thinking ahead-school lunches

[Peony]

DD1 will be going to 1st grade this fall at a small private school. My kids have never gone to school before so packing lunches is a foreign concept to me. There is no food served at the school, and thinking of things she will want to eat 5x a week already has me going crazy.


I hear about a lot about bento boxes, what exactly is so special about them? Any one want to walk me though packing lunches, what you pack them in, what do you pack, etc... I'm not a huge lunch food person to begin with, we usually just eat leftovers most days. TIA

[CrunchyMamaToBe]

We've just started sending lunch to nursery school three days a week. We don't 'meal plan' lunches, just send leftovers or a sandwich. We try to ask, "Do you want X[usually a leftover] or a sandwich?" Giving two or three choices is better than asking "What do you want in your lunch?" I think. Especially given than my DS is only 2.5.

A lot of times, DS ends up with a 'bento style' lunch (I couldn't stomach the prices I saw on actual bento boxes for kids!), with little portions of things packed in containers. He has a standard-shaped lunch box that's insulated, and we often put one of those reusable ice packs inside to keep things cold. When the weather was colder, sometimes we put warm food in a small wide-mouth thermos. We don't usually send drinks as water and milk are available at school. We also don't have to send cutlery or anything like that.

This week one day was a sandwich of pumpkin seed butter and jam, a pear cut into slices, a banana (he asked for this specifically when he saw me packing the lunch), and a small yogurt.

Yesterday was an egg salad sandwich on a hamburger roll (I called it a "round egg sandwich and made it because we had one lonely roll int he kitchen and because I had been craving egg salad and made some for myself), yogurt (this time dished out from a larger pot into a small container), bean salad in a small container, and a banana.

Today he had leftover baked trout and rice (in one container than has two internal compartments), strawberries, and water in his favorite drink bottle.

[~*max*~]

How old is your dd? I think her age & personality will dictate a lot of what goes into her lunches. For example, my ds, now age 9, is incredbly routine orientented. He likes to know exactly what is happening & when. He wants the same lunch & snacks every day - PB on wheat, green apple, chocolate soy milk, and a couple snacks. Dd, age 7, like variety & spontanaeity. She doesn't like the same thing two days in a row. She enjoys her favorite leftovers, fresh fruit/fruit cups, "snacky lunches" like crackers & cheese & grapes. I would recommend getting your dd involved (she's much more likely to eat it if she helps choose & pack it) and doing it as much as you can the night before. We pack everything except the sandwhiches the night before. Good luck!

[star792]

my library has a few books for lunch ideas. i like the idea of different pasta salads, different spreads for breads, soups, anything so its not sandwiches everyday. http://www.ichibankanusa.com/bento_box.asp has the most reasonable bento box prices ever! lots of good bento blogs out there for inspiration. http://disposableaardvarksinc.blogspot.com/

[mistymama]

Ds isn't big on leftovers, so our lunch usually consists of:

Sandwich (pb&honey on wheat, wheat bagel with cream cheese, turkey wrap in a spinach tortilla, etc) - sometimes if we have leftover pizza I will send that as well.

Fruit/Veggie (apple, plum, carrots & celery, broccoli)

Yogurt (ds really likes the organic yogurt tubes - kinda like the Gogurts but without all the sugar and crap) - I freeze them overnight, then they melt and are still cold at lunchtime

Crackers/snack - They all eat a snack in the am, so we have to pack for this too (I send whatever crackers we have picked out together that are decently healthy )

I'll often include a little sweet in there too - ds really likes the Back to Nature peanut butter cookies.

I also send him with a large bottle of water each day - the kids are allowed to keep it on their desk and it helps him stay hydrated vs. having to ask to go to the water fountain. I freeze it about 2/3 full overnight, add water to the top and it stays cold all day.