Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Oh, man, I thought I had blocked out my Gatorade Gum cravings!

We had the same set up at my elementary school- bring your own, then a parent brought in a "hot lunch" once a month. We went to a one room school (I'm only in my mid 30's, so this was not the turn of the century or anything). You may want to check if he will have access to refrigeration or if there is a microwave available for re-heating. We had neither, but no one ever seemed to fall ill from sandwiches with mayo or anything.

When we had our monthly "hot lunch" it seems like spaghetti or chili with rice krispy treats or jello squares for dessert were our favorites.

I just remember preferring food that was quick to eat and not fussy so I could get out for recess.

rice balls are also easy to eat and it's fun to make smiley faces and animals and stuff.
you just have to have thick skin on your hands though, because you have to make them when rice is steaming hot... my mom is so good at it and her rice balls are almost indestructible.

it's already come up but pinwheels/roll-ups with thinly sliced bread or flour tortilla are cute and easy to eat too.
make it colorful- having red, yellow and green always brightens up a kids' packed lunch :-)

about the allergies...(here we go again)
I highly doubt that peanut allergen is airborne especially when you are just eating peanut butter. According to a Johns Hopkins doctors' paper published in 2004, during and after having peanut butter, shelled peanuts, and unshelled peanuts, there were no peanut allergen detected in the air and contaminated surfaces were easily decontaminated using regular wipes and hand-washing.

I do understand peanut-free days/sections for baseball games, because those peanut debris fly. My friend has a peanut allergy and he was a bit scared by peanut debris falling from people sitting above at one game.

What about children with milk allergies, gluten allergies, mold allergies, bees.... Not everyone can protect your child. I don't think it is at all fair for anyone to impose their restrictions on everyone else.

If your kid has a life threatening allergy then you need to teach your kid to handle it.
If that means they have to sit alone at the nut free table so be it. That is the reality of it. The vigiliante nut parent thing is bunk. Sorry but it is. Your child has the issue you have to spend the time educating them for life.

What happens when they are not in school and they run across peanuts at a ballgame or at a neighbor's house, at the local steakhouse where people are throwing peanut shells all over the floor? You going to go running to the little league and say oh please no peanuts at the games please, call the waitress and demand the nuts be removed from the premises, no you are not. It is your restriction it is not everyone's restriction. Deal with it.
You teach your kid how to live their lives and keep your kid healthy.

I need to chime in about the allergies.
Peanut butter being an airborne protein (You know how sometimes you can TASTE something it smells so good, or bad?) And a sticky mess which is a nightmare for those with contact allergies, if your school has opted to go peanut free it's worth doing.
Kids with life threatening allergies can (and do) die from exposure. And nuts are the most likely allergen to cause dramatic reactions. Parents with epi-pen carrying kids hold their breath every time the phone rings when they're at school because they KNOW what news it can bring, but we can't keep them in a bubble.
And in a school setting, kids don't have enough authority to protect themselves. By packing a nut free lunch when requested, you really ARE saving a life.

Take a hint from the working Moms, and refuse to bring in lunch or treats for the whole class under any circumstances. Too many food safety issues surround more than just a single lunch for your grandson. You probably just don't want that liability any more than the "working Moms" do.

I'm surprised the school even asks it of you.

It's pop. Done. Unless it's a brand name.

@cybercita--that made me laugh out loud!

Soda. The stuff I don't drink.

Coke is only for Coca Cola and Cocaine.

...um it's soda.

I live in california. Have lived here nearly all my life, and have always refered to it as coke no matter what I am drinking. I live in Riverside, CA but have also lived in San Diego, CA growing up and we called it the same in both places. Not sure who calls it soda sounds strange. But my cousins come down from Virginia and they call it Pop. Thought they were talking about those little pop rock candies the first time they asked for a pop. lol.

Another great one is Williams-Sonoma Baking.

Definitely "Baking From My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan