Frugal Food and Cooking

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

sunshinetreva — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:27:36 GMT

I decided to bump this thread b/c school has either just started or is about to start in the next couple of weeks for most of us on the board. That means it's time to shake the dust off the tried and true packed lunches as well as come up with some new ideas! I'm excited b/c I've not heard anything about peanuts being banned from DD's school (public school this year vs. church-run preschool last 3 years). I made up a chart so that if I'm not feeling well, DH can put DD's lunch together for me. I have to plan like this b/c I can't predict if/when I'll get sick and with DH's brain injury he wouldn't know where to start in making DD's lunch! It's a big help to us both.

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Main Dish

Peanut Butter & Jelly

(pouch or sandwich)

Peanut Butter

(pouch or sandwich)

Bagel & Cream Cheese

Bologna & Cheese sandwich

Cheese & Crackers

Fruit

oranges

pears

peaches

banana

Other seasonal

Veggie

carrots

tomatoes

cucumbers

Other seasonal

Tomato juice (doubles as drink)

Treat

Granola bar

Fruit snacks

Muffin / mini muffins

Graham crackers (2 whole)

Cookies (2)

Side (up to 2 a day; good for snack)

Pretzels

Chips

goldfish

Yogurt

Drinks (send 2)

Pouch

½ fruit juice with ½ water

Tomato juice (doubles as veggie)

My other big thing is to pre-pack what I can for the week. Last year I took Sunday nights and laid out a bunch of reusable containers and would fill them with the various veggies or fruits or sliced cheese or crackers/goldfish or dressing that DD was going to take for lunch or snack. This saved me a lot of time in the mornings.

Basically my daughter gets 1 main item, 1 fruit, 1 veggie & sometimes dressing, 1 treat, 1-2 sides and 2 drinks. 1 side and 1 drink are used for snack. If I notice food coming home a lot, I'll cut back on how much I'm sending. If she comes home 2 or 3 days complaining of starving, I up the food, usually starting with extra protein at lunch.

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

eyrehead — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:33:40 GMT

Let's see, I have a picky eater to pack for, and then a kid who would eat almost anything! lol And luckily, there are no children in our elementary school with known food/peanut allergies. For Sarah, I usually pack a plain peanut butter sandwich, but sometimes I'll sprinkle on some mini chocolate chips. I pack carrots for her (about the only raw veggie she'll eat, other than bell peppers), a fruit or fruit cup of some kind, a drink (I buy/stock up on Capri Sun waters & freeze them to use as a cold pack), cheese sticks, chips/pretzels, a mini candy bar or cookies. I try to give her at least 6-8 things to munch on each day. Usually what isn't eaten at lunch, she'll eat as a snack at home or on the bus. Other things I pack are turkey roll ups, bologna slices, ham slices or dices, pudding &/or yogurt cups, fruit snacks, crackers, sandwich pepperoni, and milk. For Andy, almost any type of sandwich will do. He'll sometimes take a small soup thermos with soup, chili or mac n cheese in it. He gets a drink, a veggie and/or fruit, chips, and a treat.

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

casandra — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:28:47 GMT

i like the rollup sandwiches either on bread or on a tortilla. we put in lunchmeat and cheese or pb and j. you can also just do lunchmeat and cheese rollups

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

bluesong — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:30:29 GMT

There are 103 recipes for meat-free (vegan) for packed lunches for children and adults. They are all very healthy.

Check out this website: http://veganlunchbox.com/

There is also a basic recipe for a "Adventist style" vegan dinner loaf that can be made. I will post it in the recipe section.

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

MarthaMFI — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:54:41 GMT

A friend of mine told me (son in gr 9 now) that in grade 6/7 he wasn't allowed to eat peanut butter before school because some kid may lick a kid with allergies. I thought that was nuts. I understand allergies but to restrict what someone eats in their house goes to far. washing hands and brushing teeth should be done anyways.

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

babs — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:49:13 GMT

Peanut alergies are so hard. Beans friend is allergic to peanuts and many other things. She went to visit her sister and had a bad asthma attack. Someone had heated peanut sauce in the microwave. She heated up a cup of tea and the lingering " " made her sick. She has nearly died many times from her allergies.

DGD school has banned peanut butter. They came home with a long list. If kids eat it before school, they must wash hands, brush teeth. I think that if it were my kids, I would homeschool. As a mom I would be terrified to let the child out of the house. Not healthy , I know but Wow, big responsibility to put on the school Babs

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

Striving1 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:37:37 GMT

Thanks so much for the ideas. I printed this out and have a hand out when my brain is in the off position for creativity. THANKS!

At our school, the individual may bring in peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. However the cafeteria does serve sunflower butter and jelly. It's really good. We get the roasted with honey, yum!

DS is nine and entering the fourth grade. We purchased lunches for him, for the last four years, (Kindergarten, all day through 3rd grade.) However, now that he's maturing, we would like for him to be able to make different decisions. He has trouble making choices. He believes choices are good and bad and that there isn't any middle ground. So we're allowing him to make different choices so that he has practice.

The orthodontist wanted to break his jaw, last year. He has really bad underbite, so the ortho work is to help pull the upper jaw out. However, it's not really working after six months. He's going to go through another three months. If it doesn't work then his jaw will be broken in two places and wired shut for at least two months, possibly three. So we're really hoping that this work!

Again I am indebted to your insights and wonderful menu suggestions.

