School starts for 2 of my 3 children tomorrow (the 3rd starts pre-school next week) and school lunches are something that we have been talking about in our house quite a bit the past week. Then I saw this post at Musings of A Housewife and thought it would make a great topic of conversation for Moms Need To Know.
Here's our problem:
Last year, my younger son was in Kindergarten which is only a half-day program. I paid $25 at the beginning of the year to cover his milk at snacktime and that was the only expense I had for him each day (aside from giving him cookies, a banana or some pretzels to enjoy with his milk). He was home for lunch each day and we would have PB&J, grilled cheese, macaroni & cheese, etc.
My older son, on the other hand, is one of the pickiest eaters known to man. He does have some Sensory issues and tends to be very rigid. Bottom line? The kid had PB&J and a banana and either a juice box or chocolate milk 3 days a week last year. The other 2 days, I let him buy his lunch (and he would only get pizza).
The problem? Now with 2 children in school full-day, our budget won't allow 4 purchased lunches per week. We could probably swing it, but I don't really want to anyway (especially when we are talking about spending $2.50/lunch for what is basically a slice of Ellios and a milk...neither one of them will want "side dishes".)
I also don't want to load them up with chemicals and processed foods. Let's face it, I could probably score tons of Lunchables for next to nothing, but that isn't really what I want my kids to be eating. And while the lunches at their school does seem to be better than what I remember when I was going to school, it still isn't what I want them to be eating every day.
And so my solution:
Dinners will now be made for 7, not for 5. I do have a few thermoses (thermii?)designed to keep meals warm that I can pack in their lunchboxes. I will make enough extra for 2 more portions and hold any leftover pasta & meatballs, ham, chicken parm, etc for a day, reheat it in the morning and hope that it stays warm through lunch.
We can start having more "lunch for dinner" in the hopes of introducing my children to new foods. When I say that I can't even get my children to eat a tuna fish or ham & cheese sandwich, I'm not exaggerating. If I were to send these items to school with them, there is a chance that they would just throw it away. Operation "Get My Kids Eating Normal Foods" starts this weekend.
Of course, they will still get PB&J in their lunchbox, just not every day.
They will each be allowed to buy lunch at school once every 2 weeks (or more often if I get lazy or am running late)
Do you have any other suggestions? How do you handle the expenses of school lunch? Are you making any changes to how many lunches you are letting your children buy this year?
Make sure that you check out Jo-Lynne's post about school lunches...she has some great advice (especially if your children eat "normal food") and a few other bloggers have left links to their own posts on the same topic!
Musings of a Housewife
Normal food, lol. I am thankful mine like pb&j. They could live on it, and that makes live easy for me. My daughter (the one who didn't care so much for pb&j) has discovered a taste for peanut butter and honey. Score!
I have started making my own bread (I know, I'm a nut) and they like their sandwiches even more now. And I've figured out it's cheaper to make my own bread than to buy the good bread without HFCS and junk.
Celia
Well, there is no reason they have to have a sandwich. They could have yogurt and whole wheat crackers. Or an apple and peanut butter and some cheese. Or a smoothie. Or cereal. If they are open to it, you can send cold fritatta. Maybe introduce one at breakfast or dinner. They could have fruit salad and cottage cheese. As long as there is a fruit, and some protein and calcium you will be fine.
Diane
Because of peanut allergies, we are not allowed to have any peanut butter in school lunches even in the ones we pack from home. Ugh! That severely limits the options. I try to make a hearty breakfast so that my kids start the day out with a full stomach even if the rest of the day, they are grazing. The other problem is not having enough time at lunch to even eat a balanced meal.
Keli
ugh i have this issue too! today i sent a lunchable with him and it had a butterfinger candy bar in it... it got sent home with a note. 🙁 my son would eat pb&j for all 3 meals if i let him.
Diane
I've gotten in trouble too for contraband items. It's so frustrating because I use to pack a handful of nuts to get some protein into the meal. On top of that, all baked goods sent in for parties and birthdays have to be store bought. Huh! For a frugal mom like me, I would prefer to bake my own cupcakes but that is not allowed!
GINA
I knew this would be a problem eventually for me, my son (my oldest) starts preschool next week and I have been collecting magazine suggestions for a few years. So here it goes...
they have the tiny dipping sauce "tupaware" in the dollar store
=pb&J but on a whole wheat bagel, cherry tomatoes with lf caesar dressing dip, pineapple chunks, and mini oatmeal cookies
= bean salad, melon wedges, tortilla chips and salsa and some cheese cubes.
=leftover cold veggie pizza, cucumbers and hummus, popcorn and grapes
= whole wheat pita pockets with grilled chicken strips and veggies, low fat yogurt with real strawberries to mix in, sugar snap peas and some animal crackers.
= tuna sandwich cut with a fish shaped cookie cutter (fun=eat?), baby carrots with ranch dip, small plum, some goldfish crackers.
=Ham turkey, and cheese rolled up together, sliced and skewered with a pretzel stick?, mandarin oranges shelled edamame and a fat free pudding
=hard boiled egg sliced and 2 mini whole grin waffles , bell pepper strips, sliced kiwi mixed with blackberries, and a corn muffin.
=string cheese and whole wheat crackers, broccoli and cauliflower florets with raspberry dressing for dipping, blueberries and banana bread slice.
