What's in your kid's lunch bag?
Since the back-to-school season is in full swing, we're seeing a lot of ads for various lunch-box products, some of which are a little dubious in nutritional value. However, on the flip-side of that, a kid's got to have something trade-worthy. So what goes into your kid's lunch? What do they want to go into their lunch?
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21 Comments:
My fifteen year old always takes his lunch--hates waiting in line and likes what I make better anyways. He's in cross country right now and so he'll be asking for two sandwiches instead of one during the season. Generally he has milk, turkey and mayo on italian bread, whole grain crackers, an apple or a dried fruit bar and trail mix. He just asked me to add some cheddar rice cakes into the cycle. A couple of times a week he usually takes some chips of some sort. Last year's favorite was Pringles Buffalo wing chips. Oh, he also loved it when I stuck Buffalo wing cheese curds in his lunch--they were pretty spicy and it was one of those triple dog dare things to eat with his friends around the lunch table.
My 11 year old loves peppers when he takes his lunch. However, he's hot lunch loving kid and often buys unless I pack a thermos of Italian Wedding soup.
dhorst at 7:18PM on 08/25/09
My kids are allowed to use a microwave during lunches so leftovers are a big part. Oldest dd usually takes a wrap or sandwich with a yogurt and some fruit. She drinks water at school. Younger dd likes pasta and my little guy gets chicken, macaroni and cheese or pasta. He takes a frozen Stonyfield yogurt stick most days as well. Fresh fruit or applesauce and a thermos with milk round it out.
FeedingFive at 9:13PM on 08/25/09
Meth, cigarettes, booze, Cool Ranch Doritos
sailordave at 9:26PM on 08/25/09
Today, my DS (also 15) took vegetable pot stickers with soy and black vinegar dipping sauce, Horizon organic milk, and mango, lychees, and honeydew melon. Tomorrow he's packing coconut rice and Vietnamese style summer rolls filled with shrimp, mango, arugula, cucumber, yellow pepper and cilantro with a spicy chili dipping sauce.
The Buffalo wing cheese curds sound like something he would like. We're always looking for ideas and recipes, so I'll be interested to see other responses.
Spicy at 9:45PM on 08/25/09
@sailordave: that made me laugh quite loudly!!!
emilytaylor at 10:34PM on 08/25/09
@emily--me too. But would Cheeto's be acceptable, also?
beth1 at 11:13PM on 08/25/09
@ sailordave - are "special brownies" for special occasions okay? :)
listener at 11:56PM on 08/25/09
It's the Cool Ranch that makes it especially hilarious.
I don't have kids, but I remember being the weird kid who brought "strange" food for lunch. A couple of my favorites were my mom's delicious stuffed artichokes, and surimi sticks. I was in elementary school in the early-mid 80s, so you can imagine how well Krab went over in the Milwaukee 'burbs.
BangieB at 1:05AM on 08/26/09
*sigh*
My 15-year old has a high functioning autism spectrum disorder, so while we encourage him, he rarely thinks ahead to planning his meals and more often than not eats the school lunch. He also has sensory issues, which tend to make him picky.
However, when he does pack a lunch, he loves to generate looks from those around him by packing a steaming "hot dog" in a bun. I say hot dog in quotation marks because that can range anywhere from a Bests Kosher dog to a carrot dog.
What he does is warms a tall thermos by filling it with boiling water and capping it while he heats is hot dog. When the hot dog is ready, he puts it into a bun and wraps it in foil. Then he opens the thermos, pours out the water, and slides the hot dog inside, resealing the thermos tightly. The older glass-lined style thermoses work best for this.
He's been bringing this lunch since elementary school, and always gets stares when he unwraps the steaming hot dog.
Gator Pam at 9:55AM on 08/26/09
@pam, that sounds pretty awesome!
Wow. your kids are lucky. When I brought my own lunch to school, I was required to pack it by myself. Then again, it was usually sandwiches, some fruit and a drink. Nothing special.
Special lunches involved a thermos of soup or perhaps our version of non-raw "sushi rolls".