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

latenightleader — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:18:10 GMT

No nuts or peanut butter at the kids' classical education charter school- I think during information sessions it came up enough they decided to fill that niche. Now they have lots of kids with peanut allergies there. The issue is not so much peanuts, it is the absolute exclusion of all snacks made in factories that also process nuts. There is a list of about 18 snacks that you can buy to share for a birthday or for the everyday lunch box, most snacks are made in factories that also process nuts. It took me a while to start checking. For birthdays you can't bring anything homemade in this state.

Now there are several children there with severe peanut allergies, life-threatening. I was opposed at first because it is a big source of my vegetarian kids' protien, but now see it is nice that the kids with the allergies have a school to go to, and not worry about it. I thought there could be a peanut free table at lunch, like there are in many schools. One thing is my daughter was eating peanut butter toast for breakfast, one of her teachers said not to even do that, because they worried about peanut oil on her hands or clothes! That seemed too extreme, she does wash her hands after breakfast. I guess these allergies are so bad that if she had a little peanut butter on her sleeve, and it got on a ball at gym or a tabletop, and the child in question touched it, they would go into shock.

Now I am used to it. It has been nice not to worry about for the summer, though!

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

MarthaMFI — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:29:36 GMT

Re-tired, the reason that kids can't bring peanut butter is because there is too many peanut butter and nut allergys now. With preschool it is just too hard to track a bunch of little kids to make sure their faces and hands are clean after peanut butter etc. plus little kids with allergys will still eat stuff that they can't.

In elementary school it depends on the policy of the school. Some have just a classroom banning peanut butter if there is a kid in that particular class.

Here the problem with prepacked applie slices is the chemicals used to keep them fresh. We tried the apple slices from macdonalds but they tasted funny.

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

re-tired — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:06:31 GMT

In the produce section at Kroger there are little packages of apple slices. They have Micky Mouse on them so they are fun for kids. I used to buy them for myself. It's almost a whole apple. They are more expensive than an apple but already sliced and they don't "turn" brown. My niece loves them (so do I).

I'm curious--why can kids NOT take peanut butter to school?

re-tired

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

karenteacher — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:45:15 GMT

If you have any cold cut type meats around, you can slice them or cut them with a cookie cutter, add crackers and mayo or mustard, and he'll have a "lunchables" type meal for much less money (and probably a lot healthier, too).

Does he eat vegetables at all? I've been experimenting with the dehydrator my neighbor gave me - if you can get vegies dry enough they get crispy, like chips, and taste pretty good - and the thinner you cut them the better they dry. Or, of course, if he likes any vegies, just chop them up and send them with him raw.

I agree with all of those who said get a good quality thermos - that will open up a lot more possibilities of what he can bring.

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

MarthaMFI — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:14:46 GMT

you are lucky sunshine. no fruit snacks, cookies etc at ds preschool. no nuts or peanut butter also. must be healthy snacks. string cheese and yogurt tubes are ok. lucky it is just twice a week. he won't eat tomatoes etc.

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

sunshinetreva — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:53:35 GMT

I have to pack a snack with drink 5 days a week and a lunch with drink 2 days a week. Snack is usually fresh fruit, fruit cup, or yogurt and a drink pouch (I get those 10 calorie ones and stockpile when the price is under $2 for a 10-pack). B/c she's eating this 90 minutes after getting to school, I don't worry too much about keeping the yogurt cool. It would have to blazing hot for it to go bad.

Lunch this year may be a challenge b/c I don't want her to be bored, but I think they are banning all peanut products or foods made in a plant that processes peanuts. But it's only 2 days a week.... Common lunches will be bologna and cheese done with my small cookie cutters (makes 5-6 mini-sandwiches and so much more appealing), cheese and ritz crackers, or string cheese with ritz crackers. I will add fresh fruit or a fruit cup; maybe a vegetable like grape tomatoes, baby carrots, or cukes with dressing; and something fun. Her something fun changes often, but her favorites include goldfish crackers (not too often if there's already a cracker item in there), homemade banana chocolate chip muffins, homemade rice krispy treats, or fruit snacks (ugh! I can't stand them, but will get them when on sale and I really make them stretch; only used 3 boxes last year).

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

latenightleader — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 05:00:26 GMT

My son loves chili, and loves to put cheese on top-seperate ziplock, and then scoop with chips, your son coulld probaly scoop with pringles, they are easy to chew.

Grapes, cheese cubes, mini candy bars, pretzels, muffins, egg salad sanwich, Greek salad, veggie sticks with ranch dip or cheese dip. You can send cereal and milk, or a poptart, or three snacks and a drink, like apple, crackers,string cheese, juice box, or rice cake, yogurt, granola, and choc milk, or banana, almonds, triscuits and sliced cheddar with pineapple juice.

Anything goes, I can't believe he might need his jaw broken, how long does that take to heal?

Re: Cheap school lunch ideas.

MarthaMFI — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:45:03 GMT

These are great ideas! my dd picky eater is going into grade 1 so I have to come up with lunches she will eat that are ok for school. no nuts at school and probably no peanut butter.

homemade lunchables are probably the way I will go. cheese, crackers, ham etc. I saved all the little plastic containers from the baby food for those purposes.

I know thermoses are great for hot meals like pasta, soup, stews etc.

Our school lunches are great but she won't eat what is in most of them. They do things like multigrain bagels w/cream cheese, perogies, soups etc.

for warm weather pasta salads if he will eat them? leftovers?