=a salad with dressing on the side, bow tie pasta salad with veggies mixed in, watermelon cubed, and two fig newtons.
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Okay now for some 100 calorie or less snack pack - think snack size zipper bag here
1 small orange 2/3 C cocoa puffs? 15 baby carrots 3 tab raisins 6 reduced fat triscuts
1 cup watermelon 13 Animal crackers 3/4 ounce cheddar 2 twizzlers 1 C celery slices
7/8 C cheerios 2/3 C mini marshmallows 12 soy crisps 1cheese stick and 5 slices ham
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Some random lunches recipes
Pinwheels
Spread sandwich wrap or flour tortilla with horseradish sauce. top with lettuce, then roast beef and swiss. roll up tightly and cut at half inch intervals lay pinwheels flat in plastic container.
waldorf salad pita
Combine 2 C chopped cooked chicken, 3/4 C chopped unpeeled apples, 1/4 C chopped celery, 1/2C chopped walnuts, 1/2 C miracle whip, 1 tsp plain yogurt, 1 tsp lemon juice, and 1/8 salt make pockets from whole wheat pita line with lettuce and stuff with filling. This keeps for 2 days in the fridge.
Waffle sandwich
Lightly toast 2 waffles them. spread 2 tbsp peanut butter, and 1 tbsp honey. cover with slices of apple and close up the sandwich.
Mini Pizza
mini whole wheat bagels, spread with sauce cover with shredded mozzarella, stick under the broiler or toaster oven until cheese melted. once cool wrap them in foil
Veggie wrap
spread chive cream cheese on sandwich wrap or flour tortilla and cover with shredded carrot, sliced cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes and sprinkle with sunflower seeds. Roll cut in half and wrap up.
twirly whirly pizza
heat oven to 400 unroll a refrigerated pizza dough spread with 1/2 sauce, sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella, and top with 1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves. roll up starting at a short end. Cut into eight pieces and lay on a greased pie plate bake for 22-25 min, until brown. and when cool wrap them up.
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This one is a lunch mix and match I hope you could follow it ...
its meant to choose one from each of the 3 categories
Main Veggie or fruit Crunchy Ending
Turkey sandwich Carrots and celery Teddy Grahams
Minestrone Soup Edamame Baked veggie sticks
Ham and cheese wrap up Craisins Soy nuts
chicken drumettes orange dry multigrain cereal
Cheese and salsa in pita berries wheat thins
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here are some large mouth thermos ideas
Rice and beans
Pizza cut to fit
chicken nuggets
bacon and eggs
leftover chinese food
chili with tortilla chip scoops
mini ravioli with butter and grated parmesan
pasta rings with peas and corn and butter
grilled cheese on whole wheat cut in fourths
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And finally a different take on pb&J
veggie cream cheese and cucumber
tuna salad and sliced tomato
almond butter with slivered almonds and dried cranberries
hummus and chopped peppers
apple butter and fresh apple slices
whipped cream cheese and fresh blueberries
laughing cow light spreadable cheese with ham and grated carrot
blueberry cream cheese and strawberry slices
reduced sugar jam and cream cheese
Hope you like it I cannot take credit since it is a few different magazine ideas but, maybe it will get the creative juices flowing -- don't forget if you hide spinach in a brownie you can feel better letting them eat it!!!
DianeScraps
My kids are great eaters, they like everything, but I refuse to let them eat school lunches all the time, they serve too much junk. (though I do have to admit that this years menu does look a little bit better).
We do lots of different things for their lunches
Wraps
Salad
Pasta Salad
Fresh cut fruit
hard boiled eggs
Cheese and crackers
apples and peanut butter
soup in thermos
I keep some of the Capri Sun Roaring waters in the freezer, they help keep their lunch colder too
I've heard that some schools have microwaves available for the kids to use, unfortunately neither of my kids have that option.
GINA
correction on my previous post the
mix and match did not turn out as I wrote it
so if you can try to follow it by the categories
Main/ veggie or fruit/ crunchy ending
and then follow the three things beneath but know that your supposed to choose one from each
"column"
Deb H.
Mindi, I howled when I read your post. I was (and still am convinced) that MY son was/is the pickiest eater known to man! He's now 15 and I've decided that he is going to have to deal with his own choices. I am actually hoping that peer pressure works in my favor and the guys at lunch, on the football team or in the youth group will "prod" him into at least eating pizza or a hot dog! Suggestions? I don't really have any 🙁 I have sat my two teens down and we've discussed it and they've made their choices and pack their lunches. I only buy fruit cups or applesauce for "pre-packaged" items. I did homeschool them for awhile and I LOVED not packing lunches 🙂
Rebecca
When I make homemade pizza, I make lots of extras--wrap individual servings in foil and freeze them all in a large ziploc. They are so easy to just pull out of the freezer and throw in a lunch box. They thaw by lunch time and my daughter and husband both like it for lunch.
quesadillas
mini bagels with cream cheese
Deanna
I make up hearty soups and chilis and freeze in thermos portion sizes...heat up in the morning and they stay warm enough 'til lunch time.
or
Switch breakfast and lunch: Make quesadillas (or other lunch item) for breakfast and send a container of dry cereal. Purchased milk and added fruit makes this into a real treat. I wouldn't recommend this as a frequent lunch, but kids love it as an infrequent treat.