Kids and lunches

[AmbitiousSaver]

This past year I've been putting away $40/mo for my oldest to eat lunch at school. Well it occured to me that next school year my 6 (soon to be 7 y/o) will be eating lunch at school too... so maybe instead of spending $1.75 each a day for them to eat lunch at school - that $80 a month or so (give or take) would be better if they brought lunch to school.

But I'm also worried they'll get tired of PB&J everyday too.

What is a good way to account for their lunches next year without them getting bored of sandwiches everyday but not spending $80/mo either? Being that I have four kids, when they are all in school it'd be almost $160/mo for them to eat lunch at school.

[plumpossum]

You could get a well insulated thermos for each kid and pack things like soup, macaroni and cheese, casseroles, rice dishes, spaghetti, or scrambled eggs in them. You can freeze a juice box or cup of yogurt/pudding and put it in an insulated lunchbox to keep perishables cold (like lunchmeat or string cheese).

Personally I'm a big fan of the laptop lunchbox (www.laptoplunches.com), but if a kid cannot refrigerate or heat things up, it may not be an everyday option.

My kid's just shy of three, but the plan (and we'll see how well this works out...) is to let him pick out one lunch a week to eat at school when the monthly menu comes out. The rest of the week would be packed lunches.

Parents Magazine and Cookie Magazine both have really good ideas for lunches, you may be able to find more ideas from either of them online or skimming the magazines for free at the library.

[creditcardfree]

My girls take their lunch to school everyday in an insulated bag with a ice pack. One daughter even brings her own milk! Just her preference.

They have to take a protein, a fruit or a vegetable, milk. They also choose between chip like items and brownie bars/or fruit snacks.

Protein has been plain turkey meat, pepperoni, cheese sticks, cheddar cheese slices with crackers, of course, peanut butter. Cold pizza or chicken works also...my kids just don't like it.

Fruit/veggies...grapes, apples (one likes them cut up), carrots, sugar snap peas, raisins, bananas, applesauce, raw broccoli.

Cracker/Chips...includes popcorn, pretzel sticks, occassionally, cheerios or other plain cereal.

They've taken chips and salsa, bagels and cream cheese or peanut butter, too.

We have a lazy susan cupboard where we keep all of our lunch supplies. I buy large bags of chips and package them into lunch size servings in plastic bags. I do the same with the snack items when possible. We also use plastic containers for carrots, applesauce, salsa. We have reuseable bottles for milk.

I think my kids have only had "hot lunch" 6 times in their lives. My oldest DD will be in 6th grade next year.

When packing lunches to save money it is important not to buy all the prepackaged convenience type foods.

[PrincessPerky]

I think cutting back rather than cold turkey is prolly a good idea..start with one packed a week now, add another in a month or two and eventually you will have them down to none..though I would prolly allow them to use their own money occasionally.

Ditto the don't buy a billion pre packaged lunch foods, they are not any cheaper (and often not healthier)

Add one day a week of baking together, to make a treat to take, will up the fun factor of packing for a kid.

Some fruit stores wonderfully, some doesn't. grapes are instantly good, apples some kids wont eat unless cut (soak in lemon juice to keep from browning if you cut them the night before)

Bananas 'bruise' very easily, so I avoid packing them in a kid carried lunch.

Tortilla shells and buns or healthy-ish crackers make what really is just a sandwich a lot more fun.

[sounderella]

I was always a fan of the fluffer-nutter sammiches. (PB and marshmallow cream). I agree with Princess about easing it back. Also, if they really like the school lunches, maybe you could buy lunch for rewards or special occasions or just plainly save school lunch for when you don't have time to make the lunches.

[momof1in150]

My son has a wide mouth thermos that we use quite a bit. You can put leftover mac and cheese, chili, soups, taco meat (with fixings in the lunch) or hot dogs. I put boiling water in it for 10 minutes to heat the thermos and heat the food extra hot. It stays warm for 4-5 hours.

[MelC]

Not sure what your financial situation is, but some (all?) offer free or reduced lunches if you are under a certain income. Where I work, this also includes free breakfast.

I was foolishy thinking all year that my DD buying her lunch everyday was cheaper than packing. Lunches here $1.10. Breakfast is only $0.60 but it is not very healthy so I never eat breakfast here.

Also, little did I know- the booger was buying dessert every day for 60 cents extra!! They serve HUGE desserts at an extra cost. So its unhealthy and expensive. Its also not fair to the kids who cant afford it. So now she packs everyday because she lost her trust! I was wondering why she was using up her lunch money so fast.

