OcalaMom.com

Do you pack your kid's lunch or do they buy?
What are some of the foods you usually end up packing for his or her lunch?
Has anyone tried the Laptop Lunchboxes yet? Some of those meals in them look really artsy!

I pack Christopher's lunches about 95% of the time. He is not a fan of school lunches. I have to agree with him as I work for the school system too. Most of it is pre-packaged and full of perservatives. About the only thing Christopher will eat is the spaghetti (pretty good) and pizza (and it can only be a certain type - there are others they'll serve that he won't touch).

Christopher is not a sandwhich eater at all. So I have to rely on ravioli, spaghetti, beanie weenies, chicken nuggets, meatloaf, pizza, mac-n-cheese, chicken and rice casserole or any other leftover from the night before (everything homemade so I can control what goes in it). I warm whatever I'm sending in the microwave for a couple of minutes and then put it in a thermos. It won't be right out of the oven hot by lunch, but it'll still be warm. I'll add a thermos of milk (love those new metal thermos containes - they do keep milk cold), a snack like a granola bar, applesauce, or pretzels, and that's it. They only get about 25 minutes for lunch; the good thing about packing his lunch is that he doesn't waste half his lunch time in line waiting to buy lunch.

It is so nice to hear there are other picky eaters out there. My son will start Kdg soon (as soon as this storm leaves the area). He has never eaten sandwiches. He loves deli ham but likes it rolled up. I've tried flattening bread with a rolling pin, flat bread from the store, tortillas, etc. He just likes the meat and no cheese. I guess I shouldn't complain since the bread isn't the healthiest part. But it does make it hard to plan packing lunch for school. He will eat peanut butter on crackers but never any jelly. I've tried heating nuggets or hot dogs up and putting them in a thermos but daycare told me they didn't stay warm. I'm hoping the other kids at the table will peer pressure him into eating some other things.

You could try things like veggies and dip, yogurt cups and a fruit muffin, cheese, ham, and crackers (kind of like those luncheables, but they're loaded with sodium and perservatives so I make them homemade with cookie cutters), apple slices and peanut butter, cold pasta salad, fruit cups...just some ideas.

When I microwave Christopher's lunches, I do it for 2 minutes in the micro in a micro-safe bowl(at which point, its as hot as lava) and put it in the thermos. Its not steaming hot when he eats it, but it is at least cooked through. I'll throw in ketchup or bar-b-que packets that we save from when we do fast food for things like chicken nuggets or meatloaf.

Just some ideas - hope they help!

I have 2 to pack lunches for and I guess I am lucky, because neither are that picky. This week it will be whatever sandwhich they want, gogurt, cheese sticks, chips/crackers/pretzels,
and koolaid jammers. If it wasn't for the short lunch time they would probably buy more often. It costs me almost the same to pack their lunch as it does to let them buy it. But atleast I am picking what they are taking...my 14 y/o would eat pizza everyday if I let hime buy.

I also pack lunch for my kids everyday,my sons loves Salsolito Turkey sammies,its a bit spicy, just a bit of mayo,pretzels,gatorade,and a piece of fruit,his lunch period is at 1:00 this year which i think is real late,so i make sure he gets up earlier to have some breakfast,on the other hand my daughter goes to private school and they have all fast food vendors,no cafeteria at all, i am totally against that,trying to get them to change it, so i pack for her also,most of the time the same, or P&J sammies or salads.