crisp
applesauce
baked chips with salsa
dried fruit
fruit bar
fruit leather
granola
homemade cookies
notes from home
popcorn
pretzels
stickers
trail mix
vanilla yogurt with fruit
Apple chips
banana chips

Other
baked tofu
bean burrito
cottage cheese with fruit
garlic toast
polenta with pizza sauce and cheese
pasta
rice
couscous
oatmeal
bulghar

thanks, Val! that helps. :)

Kristin

homemade granola bars (my kids must have choc. chips in theirs!)

Hi, I don't post often, but I've been looking for a homemade granola bar recipe, and if you have one, I'd love to see it!!

Thanks,

Laurie

Originally posted by lauriemama
Hi, I don't post often, but I've been looking for a homemade granola bar recipe, and if you have one, I'd love to see it!!

Thanks,

Laurie

:ditto:

LOL, Val, I printed that exact list and have it taped to my fridge!!!!

Isn't that a great list of ideas for lunches? ;cool:

I saw a page last year about school lunches and how some school lunches have like 600-800 calories, and 35-60% fat in them! For a child! Scary......:eek: My kids like buying it now and then, but we watch the choices and they only get it once a week tops.

I thought that turkey lunch meats often did not contain nitrates???? :confused: I was told it was mainly ham and the hot dogs that did...no?

Hi Denise. :)

Some turkey contains nitrites (or is it nitrates?) and some do not - that is my understanding. My dearest friend (who is as much of a freak about healthy food as I am) did some research locally and she found a store fairly close by that bakes their turkey in-store and it is supposed to contain no nitrites/nitrates.

the thing is...either way it is not *real* turkey breast meat - it is processed and pressed. So, when my family does get lunch meat on that rare occasion it is normally turkey slices from that particular store.

Unfortunately my family isn't always happy with my choices. But, I just keep trying to make the right choices for their health.

I think that once a week hot lunch for my 8 y-o is plenty. I think he'll be okay with that.

The one trouble I have right now with not having an income that works to pay the bills is that Alex gets free lunches. So I have not used that list in about a year. He asks me to take lunch all the time, and tells me that my lunch is way better than school... which I think is really sweet... but we just can't afford it. So he gets hot lunch. I just try and weigh it out with stuff that is good for him at home.

Love Val

:D Thanks Kristin! (o: I read the packages of the turkey lunch meat I buy for Sarah and Justin, and it does not list nitrates....do you know if it has to list it? Or is it one of those contains it but doesn't have to list it type thing? Kwim?

I was shocked, really, to see the content of fat and such in the school lunches. I assumed they were much healthier, and was letting the girls buy them as often as they wanted. )o: I like that ours has a salad bar, and the middle school lets the kids get things alacarte, so Chelsie can buy a salad and a bagel and a juice, and not the whole "meal".....but the elem. school has the whole meal choices, along with a salad bar, but each meal was like averaging 650 calories and like 40% fat......:eek:

Here is our Sept. menu....

http://chartwellsmenus.com/menus/79/sherwood.htm

Denise ~ I really do not know if they are required to list nitrates in foods. :( My good friend that I mentioned and I do so much research that we sort of have "assigned" things to research. Turkey was her "assignment". We share information with each other and I wish I'd paid attention more when she told me about the lunch meat/nitrate thing.

I looked at the menu for your child's school lunch. It is very similar to the lunches that our school has provided in the past years. To me, they are just not healthy lunches. Those foods are just *not* foods I want my child to eat every day, KWIM? I am not perfect and I won't tell you what my kids had for breakfast this morning (a major - like twice a year treat).

We had to watch the menu carefully for the latter half of last year since they do serve beef. I don't allow my children to eat *any* beef except what I serve them and it isn't all that often (and its organic).

I still have to buy that 17.00 thermos so that my son will have his soups and such in a stainless steel container, rather than plastic. UGH...so much to think about.

:)

Kristin, me too! (o: I have been stalking the ads for sales on stainless steel thermoses. I don't like anything warm in plastic, plus it just does not hold heat! )o: I want to be able to send homemade soup for the kids for lunch in winter/fall, or noodles (Sarah's fave) with a mini-tub of grated cheese to sprinkle on. And for it to be warm by lunch. The ones I saw were like $25! But worth it, I know, I know...I am just waiting for a sale. LOL. We also never, ever allow beef. Period. I know the organic, free range one is safer, but like dh said, we just don't know the long time lines of the cows, and who knows if mad cow can be passed down and for how long...kwim? I am veg and don't eat meat, but my younger 2 do...but no beef.

Darn, wish you had the turkey assignment. ;)

Val, I understand that!
We qualify for free lunch, but it is all meat or veggies coooked in meat and my kids will just not eat it.
The kids do not have a cafeteria, a local college brings in meals, just the one option.
Meat, meat veggies, roll, and a bruised piece of fruit.
(Grumbling about my earlier life choices. I am glad they want to continue a veggie life, but darn it!)

Thanks for all the ideas.

Stainless steel thermos would be nice, right now, I would just like to find ANY thermos!
A little plastic drink bottle that leaks came in my kids lunch box.
I have been having to buy juice boxes and little bottles of water for them, the cost! ACK!
Where can you buy a kid sized thermos now a days? Our local wal-mart, k-mart, and target did not carry them.

Hope

Hope if you want to pay for postage I have a water bottle and a thermos/lunch box type thing that I will send you. Just pm me. Neither leak. :D I have a few little lunch box thingys that I will send you too. It would be a help for you to take them... they are just taking up space.

