Quick and Nutritious school day lunches?

[Stacie Leigh]

The kids pretty much eat one of these two lunches every day:

-PB&J (wheat bread, smashed organic peanuts, fruit juice only sweetened jelly), a banana and maybe some whole grain cheese crackers

-Wheat crackers, cheese, baby carrots, and fruit or a smoothie (yogurt, fruit, a touch of spinach sneaked in, lol) if I can pull it off

 

They typically eat a grain-heavy breakfast. (Often Cheerios with fruit, a smoothie and granola bar or oatmeal with nuts and fruit.)

 

I'd like to add a couple of new lunch options, but I'm majorly stuck in this rut and my mind is blank. It needs to be short prep/easy clean up! :001_smile: :bigear:

[ChristusG]

I put deli meat on those little wheat Hawaiian rolls and put a little mayo on it....mini deli sandwich! Or sometimes I will heat up one chicken nugget and put it on the roll instead with a little mayo....mini chicken sandwich!

 

Sometimes I throw a whole wheat tortilla onto the quesadilla maker and put some organic cheese in the middle and make a quick quesadilla.

 

I make "squirrel wedges" sometimes. Grind up all sorts of organic nuts in the blender (walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, etc), mix it with natural peanut butter and Nutella until smooth. Add a bit of honey, and granola if you wish. Spread it between two whole wheat tortillas and cut it like a pizza into wedges. Lots of protein to last through the afternoon.

 

Organic pizza....yes, it's frozen...but they only get this like once or twice a month.

 

Organic Bernie O's....like spaghettio's but organic. I give a salad on the side, or a piece of toast.

 

Sometimes I'll do just a lunch of "sides." I use something with a lot of dividers and just fill them with different things....crackers with PB on them, different fruits, a roll, half a granola bar, cheese, a slice of deli meat, etc. My kids love these meals made of various things LOL.

 

I do ham roll ups....just roll up a few slices of ham and add a toothpick to hold it in place.

 

Occasionally we'll do organic hotdogs. Or we'll have pizza leftover from the night before.

 

With all these, I always add veggies or fruit....usually a side salad, watermelon, grapes, apple slices, cut up banana, cherries...something like that. And I also add something like graham crackers, or a few chips, or some organic cheddar bunnies, etc.

 

I try to vary my kids lunches quite a bit. Of course, they also eat the ol' standby....peanut butter and jelly. And DD4 prefers Nutella sandwiches over PE&J's.

[Skadi]

We do a lot of leftovers, e.g. leftover grilled or Crock Pot chicken is turned into BBQ chicken sandwiches. Another staple is my fruit-and-cream-cheese sandwiches:

 

Diced Fruit (strawberries are my favorite, but you can use blueberries, pitted cherries, bananas, whatever)

Low Fat Cream Cheese

Honey (I usually eyeball this...it really depends on how sweet you want it)

Whole Wheat Bread

 

Mix honey and cream cheese together, and then gently add your fruit to the mix. Serve on toasted wheat bread.

 

We also do quiches, soups, grilled cheese sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, tuna, boiled eggs, and chicken wraps.

[Stacie Leigh]

Thank you both... I might add the cream cheese and fruit sandwiches to our breakfast rotation even!! Sounds good! :)

[elise1mds]

Quesadillas of any kind are some of my kids' favorites. They also love salads (pasta, tuna, egg, chicken, Cobb, etc.).