By the time I got to high school, I had so much going on that i gave up on packing my own lunch regularly.
engmcmuffin at 10:50AM on 08/26/09
My kids generally take a roasted chicken or turkey sammie on whole wheat (DS w/crust; DD "crusts off, please!"), Dole mandarin oranges for DD, grapes for DS, sliced cucumbers, a few chips in a baggie, and a granola bar. My DD just informed me that she'd like to begin bringing hot food in a thermos-bowl. Has anybody seen these? Apparently they are bowl shaped thermos type things that keep foods warm. She wants to bring spaghetti. :o)
juliebugsmama at 1:21PM on 08/26/09
juliebugsmama, Amazon sells the "Aladdin Micro 12-ounce lunch bowl" which is indeed a bowl-shaped thermos with a handle on it. (http://bit.ly/tsd5o)
Or a 16-oz widemouth thermos might work.
gentlyferal at 2:57PM on 08/26/09
I'm one of those horrible parents that feeds my child junk for school lunch. If I packed half the stuff on here, the kid would starve. 8 year old wants pb&j, lays, grapes, and if she's lucky, some sort of little debbie monstrosity. I tried getting her to eat the food at school, but then she just comes home starving because all she "ate" was milk.
jcrisco at 5:09PM on 08/26/09
my kids enjoyed boiled eggs, cheese stick and crackers, and fuit juice until one of the classmates made fun of the smell now she will never bring it again.
marykayrnc at 10:05PM on 08/26/09
A dietician had an article in my paper today discouraging lunch meat in kids lunch boxes. The nitrates or something.
marykayrnc at 10:07PM on 08/26/09
I just saw an interesting concept... pb slices. I also saw where someone remarked whats next jelly slices?? When you think about it, what about a pb slice with a fruit rollup on top between 2 slices of bread! Hey sandwich concepts can be worse...Pineapple and mayo sandwich...sardines and onion..etc. Gross!!!
marykayrnc at 10:13PM on 08/26/09
Lately, I have been packing Bento style lunches for my daughter. She loves it, all of the different little packages of foods she enjoys.
The sandwich thing never really took off with her, but now and then she'll ask for one.
Another thing that she has been enjoying are the sunkist create your own tuna salad packages, comes with tuna, mayo, relish, crackers, a spoon and a mint.
With the Bento style lunches, I have been asked by numerous of her classmates parents about them and what sorts of things have worked well. It's amazing what a little creativity and about 15-20 minutes will come up with. When I send her with this style lunch, I try to get most of it done the night before so the morning is more relaxed.
Alan
aholsber at 10:10AM on 08/27/09
@aholsber
Alan, what sort of foods do you put in her lunch? My fifth-grade son now wants to bring a lunch instead of buying lunch at school, and I'm leery of the typical sandwich-and-a-bag-of-chips style lunch. I also want him more involved in picking and packing, which he is eager (ish) to do.
He likes some Japanese foods, so Bento-style appeals.
MarvinDog at 11:30AM on 08/27/09
When I was in high school my mom always packed me a turkey sandwich with honey mustard. Sometimes it would be chicken salad or tuna salad if I was in the mood. The fun part was the bread because she would switch it up. Sometimes Portuguese rolls, sometimes grainy bread, potato bread, etc. I'd also take along fruit or veggies, a small bag of Smart food popcorn, sometimes a couple of cookies, and granola bars. When I had the cross country and track seasons, I'd have to take some extra food with me to eat before practice. Usually a Power Bar or energy bar - kids think that stuff is fun to eat because it makes you feel like a pro athlete but the nutrition is not bad either.
laurelie at 11:50AM on 08/27/09
Here are some great tips and recipes for packing your child's lunch: Back to School Recipes
Chew on That at 3:47PM on 08/27/09
I grew up with the worst bagged lunches ever (unsalted PB with no jelly on 50-grain bread, unpeeled carrots, etc) so I take extra care that the lunches are yummy AND healthy. However, without any heating facilities available in elementary school, and a thermos unlikely to survive a week, there are limitations. I tend toward a lot of fruit and sliced veggies, cheese sticks, sandwiches of tuna, cheese, or turkey. DD hates PB. I would like some good suggestions for non-sandwich items that don't need any heat.
buttonwillowsix at 1:28PM on 08/31/09