Cold Lunches - Need Ideas for 1St Child Starting School

I always freeze Capri Sun pouches. They serve as an "ice pack" to keep meat etc from spoiling. They defrost fairly quick & are like a slushy by the time lunch rolls around. I wrap it in a paper towel to keep it from sweating & that also serves as a napkin.

lunchables, apple sauce, fruit cups, jello, banana, fresh fruit (sliced and peeled), yogurt, veggie sticks: carrots, celery, cucumber slices, trail mix, chips, cheese and crackers, string cheese, cereal bars, chocolate or strawberry milk, fruit juice boxes -- I usually pack a milk or juice box and a "sippy cup" of cold water.

Anything that needs to stay cold: freeze it if you can. It is usually thawed by lunch and keeps the whole lunch cold.

Examples: Grapes, Go-Gurts, Juice pouches

Ask him after the first week of school what he wants in his lunch. By then he probably has seen the other kids' lunches and wants what they have. This will also help you with some variety.

Blessings,

P. <><

Lunchables are good because they come with a drink. I would also send a water bottle that he could keep at his desk so he has something to drink after recess or PE (if the teacher allows it). But you might want to check out the school menu too. I don't know how picky of an eater your son is (I know I was), but as a teacher you'd be surprised at the good food that is offered. I would suggest downloading a school menu from the school website and talking with your son about his options. He might want to eat the chicken nuggets or pizza twice a week from the school cafeteria with milk, and that would save you from packing a lunch. Be sure and read with him "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn before school starts (if you haven't already)...my children loved it! (I'm a reading teacher....)

Trust me, the less he has to keep up with and get back home, the better off both of you will be! Give him something to drink in a throw away container. You do have to think outside the box or it can get boring. Snack crackers (chz or PB) an assortment of nuts, both are good substitutes for a PB&J or meat sandwich. There are lots of individual sized fruits and veggies now available in stores, buy plastic utensils too. It's just easier for them to not have to stand in line to pick up anything or have anything to worry about bringing back home. Hope you get lots or great ideas!

You should get the September's issue of the magazine "Parents". They are giving a few lunch box ideas.

My son takes tons of different lunches to school, but his favorite is still PB&J. We mostly had him take capri suns or juice boxes to school.
IDEAS: Tuna sandwichs, chicken salad sandwich, fried chicken, ham wraps, PB&J wraps w/ apple slices in it, mac N cheese, lunchables, BLT's, cold cut sandwichs, sausage w/ beans & rice, spagetti O's, hot dogs, leftover pizza, & chk nuggets. I am sure there is tons more, but this is all I could think of right now. We experimented a lot last year.

Stuff to help:
if your child likes apple slices w/ lunch, go ahead and put them in a ziploc baggie, but suck the air out with a straw, that way the apples do not get nearly as brown.

If you are sending like a hot dog with a bun, toast the bun real good (so it does not get soggy) and wrap in tin foil, keep it seperate from rest of lunch. Also keep packets of condiments from restaurants, they work real good to just throw in the lunch bag.

If you are concerned that his/her lunch should stay cold, make a ice pack the kids can throw away. Take a few ice cubes and wrap in paper towel then double bag in ziploc bags.

For the most part, everything in my son's lunch he could throw away because he had a hard time remembering. Hope this helps.

I am in the same situation. I was planning on using this website to help...

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food/healthy/ideas-kids-s...

think most take juice packs (or you can even pick up choc milk in a box, my son loves yuhoo.) Pick up some lunchables; most even come with a drink. try grilled cheese sanwich cut into triangular halves or quarters. Ham, bologna or turkey are OK too. Throw in some sort of veggie such as raw broccoli, baby carrots or pickle cut carrots, cauliflower, etc... put in a box or raisins, yogurt covered raisins (my son loves those), applesauce or other small fruit in a plastic bag. include an apple, peeled orange or a banana. no one said a packed lunch had to be boring or pb&j. if your child will eat it, you could even wrap pb&J or meat and slice of cheese in a tortilla and go.

Sometimes you need to think outside the box. Some "hot" foods are portable as well. My boys are really picky eaters so lunchables were about all they would eat. However, I bought some thermoses primarily because they were cute, they had the Campbell's logo, and they have used those things until they are pretty much trashed and I need new ones. My kids like beef flavored ramen noodles with some lemon juice and Trappey's Red Devil Sauce. They would take them to school in the thermos. I don't think they were really "hot" at lunchtime but they were good to go even if their teacher didn't have a microwave.

