School lunches used to be something I dreaded to even think about. My child wasn’t eating what I packed, even when he said that was exactly what he wanted to eat. So I polled friends and family and then sat down my kids and talked about options. What I discovered is that my children love the concept that Lunchables uses with the four food quadrants. A friend shared an awesome container that takes this concept and allows us to pack what we (mom and kids) want!
Check out the 4 compartment container here.
Our children like to mix it up for lunches throughout the week so I like to have options ready and planned out before the school week starts. A key part of the packing process is that my children pack their own lunch. I may have items cut up and easily able to grab. This helped with what they would actually eat and expect. I was frustrated that one day they were happy with a turkey sandwich and the next day they hate it, so now they pack their own lunch and we are both happy. By giving them options to pick from, it makes this mom’s life a little easier.
Here are some of our favorite lunch ideas for kids:
Option 1:
- Turkey and Cheese Roll-Up: Take a tortilla, spread a thin layer of cream cheese on it, add turkey and cheese. Sometimes we add lettuce. Layer the ingredients and tightly roll the tortilla into a log. Cut the log in to five or six slices to make little pinwheels.
- Grapes
- Carrots (can add ranch dip too)
Option 2:
- Mini Sub Rolls: Take Kings Hawaiian Rolls and add your child’s favorite ingredients. This can include peanut butter and jelly to ham and cheese. This adds some fun to the traditional sandwich is a win for our kids
- Apples
- Chips
Option 3:
- Turkey/Ham and Cheese Kabobs: We often omit the kabob sticks and just go with the ingredients. Meat and cheese!
- Crackers
- Pickles
- Orange Slices
Option 4:
- Hummus
- Pita Chips
- Cucumbers
- String Cheese
- Fruit Leather
Option 5:
- Rolled up meat or slices
- Cheese slices or cubes
- Pretzels
- Applesauce
Our kids like to adjust the fruits, vegetables, snacks and sides. We let them pick from the following, depending on what we have on hand.
Fruits & Veggie Options:
- Apples
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Grapes
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Banana
- Watermelon
- Oranges
- Applesauce
- Fruit Leather
- Raisins
Sides & Snack Options:
- Crackers
- Pretzels
- String Cheese
- Chips
- Granola Bars
- Trail Mix
- Yogurt
- Popcorn
- Cookies
- Nuts
