Childs Lunches

My kids love meat & cheese wraps, Pretzel sticks, carrots & ranch dip. celery & peanut buuter, Whole grain crachers (wheat thins)with sliced chunked cheese, The tomato basil wheat thins are my kids favorite flavor.

It's the sodium nitrite that is linked to Leukemia. I have become a big label reader. Oscar Mayer and Hormel have some lunchmeats and hot dogs that doesn't contain sodium nitrite. That's what I have been buying for my kids.

Grilled Cheese
Ham & Cheese "pinwheels" (using a whole wheat wrap)
Turkey & Cheese
Pasta salad is a big favorite in our house
Veggies with dip
Cheese with sliced fruit and crackers
Veggie & Cheese quesadillas (sliced with a little container of salsa for dipping)
Meatball "parm" with pasta sauce and cheese

Really... anything he likes that tastes good cold or room temp will work! Some kids don't like sandwiches, so try pastas and other things too.

Hi mom-

I have several small plastic containers that fit in an insulated lunch pack with an ice pack. I generally give my daughter 'leftovers' from dinner...and some yogurt...and slice of bread...and container of milk.

Best Luck!
michele/cat

Grilled cheese on whole grain bread
Peanut/almond butter and jelly
Yogurt (plain) with chopped fresh fruit
Leftover whole grain pasta
Hummus with veggies for dipping

We only do sandwiches maybe one day a week. The rest of the week it's basically 1 bean, dairy or grain item, 1-2 veggies and 1-2 fruits (for a total of 4 things). Things we include

Hummus, almonds, babaganouj, yougurt, edamame, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, steamed asparagus, green beans, cheese, chick peas, corn, black beans with brown rice, apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, melon, pineapple, clementines, brown rice cakes.

As far as lunch meats go - they are generally loaded with sodium and fat - we stay away for processed foods like this.

Pasta salad or cheese and crackers. Good luck!!

Grilled cheese, turkey, ham, bologna. My son was a chicken nugget man. I thought he would sprout feathers at one point! Mac & Cheese is always a good one too.

I got both of my kids a 'FUNtainers' by Thermos hot/cold food jar from toys r us, target, etc. They were only (if i remember correctly) around 5 or 6 dollars. They had the highest rating for keeping foods hot/cold the longest. You can put ALL kinds of things in there, spaghetti, meatballs, ravioli, soup, leftover chinese noodles, and yes even a baked potato! Whatever you have leftover from last night's dinner!

I went to lunch with my 1st grader one day and the girl sitting across from us was not eating her sandwich. I asked her why she wasn't eating and she said she doesn't like the bread! I frequently make ham/cheese 'rollups' for my daughter and she loves them. I asked her if I can 'fix' her sandwich for her and she let me take the meat & cheese out and roll it up for her. She proceeded to eat her lunch! I told this girl to let her mommy know not to bother with the bread and just make 'rollups' for her. And as a side note, the other kids were jealous that my son was eating a hot lunch (leftover lasagna that day) and they were not!

You don't always have to include a sandwich or main thing. I've frequently put in my son's lunch (who hates all meat except meatballs) a buffet of food, like cottage cheese, olives, bluberries, mandarin oranges, carrots and ranch dip, cheese stick, etc. He comes home with nothing left. Even if they don't like cottage cheese (i'm lucky my kids do!) they will get the protein they need with cheese and milk.

Are you talking cold lunches to school? If he likes sandwiches, try different meats (roast beef, turkey, ham..add cheese and veggies if he will eat them)..and try different breads too...things with more whole grain, try pita breads and wraps! Also, little hot dog and hamburger buns can make it fun (hot dog buns can make it like a mini-sub sandwich for them..just the right size! My dyacare kids love their PB&J on them and I introduced that idea to my school age niece and nephew last summer and its their favorite way to eat a sandwich now! LOL)

Pasta salads are fun and easy, as someone else mentioned and you can add shredded veggies in there (again, if you can get him to eat those).

You can make your own finger food "lunchable" type foods too. String cheese or cubes/chunks of colby marble cheese has protein and good dairy source. Add some cheese its or fishy crackers, or better yet a whole grain cracker type, a few options for fruits/veggies (3/4 cup each is a serving).

My daughter is 16 now and has always always brought a lunch. Now she is lucky to be able to have access to a microwave if she needs it, but up until now, it was always cold lunches.

I hadn't heard anything about salami and leukemia - I try not to buy into the media hype. guess i'll have to do some research on my own!! Although my boys aren't big bologna or salami eaters.

PB&Js are good - have you tried them on a tortilla? my boys like that! I make some of their sandwiches on tortillas - ham and cheese, PB&J, turkey and cheese.

My boys like egg salad sandwiches as well. There have been a few times that I have wrapped their egg salad in lettuce and then in the tortilla and they LOVE that!!

Celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins are another thing they like in their lunch.

My boys are like their dad and like cold pizza for lunch too! When their friends from school come over - SOMETIMES they comment on the "cool" things i put in their lunches!!

You already have a lot of good suggestions but I wanted to let you know that it is the nitrates/nitrites you want to avoid. They can be in ham, hot hogs, and other luncheon meats. I actually heard that they can increase your risk of brain tumors as well.

Plus salami is so loaded with a fat I would find a healthier alternative for that reason.

I second the stainless food jars. They can give you a wider range of hot food choices.

I have not heard of the leukemia link but I know there are a whole host of reasons that processed foods are not so good for you. It is probably good that he doesn't like lunchables - the shelf life on those is kind of scary. My kids beg for them often but we have resolved to only having them once in a blue moon. I will put together a homemade lunchable for them sometimes with cheese, meat and crackers and they like that. Have you ever read the Eat This Not That book For Kids? The library probably has it if your are interested. It gave me some healthy ideas for lunches (as well as what to encourage kids to eat off kids' menus at restaurants). This year I bought some insulated food jars from Walmart for about $5. I think the brand is Aladdin. Their only downfall is that they have to be hand washed. But I can heat up a bowl of spaghetti o's in the morning and pour it in there and it will still be nice and warm by lunch for the kids. My husband has taken them for his lunch and he was surprised at how hot it kept his food. I have also used them to send milk in for the kids. My 6yo likes it when I spread a bit of cream cheese on turkey and make roll-ups. If you use low fat cream cheese that is not too bad for them either. But, I will be honest here, I have pretty much given up on sending veggies to school. I felt like I was just throwing money away because they just weren't getting eaten well. I concentrate on getting them to eat their veggies at home. (I do buy that V8 fruit and veggie juice for them to drink at school sometimes because they will drink that.)

Well, my second grader has declared he is "NEVER" taking a sandwich for lunch again. He likes a chicken wrap, or a (disgusting) Lunchable (which I limit to 1 maybe 2 per week).
I often use a Thermos for him to take meatballs, mac & cheese, ravioli, etc.
He (strange I know) also likes hummus spread on a tortilla & rolled, cheese & crackers, string cheese, other roll ups.....
What about cold meat loaf sandwiches, or sliced turkey breast or cold chicken?

I always use www.weelicious.com for my son's lunches!! She has all kinds of sandwich and other lunch recipes. If you join her site on facebook, she takes pictures of her kids lunches with the links to the recipes.

http://www.facebook.com/weelicious

definately invest in a thermos...opens to all types of possibilities: hotdish, mac and cheese, soup, hot dogs, fish sticks, stew, waffles and sausage, scrambled eggs....i also send hard boiled eggs, meat and chesse with crackers (instead of a sandwhich)...

if you do prefer salami, they have brands like applegate, which have no dyes or nitrates.. however, for other ideas, how about roll ups on falafel style bread.. you can buy it just about anywhere, you can use tuna in them and add other veggies if your child will eat them. my son prefers of all things, cabbage with his tuna.. also, you can do turkey and cheese... use lite mayo or even a vinaigrette in them.. Additionally, nothing wrong with yummy leftovers.. a meatloaf or grilled chicken sandwich is always tasty.... And don't forget, depending upon your child's age, you really don't always have to do a sandwich. in fact, my son prefers I change it up.. therefore, we do pasta, risotto, grilled chicken and veggies..

best of luck

How about chicken salad, tuna salad or egg salad? As long as you have a cold pack they should be fine. Yogurt and fruit is a healthy option. Peanut butter and banana is yummy. As a treat on occasion, my kids really like peanut butter and marshmallow fluff :)

I watched something a while back about lunchables. They were on the top 10 worst thing to eat ever. Good thing he doesnt like them :)

Cold pizza
Chicken Breast