Brown Bag Lunch and Kids

School lunches did not work well for my daughter. She wanted to at first but then realized she didnt like the taste . And seriously they do not give the kids enough time to eat etc. I found finger foods to be a good choice.

I just read this suggestion and will try it on my first grader, cut cheese and lunch meat into circles with a clean pill bottle and pack with crackers, sort of a do it yourself lunchable! Remember they dont have a lot of time and like to chat with friends. I stopped sending a cookie or treat because he cried and said he didn't have time to eat it after the sandwich and fruit. another suggestion I want to try is a healthy muffin cut in half with cream cheese. We've been making muffins and cookies to freeze and eat this fall when I'm too busy to bake!

have your daughter practice opening the kinds of packaging that will get sent in her lunch at home first, my daughter was shy and did not know to raise her hand and ask for help, they ate cafeteria style and since she didn't know anyone ( her teacher was on break) she did not eat.

Depending on your school cafeteria, almost any lunch you pack will be healthier than what the lunch room is serving. When I was a kid, I was totally happy with PBJ every day so I guess it depends on what your daughter likes. Other sandwiches can include tuna, chicken salad, and turkey. You can try a salad with grilled chicken or a thermos of hot soup.

My son who was a pb&h (honey) started asking for pepperoni and cheese sandwiches.
I have also bought a thermos , they sell short ones for kids. They also sell these bowl things with a lid and it's got a spork in the lid , found ours at target. Anyway I've been known to heat up and put leftover dinner in them , speghitti , noodles , that kind of thing. I've also put chicken nuggets and rice in them.

There are soooo many options!

My son loves "cheese plates". I use covered plates w/dividers and put in different things each day of cheeses, fruit, a veggie, some sort of summer sausage or deli meat and crackers/bread.

Instead of mayo on sandwhiches, use guacamole, hummus or cream cheese spreads w/herbs.

Instead of plain old sandwhich bread, use pita, bagels, english muffins, tortillas, croissants, dinner rolls, hamburger buns (my kid's fav!).

I go crazy when it comes to my kid's lunches. I have hardly packed the standard sandwhich and chips bag. gl and hth!

Better check their peanut policy. No children at my son's school are allowed to take peanut products due to anaphylaxis in some kids.

My son loves hard boiled eggs, cheese and crackers, fruit, yoghurts and goghurts, cheese and ketchup sandwiches (yuk), ham and chicken sandwiches, muffins and sultanas.

Great ideas here. I just wanted to add -- there recently was coverage on the news about how kids' lunches often are not packed with enough (or any) cold packs to keep the food at a safe temperature until lunchtime. Be sure to get a good, sturdy and definitely insulated lunch box/bag, one that zips firmly closed all the way around, and get plenty of cold packs that you keep in the freezer. Get enough cold packs that you always have at least a couple frozen and ready -- if you have only one or two, you will find one morning that you forgot the day before to put the cold pack back in the freezer and you have nothing to chill the lunch.

Remember, even in the fall in many places it's warm, and a Pb&J and carrots tossed into even an insulated bag with no cold packs will be kind of grossly warm, and possibly too warm to be really safe to eat. You can use a cold pack in the same bag as a Thermos of hot food; just put it on the opposite side of the bag from the Thermos. The Thermos should not be hot on its exterior anyway.

And I figure by "brown bag" you're just using the expression. A brown paper bag can't keep food at safe temperatures and will be thrown out every day so it's not very efficient. Have fun taking her shopping for an insulated lunch box.

I once read that one of the healthiest choices that you can make for your kids is to pack their lunch!

fruit
applesauce
yogurt
nuts
crackers
carrot sticks
cheese cubes

Let her help come up with ideas too. She can peek and see what others are packing that interests her.

Get a thermos and send hot meals too.

We are going to full day kindergarten and have been practicing lunch this week!

PB sandwich
J sandwich
Cheese sandwich
Cold Pizza

*** I use a little round sandwich cutter I got at Pampered Chef.

I got a thermos and may try nuggets, rice.

And then yogurt (we put in different container because my daughter can't open it).

Applesauce (again, different container because my son can't open it)

Grapes
Cheese & Crackers
Raisins

Small treat (my kids are good and know to eat it last and I'm assuming lunch room monitor will instruct the same) .. we will find out :)