What to Put into My Preschoolers Lunchbox???

when my son bores of P&J sandwiches, i make him avocado sandwich - plain bread and ripe avocado (no too ripe) - he LOVEs its.

For those recommending hummus (which is super yummy!), please be sure to tell your kids that hummus is also bad for those with peanut allergies. Kids that react to peanuts will react to the sesame seed paste in hummus (the ingredient is called tahini, and it's sesame seed paste). So be sure to tell your kids not to share hummus with anyone.

Here are some ideas:
Cubes of cheese and diced lunch meat and crackers, so they can build their own "lunchables"

Almond butter or hazelnut butter (instead of PB) and jelly/jam

Black beans & rice or a mini burrito (I used to like a "burrito" made with rice, mild salsa & cheese as a quick lunch, but the salsa might make it sort of soggy...)

Cup of soup in thermos with 1/2 sandwich of toasted cheese

For snacks, we liked fruit rollups and those apple sauce cups (you can get no-sugar added from Musselmans or Motts, and they both have other flavors like peach & mango). Sliced apples or carrot sticks or clementines or prunes or dried apricots.

Crackers, cheese and pepperoni? Veggies and ranch dip? Yogurt tube and fruit? String cheese? Pita w/turkey and lettuce, bacon, etc.? My 2nd grader is WAY into wraps right now. Apple butter?

Our kids love yogurts - they come in small containers so that's an easy one. Also, yogurt raisins, graham crackers, small apple sauce and fruit cups, wheat thins and other small crackers with whole grains, sunflower butter is GREAT, and cut up ham, chicken, turkey and cheese for crackers (just like what you can get in the "lunchables").

I find my kids don't eat much at school. They are too busy socializing. So try not to stress. Make sure they get good breakfasts and dinners and HYDRATE!

My friend got a thermos at target that you could microwave food in. She would make something that you would want "hot" either the night or am before (leftovers is a good possibilitiy). Put the food in the thermos and microwave. she tested it a few times with different things and most things were still warm (eatable warm) 4/5 hours later. One of her kids fun favorite occasional ideas was cereal (they buy milk at school). I know food at school is nasty and unhealthy BUT if you look at a school menu (most are avaiable online) you may get ideas. Think of how to assemble it with better food. Have fun!

try nuetella as a sub for peanut butter. try soup when its cold, crackers, granola bars, 100 calorie snack packs, goldfish. maybe set out drawings of his options and ask what he wants for lunch the next day. he would have to pick one picture out of each pile - sandwhich, fruit, veggie, drink.

www.laptoplunches.com

Hopefully some of the pictures in here will inspired you! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=194597&id=24806... Our son's school is also peanut free, so I send him with sunflower butter all the time. You can find it at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. It's delicious and a perfect replacement for peanut butter!

My son likes HotDogs... we have one of those small thermos's that I pour hot water in for about 10 minutes and get nice and hot, than I put in whatever is on the menu... lol.. I will put ketchup in a lil container and a fork and he dips his hotdog.. he will also take a couple sticks of fake crab and soy sauce to dip, the chicken won tons from Trader Joes... yes my son eats weird for a 4 year... ohhh he also likes to take California rolls with soy sauce.. a stick of cheddar cheese. we make our own lunchables, with lunch meat, cheese and crackers. Good luck, its alot of work but worth it!

They have school safe soy butter! My kids love it! my kids also like to make thier own lunchables so I send crackers, ham or turky and cheese that they can put together. I will also send leftovers from dinner the night before, so chicken and rice, or dirty rice... just whatever. :)

My kids love hummus with their veggies and tzatziki... which is greek yogurt, a little lemon juice, and cucumber

http://greekfood.about.com/od/dipsspreadspures1/r/Tzatzik...

We also make out own pita chips instead of regular chips.

Is nutella okay to bring to school? It's a different type of nut butter... hazelnut and coco. It's delicious!! Also, there's almond butter.

Check out weelicious.com and the related facebook page where she posts a daily photo of her preschooler's lunch. I've made many of the recipes and they're almost all easy and delicious.

Have you tried sunbutter? It's made from sunflower seeds, is completely peanut-free and gluten-free and it tastes really good. My son eats it all the time. I prefer it to peanut butter actually for my family. He probably wouldn't even know the difference at school. It may be hard to find, not sure where you live but Henry's grocery store carries it and possibly Whole Foods.

It sounds like you have a pretty good variety already. You could add cheese cubes, raisins and maybe some kind of low sugar oat bar. There are organic toddler bars that are pretty low in sugar (7g) I think.

Good luck
A.

Are all the nut "butters" prohibited? If not, good alternatives are almond or cashew butters. I used to freeze the juice drink boxes to act as a cooler for the lunch box, that way you can keep yogurts, cheeses, etc. cold until lunchtime and the juice is unthawed enough to drink (and the kids aren't losing the 'blue ice').

Hi H.,

I agree with the mom who suggested sunflower seed butter. We used that in our family because of peanut allergies. It tastes great, and now that my son has outgrown his peanut allergy, he still prefers the sunflower seed butter.

One caution I might add: if you are going to send this or other PB substitute in the school lunch, be sure to inform the teachers beforehand so they don't freak out and think it's peanut butter! It's hard to tell the difference visually.

Try allrecipes.com
Make spring rolls, fill with anything;shredded carrots, shrimp, then have a dipping sauce on the side. Recipes online.
CousCous, so simple, again put shredded carrots, cucumber, chickpeas, Avocado,raisins -you pick and so healthy.
Curry Chicken Salad, one of my favorites : > I use the whole chicken already cooked from Cost Co shred that and place in the freezer. Pull out what you need whenever : > For this dish it's a diced cucumber, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, couple shredded carrots, raisins (I have made this without carrots and raisins and it's still wonderful!) As you mix, chicken thaws. Sauce is 1/2 c mayo, 1T curry powder, 1/8t cayenne pepper,1/2t smoked paprika, salt and pep to taste. Serve as a wrap, with pita chips, or in an avocado cup cubed.
Fruit Crepes-pre make crepes and freeze. I use these for brunches too. Crepe, vanilla yogurt, layer assorted fresh fruit; banana, strawberries, blueberries. Roll into a burrito shape when done.