We are stuck in a lunch rut! We mostly have sandwiches (pb&j), mac and cheese or spaghetti. Any ideas? Oh and leftovers aren't working right now as we are at the point of a pan of dinner being just enough. Thanks!
my girls like frozen pizzas... i buy the ones for 1.12 at walmart. they also like corn dogs, so i buy a box of those every couple of weeks. I always have ramen noodles on hand in case they have nothing else to eat. We also eat mac and cheese or spaghetti o's. I try to buy a differnt item each week, so I am not having to buy alot of lunch stuff at one time.. it helps me with my gro. bill. I also plan a lunch menu with choices for the week.. that helps.
We do a lot of PB&J's too! LOL. My oldest is a leftover girl...although she does pepperoni & carrots and round crackers, too. We've gotten into a balogna and cheese kick lately too. Noodle soup now that it's cold. (the ramen really cheapy noodle soups). Hmmmmm.... We also sometimes do eggs and sausage and toast for lunch. Does this help?
Lunch Menu: Leftovers Hot dogs Corn dogs Chicken nuggets Cheeseburgers Tuna salad sandwiches Ham salad sandwiches Lunch meat sanwiches Kid Kabobs Hot Pockets Grilled cheese Soup Pizza Popcorn shrimp Fish sticks Cheese, meat & crackers Ham & cheese roll-ups Burritos Muffin tin meatloaf crescent cheese dogs Chicken burgers PBJ's quesadillas Peanut butter & syrup sandwiches chili chili mac mac 'n cheese taco salad (use leftover/frozen taco meat) nachos Mac 'n cheese w/ ham, hot dogs, or tuna French toast sticks Pancakes/waffles Waffle PBJ's Sides: kid kabobs carrot sticks cheese toast fruit (grapes, apple slices, etc.) cheese cubes mac 'n cheese pretzels mashed potatoes french fries veggies ramen noodles cheese sticks corn on the cob yogurt/yogurt drinks crackers popcorn tortilla chips
I came up with "Kid Kabobs" years ago and my boys still love these - HANDS ON! I just make a platter of any chunked meat (cooked/grilled chicken, summer sausage, or ham, etc.), chunked cheese (even cut up mozzarella cheese stix if that's all I have at the time), fruit (bite-size chunks of banana, grapes, strawberries, apples, or whatever I have). I set out toothpicks for them to make their own Kid Kabobs. I will also set out veggies for them to dip and crackers as well. These are also great for when we're going to small homeschool parties or field trips.
we are not the healthiest lunch eaters........... I go for convienience! spaghetti'Os raviolies deli meat sandwiches grilled cheese frozen pizza toquitos or baby tacos (the frozen kind) quesidillas bagle pizza pita bread pizza grilled peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches campbells soup I have 2 kinds of "sandwich maker" machines one is flat on both sides and the other one makes triangle shaped pockets (2 per sandwich) --- this is good for left overs like sloppy joe mixture or pizza toppings!! the flat one is good for toasted sandwiches.
For lunch my son usually eats these things.....leftovers from supper the night before (sometimes from restaurants), hot dogs, mac n cheese, pb&j, turkey sandwiches, canned ravioli and Lipton or Ramen chicken noodle soup. Most of the time I have slices of apple, carrots, grapes or cucumbers cut up for a side.
Kid kabobs were a great idea with young children. Depending on the age of your children, you could use lunch as a cooking credit. Ds13 cooks breakfast right now every morning. We have exhausted our egg creativity so he has been slowly transitioning into cooking lunch. I usually take stock on what I have on hand in the pantry and we figure out what we can do with it since it is only two of us here for lunch and I can't eat enouch after my gastric bypass to count as a whole serving anyway. This has allowed him to become very creative with what he includes in meals. He has come up with some very interesting omlets, pasta casseroles, sandwiches and loaded nachos. When you let a kid's imagination roll with it, you will never be in a lunch rut again!