I totally understand what you are going through and if we did not have the organic salad bar at Alex's school I would cringe at the thought of him eating there... but they have three options everyday, one of which being the salad bar. Alex likes enough foods so I never feel like he is in nutritional danger. lol... with Cyan on the other hand... that girl will be getting a packed lunch if I have to get back on food stamps! She eats crap when ever she can get it! :D

Love Val

Wow Val! Organic salad bar?! May I ask what school this is? I'd love to pass along the info to our school....we have a salad bar but I would love to push for organic!!! :)

Poineer Elementry in Olympia Wa. :D It has just been these last three years, but it is wonderful! The other two options are usually not terrible. They do have cheeseburger day and pizza day... but if they took those away I think the kids would riot. ;)

Love Val

:thumbsup: That is too cool. I will use that city and name in my quest to request one for our area. (o: I read about a school in Berkeley (Ca.) with all organic lunch foods, no trans-fats, etc. I wanna go there!!!! :D

If you can find it...Applegate Farms and Plainville lunch meats do NOT contain anything except the meat...no fillers, nitrates, nitrites or other yucks! The turkey(back when I was not vegan) tastes like slices of leftover thanksgiving turkey and the roastbeef tastes like left over roast...and at our whole foods it is usually $6 a pound or so. HTH

Two questions:

First, those that send things like a Thermos to school... how do you get your kids to bring it home???? DD would leave it there and 1) bring it back when it's growing things or 2) throw it in the trash.

Second question- do your kids eat the lunch you send?

DD throws hers away if it's healthy. :( We've had this problem for three years straight. If it's a fruit or vegetable or 100% fruit drink she tosses it- won't even bring home the unopened juice box. We wasted so much money on this before one of her friends let it slip. Sandwiches- sometimes she eats them but most the time it's a bite or two before she tosses it. She's a bit of a bully to "friends" and goes through their lunch and eats the things she wants of theirs. :o She wants junk like chips or lunchables, things we WON'T buy for her but "other kids eat them." :rolleyes: There are very few things we send that she "approves" of. Halfway through last year we started getting the school lunch for her but she only eats the main course of it- greay pizza or a burrito- no salad bar or fruit. Occasionally she gets the tomatoes that are supposed to go on the salad. I was at her school a lot last year so I saw firsthand how she eats.

Jennifer,

My kids DO eat their lunches.
I serve them the same stuff they eat at home.
They only have ever had 100% juice and NEVER had soft drinks. (At my house anyway! Heaven knows what they drink at grandma's!)
My son is a bit sick of pb and j, but he knows he has to eat it because that is all he is going to have until 3:00

Trading, not a problem.
Not many children carry a lunchbox to their school, I think just about the whole school qualifies for free lunch and most people use that.

For a thermos, well do not have one right now, but my children bring home their lunch box, cloth napkin, spoons, and cooler pack everyday.
Their school is good about providing a little cubby for each child and making sure everything comes home everyday.
PLUS, my kids have to eat lunch in their classroom, so when they finish eating, the lunch box goes right into their cubby or backpack.
Otherwise, I am sure I would have days when their lunchbox would be left in the lunchroom or playground!
:)

I don't know how old your dd is, but she might like things she could dip.
Fruit kabobs with a yogurt/maple syrup dip.
Lightlty steamed veggies with a dip.
Corn chips (no hydro. oil!) and salsa.
Lunchables are just little bite sized foods, maybe if you sent her a rubbermaid or tupperware container with sections and little bits of different foods ???

Hope

I have a new baby so I have never packed lunch for kids before. But I can tell you what I used to pack myself and sometimes pack for my DH.
How about:
Egg salad (or mock made with tofu)
Sliced hard boiled egg and cheese sandwich
Tuna (either on a sandwich or in a separate container to put on a green salad. I loved it on a hotdog bun.)
Deviled eggs
Peanut butter and honey
PB, honey, and banana or raisins
Lettuce, tomato, and cheese sandwich
Veggie sandwich: like above only add other veggies like peppers, zuke, cuke, sprouts, whatever and drizzle with salad dressing. Hey, subway gets away with it and calls it the veggie delight!
Cereal (get the milk at school or bring in a container with a freezer pack this was my FAVORITE lunch!)
Pasta salad
Make your own lunchables (like someone suggested):
*cut up cheese and meat and put with crackers
*make some tiny pancakes and send with a container of syrup and some pre-cooked bacon (or facon if you are a veggie family)
*send a pita pocket and containers of pizza sauce (spag. sauce or cheap tomato sauce doctored with spices) and shredded cheese
* Those were all modeled after real lunchables.
Leftover pizza (cold)
This was my second favorite lunch but it is not for the faint of heart. Shrimp coctail. I loved the little jars of it you can buy near the meat counter at the grocery store. But they were expensive. So, my mom used to have me make my own. I would put frozen shrimp in a small container and cover it with coctail sauce. By lunch time it was thawed and I loved it. But, my friends started making fun of it so I stuck with the cereal.
Anyway, for the mama that has trouble with the child eating their lunch: what about if she makes the lunch herself? I always had to make my lunch. It was nice. No surprises and no power struggles. I knew what was available in the house and that is what I had to pick from. Just a suggestion.

My dh just read this thread and offered some suggestions from his youth. He suggested that you ask the child if they might like an interesting combination. Perhaps they will. His favorites growing up were sandwiches made of:
butter and
*green onions
*cucumbers
*sorrel
*other veggies from his mom's garden or combinations
flavored cream cheese (can flavor yourself)
graham crackers and pb (honey and raisins are good additions)
PB and sorgum or molasses