[Secret Stash]

I'm not exactly a kid, but I will be taking my breakfast and lunch to classes this summer. I'll be in classes from 8am to 8pm with about a 1.5-2 hour break. I will taking yogurt with granola for breakfast. Then for lunch I've created a little plan. Mostly snadwiches and salads... I plan on using sunday as my day to organize and plan the lunch for the week.

maybe you can include your children in the planning on sundays so that they have an input and don't get bored with the options.

[feh]

We let our son look at the upcoming menu and choose 2 lunches per week he'd like to have. The other 3 days of the week, he takes a packed lunch.

[AmbitiousSaver]

Originally Posted by MelC

Not sure what your financial situation is, but some (all?) offer free or reduced lunches if you are under a certain income. Where I work, this also includes free breakfast.

I was foolishy thinking all year that my DD buying her lunch everyday was cheaper than packing. Lunches here $1.10. Breakfast is only $0.60 but it is not very healthy so I never eat breakfast here.

Also, little did I know- the booger was buying dessert every day for 60 cents extra!! They serve HUGE desserts at an extra cost. So its unhealthy and expensive. Its also not fair to the kids who cant afford it. So now she packs everyday because she lost her trust! I was wondering why she was using up her lunch money so fast.

The free/reduced lunches aren't really an option for us... we make too much. I just don't think we do cause I forget we put money in savings automatically.

My DD did something similar and would buy snacks when I wasn't aware. She's only 7 but I lectured her about that and told her if she bought "extras" it needs to come out of her piggy bank. (The schools here have an online system where you can monitor what your child purchases but it does charge a surcharge to do that like $1.20 to put $40 on your child's account... $0.60 for $20, etc)

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone.

[gackle]

Our daughter goes to a private school and the company they contract lunch out to charges $3.75. Needless to say we refuse to be raked over the coals like that. I she wants to buy lunch at school she needs to pay for it on her own. She's 7 years old. We'll cook chicken nuggets and fish sticks at home. The only trick is to let them cool before putting them in a ziploc bag so they don't get soggy.

[mom-from-missouri]

ice packs get lost. I fill a reusable container with their drink 1/2 way, and freeze it. then top it off the next morning. it keeps the lunch cold.

[pretty cheap jewelry]

This is a tough one!
My kids eat better with the school because they have salad bar every day! Way more veggies than they would eat from a brown bag.

Notwithstanding, more ideas:

MUFFINS-more fun than a sandwich, just as nutritious. Try to make batches ahead of time and freeze:
-banana/nut/whole wheat
-cheese/corn
-zucchini/whole wheat

I agree with Secret Stash - Get them to pack or help pack it themselves!

Have a box or area in the pantry for 'lunch items'
pretzels
fruit cups (pre packaged, yes)
protein bars (these are the best invention for lunches in decades)
graham crackers (great with peanut butter)
drink boxes

Have an area for reusable containers and baggies.

Good Luck!
And if you work, show them by example!

[stressedmama]

You might also make your own yogurt smoothies ( you can load them up with fresh fruit that's in season) and send them in a small lunch box thermos.

Other healthy cheap snack food that no one has mentioned yet might include popcorn and trail mix.

Instead of a sandwich on bread, make a sandwich or fruit/veggie kabob. Just get a wooden skewer and slide on cheese chunks, pepperoni slices or various meats, fruits, etc.

[rupeeman]

You could get a well insulated thermos for each kid and pack things like soup, macaroni and cheese, casseroles, rice dishes, spaghetti, or scrambled eggs in them. You can freeze a juice box or cup of yogurt/pudding and put it in an insulated lunchbox to keep perishables cold (like lunchmeat or string cheese).

Personally I'm a big fan of the laptop lunchbox (www.laptoplunches.com), but if a kid cannot refrigerate or heat things up, it may not be an everyday option.

Yea agreed with you because my daughter is crazy about macaroni and cheese and the idea of laptop lunch is great...

[zakity]

Another idea is savory muffins. You make up muffin batter without the sugar (or reduce the sugar). You add in some spices that will compliment your meat fillings (or not if you don't want to). You fill the cups up halfway, spoon in a bit of meat (leftover dabs work great!) in the center, and add another spoonful of batter to cover up the meat. Bake like normal. They freeze well and they are easy to grab and pop into a lunch.

You might need to test them out at home to see how many you need to toss in their lunches to fill them up.