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I fix for my husband who is not so good about just the same old same old a various mix pita or lavash, naan with various spreads. Hummus, guac, roasted peppers, tzaziki, feta cheese and pesto. I sometims put thinly sliced meat on them and or cheese. One of his favs is a pasta salad with leftover chicken chunks, feta cheese, fresh spinach, red onion, olives and greek dressing.
This is very good and loaded with good stuff for them.
I also buy a lot of chicken sausage which now comes in a lot of flavors. I grill this night before, slice lengthwise and
I pack this with some kind of spread and a pita/naan/tortilla.
You can keep the rotation fresh by changng up on the bread/spread/meat/veggies.

What about a Mr. Bento with an insulated container for hot foods? Some great ideas for lunch here.

How heartwarming and bitter to see that times have changed. When my sister was little, my mother packed her a small lunch box of grilled short ribs with sticky rice and pickled vegetables. Her teacher took it away and scolded my mother for not making a proper lunch.

Years later, I was forced to suffer the same PB +J and Doritos every day so that I might be spared the same BS.

Now that I'm done bitching, I second the bento idea. It doesn't have to be Asian - a couple of chicken drummettes and some of those leftover potatoes that you had pictured on your blog. Think of any classic comfort meal and scale it down. It sounds very Food Network, but meatloaf baked in muffin tins is one of the my favorite lunches.

When I was a kid, I loved to take cold leftovers of whatever we had for dinner the night before (i.e., sheppard's pie, tuna casserole, spaghetti, mashed potatoes and meat). My mom kept it cold with the classic frozen juice box or ice pack. I still do this today. I also second the hummus idea with veggies and a pita. Today I'm wishing someone else would make my lunch for me!

Absolutely! Gosh, there are so many fun things to fix. We've found that "assembly required" lunches are the most fun for our daughter, such as lettuce wraps, or anything where she can control the ingredients that get added.

Laptop lunchboxes (bento) are super! http://www.laptoplunches.com/

My daughter LOVES to have antipasti for lunch. We pack her up with olives, dried salami, cheese, tomato, and grilled veggies.

A small ear of grilled corn + kabobs of grilled meats are fun. Picnic foods, such as fried chicken are always a winner. Sushi-like sandwiches are great, too.

Pancakes are a neat treat for lunch. And you can't go wrong with pasta salad.

Hope these stir up some inspiration :-)

-Dawn
www.wickedgooddinner.com

We do a bento box for my oldest (she's 6, 1st grade) and she loves it! She usually gets leftovers from last night's dinner: cold pasta, chicken, enchiladas, breaded chicken cutlets, veggie fried rice, broccoli cheese rice casserole, chicken casserole, chicken & wild rice, turkey and cubed yams, cold homemade chicken taquitos and spanish rice, ect. I'll throw in a salad, usually the spinach/carrot combo from a bag, and I'll add in whatever she likes (usually shredded cheese, tomatoes, hardboiled egg and cucumber) and she eats her salads dry so we don't have to worry about dressing. Then she gets some cut-up fruit or a fruit-cup and a little treat (always homemade...cookies, a mini pie, pumpkin or sweet potato empanada, a little brioche roll with chocolate inside, ect). I keep it cold with a frozen water bottle and it works really well.

Come to think of it....my childhood lunches of wonder bread sandwiches and those tiny bags of chips plus a pudding cup seem kind of sad compared to the pains I go to, to make sure she eats well and doesn't get bored with her lunch. lol

I just had another thought as I read through-these were a favourite item when I was a kid. We called them Clown Sandwiches. My mom would give us a slice of bread with peanut butter on it, and then a bunch of "toppings" like cereal, raisins, coconut etc. and we would make clown faces on the PB. This one might be a bit of a pain to pack, but it was so much fun when I was kid. We always loved Clown Sandwiches day!

I use Lock & Lock brand as a "bento box"- I remember it being pretty cheap and sometimes you can find a small 3 box set with a insulated zip up pouch.(about $20) The boxes are great with plastic separator bins that come out so you can divide the compartment in 4ths, 1/2 or just use the whole container- nice options. Seals great too- no leaks. I got mine at an asian grocery store- but I imagine you could find it on line. Also I have been reading the blog "Just Bento"- it has some good tips/ recipes.