A way to change up the ramen noodles a little is to cut up boneless chicken breasts into small pieces, start the cooking process (I cook this in my electric skillet) and then add water and the noodles and cook until done. I've even added scrambled eggs so it's almost like a chinese noodle dish. Bean w/ bacon soup is really good with cut-up hot dogs in it.
I try (note the word try) to take a day once a month and make some things up to divide into single serve or two servings and freeze them so we have lunches that just need heated. I make a couple of pizzas, runzas, soups, casseroles and portion and freeze. If there are no left overs from the night before we have those to fall back on. Also for lunches we do: bean and rice burritos pancakes/eggs mac and cheese tuna and noodle casserole--usually from premade and frozen though sandwiches --any and everything including a favorite grilled ham and cheese mini burgers--preformed and frozen so I can cook them quickly Sometimes ds will eat cereal or oatmeal for lunch if he isn't hungry. chicken nuggets--from scratch and baked stuffed baked potatoes--bake the potatoes and add ham, chicken, hamburger, broccoli, carrots, cheese--use imagination and make up your own! (bits and pieces from leftovers work on this)
There are tons of sites that list kid-friendly lunch options that may help you think up new ideas. The one I found that seems to have the most is http://health.discovery.com/centers/infant-toddler/recipes/lunches.html
My kids usually fend for themselves for lunch (I am putting the baby down for a nap, and I am so tired I need to lay down for at least 30 minutes). So this is what they can make without my help: Cucumber and tomato sandwiches (I let my 9 yo do the cutting of the veggies) PB&J apples, cheese sticks and crackers toast with hot chocolate air popped popcorn no butter, with carrots and ranch oatmeal with raisins toast with jam and a veggie or fruit salads We don't have convenience foods in our house. As my kids say "we only have ingredients". That makes it a little harder and limits what they can make. Afew weeks ago I bought 150 pounds of apples (super co-op buy) and they have been eating 3-4 apples a piece every day. They just can't get enough.
Lunches around here are mostly "dippable" foods, sandwiches, and salads. Veggie salads or creamy salads (like tuna salad) any kind of sandwich and sometimes quesadillas and "dippables" (veggies with dressing, fruit with peanut butter, meat cubes with sauce)
Hot ham and cheese are something we enjoy here. Put ham and cheese in a hamburger bun, wrap with foil and heat in the oven until they are warm. We found that 7 min at 325 degrees is perfect. These are a great picnic item. In fact, these are something my mom would make when we were younger. She would pack these when we were going out for the day and didn't want to do take-out. They don't have to be hot to taste good.
Thanks for this thread, very interesting. I find any meal around our house a struggle, except breakfast when they always want the same thing. I have one particular fussy 4 year old eater who is down to very limited fruit and vegetables and has been for about 2 years now. She will not eat potato in any way shape or form, I mean mashed, baked, as french fries, in cubes with butter.... what kid doesn't like potato??? mine! She also doesn't like meat other than ham. She refuses any left overs for lunch, because "that's not lunch." It is exhausting, but I refuse to make her seperate meals and just put it on her plate, there are many nights when she goes to bed without dinner. Having said all that, however, I have found that all my girls love pitas. I just buy the pita pockets and fill them with ham, or cheese, and a choice from my limited vegetable selection. They also love fajitas. I take a tortilla, spread it with left over rice, some cheese, ham and a choice from my limited selection of acceptable vegetables, roll them up pop them in the micro for 30 seconds and they gobble them up. You could try this w peanut butter and banana perhaps? (skipping the micro step) My girls are not big on PB either.... sigh.... I know it's a control thing.... urgh.... We don't eat much out of a can either and only "have ingredients" in our cupboards too, so that makes it a bit of a challenge. Katrina.
Mine too. My 5 year old will not even touch a french fry. I didnt know that there were kids that didnt like fries.
"That is our house too. We eat differently too as lunch is our "big meal" and dinner is more of the fend for yourself eat leftovers kind of meal. Once a month cooking is very helpful for having a stocked freezer filled with good foods that you can reheat for lunches. I love my crockpot too.
Whatever they feel like eating. I don't really plan out lunches, I just make sure there is food and they pick from there.
