School lunch?

[monica]

This may not be the right forum for this post so feel free to move...

What do you pack your child for school lunch? My DS will be in first grade this year and I'm starting to think about lunch. What can I pack besides PB&J that will keep, because I don't think they will have refrigeration available. Also, what to pack that is nutrient dense? I don't want to resort to things like snack packs and chips, etc. And of course they frown on nuts at school which would have been a good nutrient dense thing to pack.

So, any healthy lunch options with variety that travel well? TIA!

[MarynMunchkins]

I did lots of turkey and spinach rollups last year. :) Just spread some mayo/mustard on a tortilla, add a couple slices of turkey and a handful of spinach. Roll it all up. :) Doug loved them - the other kids thought they were gross. :lol He has an insulated lunch box, so keeping it cool wasn't too big an issue.

I usually froze juice boxes and kept them in the lunchbox. They thawed by the time he was ready to eat, and it kept everything else cool.

Other than that, fresh fruit and veggies, crackers, and string cheese were big hits. :)

[Jemma2]

We've done lots of baby carrots and other cut up veggies, string cheese. Since DS is allergic to peanuts, he's done cream cheese sandwiches (maybe not the most nutritious). Turkey, ham, things like that. I just put one of those refreezable ice packs in his lunch box each day and it was fine. We also did containers of cottage cheese or yogurt. This year I got him a small thermos so I can send warm things too, like soup or pasta, etc. You could even put a container of cereal in a lunch box. My DS would get a milk at school and dump some into the container.

[Kailie]

Monica - are you allowed to do PB&J?? I only ask because most of the school around here are nut free.

[monica]

I'm not sure about the PB&J, I'll have to ask...

Great ideas! I love the idea of freezing the juice boxes to keep the other things cold. That would open up my options a lot as to what I could pack.

[BeckaBlue]

if they frown on nuts, they'll frown on peanut butter

there are precut apple slices that don't brown (ascorbic acid on them)
or cut your own apples and spritz them with lemon juice (or do a quick soak) and itll keep them from browning for awhile

[ShangriLewis]

If you want to go crazy you can check out...
www.veganlunchbox.blogspot.com

Just use some meat or cheese. But, she gives lots of options.

[snlmama]

We freeze the juice boxes also. :tu

Things I send and haven't seen mentioned yet:

-- boiled eggs
-- pasta salad
-- Luna bars :shifty