Cold Lunch Suggestions

My sister heats up her kids' lunches and then wraps them in tinfoil. Such as frozen corn dogs or taquitos.

My picky eater, who is 7 years old, takes things like plain bagels, cut up red bell peppers, applesauce, blueberry muffins, slices of cheese (not cubes!), peanuts, bread and butter, and ramen noodles in a thermos. If you put the noodles in a good thermos when they are hot off the stove they stay warm until lunch. If she likes cooked fresh veggies you could probably send them in a thermos and they should stay warm. We got a thermos that holds about 10 ounces and it's shaped like a bowl with a screw off lid and it has a small spoon that fits into the lid.

My son won't even eat the jelly. When I pack his lunch, I send peanut butter, cheetos, applesauce and a cookie. Or any of the single serving fruit cups work for us. Pudding or jello cups are good variations too. There are some chips out there that are actually a serving size of veggies too that my son likes. When I was a kid- I had a cheese sandwich every day. plain and simple. I know our school gives them a snack in the afternoon as well- as does the after school program.

Hi R.
My daughter is insanely picky...We do cold lunch...I use the thermos ALOT...we have several, and spaghettios thermos bowls! My daughter loves PB&J, but also likes PB with honey, PB with cinnamon, and we mix it up now and then with almond butter or cashew butter. She loves apple slices soaked in lemon juice (I originally did this because she would not eat them if they turned brown, but now she eats an apple a day). We sent a yogurt everyday, and she likes mozzarella cheese sticks. She will also eat salad. SO we make salad, and I send ranch packets with her. She won't eat chicken, pork, or beef, but loves Tuna....will eat it right out of the packet....go figure

Hope this helps some....
Good luck
S.

I have 3 boys that take cold lunch. They have the whole kitchen to pick food from for their lunches. 2 of them go to a school where they have to take cold stuff or hot stuff in a thermos. They have to make what they take. The 3rd boy goes to a school in which there is a microwave available to students! He will make a dish on the stove at home, and just reheat it at lunch. They have everything to pick from, not me picking out certain things and them choosing from that. They are responsible for making their lunch, which goes hand in hand with responsibility. The boys' ages are 14,12,&10

What about things like string cheese or the cheese cubes or gogurts, ( the on the go yogurt ) or danimals drinkable yogurt, umm fruit snacks, granola bars, Have you thought about trying other ways to make sandwiches like using the little bagels or when i was in school they used graham crackers to make a pbj instead of bread.. umm or cut up the fruit she likes and get the good yogurt fruit dip to go with that so she can dip. Also get a lunch menu from school and go through it with her and see if there are days that she might want to eat at school and the days she doesnt want to pack her lunch.. Maybe ask her what she would like to be packed in her lunch just make sure she knows that it has to be healthy.

With my son he only liek pb&J and a few other things to go with it utnil I let him pack his lunch. I gave him a few optins for hime to pick form that I knew were good for him. He loved being a big guy adn packign his own lunch. Eventually he did grow out of it becasue he was sick of eatign pb&j everyday! Try to get her more involved in what she takes to school for lunch.

Long ago when I was in grade school, I took the same thing every day (by choice). My daughter is the same way. Kids don't really seem to mind and many times prefer to take the same thing day in & day out(I would be bored).

That being said, have you looked into geting a food thermos (no microwave needed except to heat the food in the morning)? They fit into a regular size lunchbox. My daughter has taken her lunch for the past several years. With the thermos she can take her cooked veggies as well as other foods like Spaghettios, ravioli, soup, or any kind of leftovers that she likes that need to be heated. I would recomend getting plastic silverware unless you're not very attached to the silverware you own.

I also have picky eaters. My oldest usually eats hot lunch, but when she takes cold lunch it's always peanut butter (god forbid there be jelly on it). I found some kid-friendly recipes on Kraft foods web site.

http://kraftfoods.com/kf/YourKids/LunchboxSolutions/

I let her pick out something she might like and gave it a try. So far it seems to be working. Good luck!!!

I read what you said about your daughter being picky. My suggestion would be to try one of those lunchables. maybe try the small cracker one first and pack an apple and something to drink. she might like that. then you can try moving on to the larger lunchables later. change the type of food in the lunchable each day that will give her experience with other foods. maybe after a week of that try a regular packed lunch.

Truthfully I wouldn't cater to them, I would pack a well balanced lunch, of course try to add at least one thing you now she likes and the rest balanced nutrition, If they choose not to eat it then that is thier choice, when they come home hungry give one small snack and then they have to wait for dinner, you packed them a lunch, there is no reason to be hungry.

One thing a friend I know did with her VERY picky eater is shewent to school w/ him for a week, she would buy herself and her son a lunch and she would eat it with him, pointing out how yummy it was and that he should try it, after a few days he was trying stuff out and found stuff he likes, there are still some days that she has to pack because he reall doesn't like it, but know he is a little more open, that might be something that could work. Don't reall have many other suggestions.

Would she eat a roll-up? My kids love turkey and cheese roll ups made from tortillas. Then I will pack a small thermos of salsa and cheese to dip it in. I'll pack with fruit,they get milk at school and I feel that is a healthy lunch.

I know it is hard to come up with different ideas. At my house my 4th grader is the picky one:(

GL:)

PB&J is actually pretty balanced nutrition, as long as it's on whole wheat bread. I was a REALLY picky eater as a child as well, so I thought I'd tell you what my Mom packed. Egg-salad sandwiches (just egg, mustard and mayo), soup in a thermos, yogurt, beans with tortillas, and everything baked was homemade. I hope that helps. My two-year old is picky as well, only eats pasta or pizza. No meat, no veggies, no fruit. Sigh. GOOD LUCK!

My daughter has never liked sandwiches, but I do not like the choices for school lunch. (They serve breadsticks stuffed with cheese and call that a healthy lunch because the cheese is "protein.") I spent the money on a good thermos and she will eat soup, rice, spaghettios or leftovers that I have heated up in the morning. She says that it is still warm at lunch time. We have also warmed up chicken nuggets and piled them in the thermos. SHe usually adds a cheese stick, yogurt and a piece of fruit and we call it good! If your kids like cereal, you could send some in a bag with milk in the thermos and they could eat that. Just pour it in the cap of the thermos. Just some thoughts! Good luck.

my son tkes cold lunch most days and only wants pb&j. that's what he gets. at least then i know he is getting something in his tummy for the day!!! i say if that all she'll eat let her eat it!!

As odd as this may sound, my boys actually like to take cooked carrots to school and eat them cold. They rarely eat them raw, but for some reason cold cooked carrots are good. I also make their sandwiches on pita bread. They really like that. I just bought (or you could make) a trail mix of some sort...peanuts, raisens, m&m's, sunflower seeds etc. I will sometimes make them 'lunchables' with ring bologna cut up, crackers, and chunk cheese. They think that is fun. Fortunately, the lunch gals will warm up food from home, so I able to send leftovers, chicken nuggets, pizza etc and it gets warmed up. When packed with other healthy things, it is 10x better than the school hot lunches at our school. I am always looking for suggestions too cuz my boys don't really care for pb&j's :(