Something else, although my boys are not sandwich people they will eat the meatball sandwiches from subway so getting a half sub if there is one the child will eat is another option.

We do pbj, deli meats with cheese and crackers, chicken pin wheels, wraps of different sorts, fruit with yogurt dip, veggies with ranch dip, pasta in a thermos. I have lots of different cookie cutters so if I do a sandwich I will cut a fun it in a fun shape so it's a little treat for her. You can buy the cute little character ice packs in the dollar section at Target to keep the food chilled. I've seen kids have hot dogs and mac n cheese, but my daughter won't eat those cold. Good luck!

My kids take a variety of things from homemade lunchables to leftovers. I also microwave some things in the morning and then wrap them in a paper towel and foil to stay warm without getting wet. Some of their favorites are pot pies, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, pizza. They also take 50 cents in their lunchbox to buy a milk at school.

My sons take their lunch also. I try to mix it up. Sometimes they have diced hot dogs, sometimes rolled up ham and cheese with crackers and a variety of sandwiches. One of my sons like Vivienne wienies. I also include carrots, fruit, something small and sweet (such as a cookie, granola bar or fruit roll up). I have an open policy with my kids about them telling me what they do not like in their lunch box. I've seen to many kids at the school, thru most of their lunch away. So always ask them if they like their lunch and what would the change. That way your not waisting money and you know your child is eating.

cheese sticks,grapes, even watermelon slices in the beginiing, if you child likes peas or even if he doesn't try feeding him frozen peas, as we don't care for peas, but we love to eat them cold as there is a diff taste to them, so putting them in container.

one of my gkids doesn't care for samdwhices but she loves deli tray wher I cut up sandwich meat and give her cheese that I quater, with crackers and with fruit and she loves that

hot dog weiners cut up into bite size, another then get cresent rolls and roll them around the weiner and bake them that way, or the same with little saugage and make pig i blanket rolls for lunches, they are good cold too.

hard boil eggs, applesauce and if they like the cinnomon kind then get regular applesauce and add a little bit of cimmon in it.. presto you got cin applesauce that cost much less

pudding,raisins
like many others said before I have done the same.

Best wishes with your little one off to school he goes.
don't forget to take pics.

My 2nd grader takes a mixture. Sometimes I'll pack chicken nuggets, she doesn't care if they're luke-warm, sometimes I'll spoil her and give her a lunchable, but mostly she eats sandwiches. We mix it up though. Sometimes she buys lunch, and sometimes she takes it. This way, she isn't eating the same ol thing all time. And we use juice boxes. It's cheaper than buying at school. You can get a 10 pack of Capri Sun for about $1.70 on sale.

you might try the big kids lunchables, they have a capri sun in the box and cookies or candy.

Sometime I go to the Deli and get Deli meat thick enough that I can cube it. My Daughter like that plus give them some grapes and a bag of chips maybe a sweet snack.

My grandson is fixing to start taking his lunch to his day care. He LOVES ramen noodles. We put the dry noodles in the thermos, add the hot water and by lunch time they are cooked and most of juice is absorbed so they are not messy. They are not "hot" but warm, which is how he likes them. We will also do mac and cheese with weiner slices, chicken strips, sometimes a sandwich, ravioli. A thermos makes it lots easier for a variety. Be sure if he takes a sandwich with lunch meat to put a cool pack in to keep it cool in summer.

My daughter is not a sandwich eater and she takes her lunch to school (middle school now 8th grade).

She usually buys a drink in the cafeteria. Brown bag lunch is assortment of whatever she wants....granola bars, fruit, nuts, carrot sticks and veggies/ranch, something small chocolate. She can't keep anything cold so we work around that aspect of the lunch.

When she was younger and in elementary school where is was cool to have a lunch box, she would take a thermos with chicken noodle soup, noodles w/ marinara, or I would heat something like chicken nuggets and keep them in the thermos. At elem school, she did pack a cold drink.

I know a lot has changed now. I substitute at the elem school by my home and I see a lot of hot lunches in thermos, cold cuts with crackers and cheese, veggies, fruits, and always something "cool" like a fruit roll up or something like that.

Good luck