Cold Lunch Ideas

try KraftFoods.com... I have seen in their magazine that they have simple ideas for this sort of thing. Parenting.com may have some ideas as well...

Two of my school children are gluten intolerant so I've had to get somewhat creative with lunches. I do a lot of Thermos stuff - chili, soup, leftovers. Soup is potentially messy, but thick chili or something of that consistency wouldn't be any messier than a pbj sandwich.

cold pasta/ pesto pasta
hard boiled eggs
homemade fruit cocktail
cold pizza
cut out sandwiches with a cookie cutter
veggies with "dipping sauce"- a little container of salad dressing
popcorn

This is a challenge and my son and I came up with some ideas that are not creative at all. Leftover pizza is room temp. by the time they eat. Also, I let my son pick out a thermos and I would make some of his favorite canned foods or even leftovers from supper if he really liked them. Make sure you put REALLY hot water in the thermos before you put the food in. Let the water sit for a few minutes, drain, dry, then add food. He really liked this even in fifth grade. He said the food stayed quite warm.
Good luck.

Pasta salads. Shrimp w/cocktail sauce. Make "kabobs" with deli meat and cubed fruit and cheese put on toothpicks.

Make pinwheel sandwiches: Mix cream cheese, shredded cheese, diced meat, and diced olives. Spread the mixture on a tortilla. Roll up the tortilla, wrap in saran wrap, and refrigerate overnight. Slice the tortilla in the morning.

Hearty crackers or a cut up pita with hummus or bean dip.

Family Fun is a great resource for ideas for kids. Here is a link to their back-to-school lunches and snacks: http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/family/specialfeature/bac...
You can also go to the website and do a search for lunches. So fun!

get a thermos...they sell at target, toys r us etc. it really expands what you can send for lunch: hot dogs, soup, mac and cheese, spagehtti, hotdish etc. you put hot water in the thermos for a few minutes and then put the hot food in. it should stay hot/warm for lunch. I have a 1st grader and send hot lunch about 1-2 times per week. She loves it!!

Sometimes PB&J gets boring (or whatever sandwich is your specialty) so I change it up by adding hummus, lettuce, sprouts, cheese or even tuna or cold salmon. Even a change in bread can be nice. I've always enjoyed those sourdough hard rolls you can buy in the bakery section. You could even make your own bread at home. ;)

I also make a trail mix out of whatever I have on hand: granola, raisins, choc. chips, almonds, walnuts, etc. "Ants on a log" is also a good one: peanut butter on celery sticks topped with raisins.
When I was little my mom made peanut butter balls. You just roll dry milk (I think) into peanut butter and shape into balls. You can top them with coconut if you like.

If you're packing yogurt anyway, why not find some bulk granola at the grocery store and then put some of that in a reusable container? Then when your child opens the yogurt, it can be poured bit by bit into the granola container.

Hey E.,
Good way to save on money is sending a home lunch to school with your child - good for you!

Some things that I used to pack in my children's lunches were, cold chicken cooked the night before for dinner with a thermal container of warmed macaroni & cheese in it. It stays warm enough to eat but not hot enough to burn your child when opened at lunch time. Then add a granola bar or something like that for the "dessert" part of the lunch.

My kids also loved a slice of cold pizza (wrapped in tin foil) from the night before and I would add a insulated container of cottage cheese with cut-up pineapple in it. These 2 meals (chicken & pizza) were also their favorite lunches to take to school.

Good luck,
D.

Put peanut butter on crackers and top with a slice of banana.

Make your normal sandwich but use a cookie cutter and cut a cute shape.

Make homemade Lunchables.

-thermos with soup
-pasta salad
-fruit/cheese/meat mini skewers
-sesame noodles
-carrot muffins

Also, check out this website. Annabel Karmel writes cookbooks for kid's food and she has free recipes on her site. She also has a book just about school lunches:http://www.annabelkarmel.com/
and http://www.annabelkarmel.com/bookshop/lunchboxes-us

You can get a hot food thermos at walmart for like $15. Kind of spendy but not so bad when you think of eatting sandwiches every single day. I get spagetti-o's, mac n cheese, ramean noodles, soup, and even cereal cuz he get's amilk at school. I also do fruit cups, jello, and pudding. My son had sandwiches everyday for 2 week's so he love's his thermos.

I send casseroles loaded with healthy things in my son's thermos inside his lunch box with a plastic spoon. Add a juice box and a pudding cup for dessert and presto- a balanced, hot "cold" lunch. Our favorite started as "stuffed pepper stuff". Essentially, instead of stuffing the peppers, we cut the peppers up and add it to the mix of rice, cream of mushroom soup and ground beef. I add a little velveeta cheese to make it stickier and less messy to eat and he LOVES it. Eventually we took this formula and added diced carrots or whatever other veggie we happen to have in the house. If you get a good thermos and fill it with piping hot water for 5 minutes then empty it before filling it with food, the contents stay plenty warm through lunch time. We still do the proverbial pb&j too, but he really looks forward to thermos days!

HI

I do not know if this will help, but my mother found a soup thermos and would send hot thing with me. That was 20 years ago, so I am not sure how to find such a thing. I loved having soup and other hot things at lunch.

My son is younger than yours and his favorite is chef salad. Try it at home first, but my boy eats it rather neatly. I wish I could think of some more things. Cold pizza (sure you've thought of that)

My daughter has been into pinwheel tortilla roll ups. Take a tortilla and spread either mayo or cream cheese on it. Use a few slices lunch meat. A sprinking of lettuce(pre packaged), and cheese. Wrap the tortilla starting at one end and cut into little pinwheels. There are a variety of different flavored tortillas and spreads you can add.