Back to School Lunch Ideas

It is that time of the year again - back to school! While some are returning this next week, others have been back for quite a while...my own children returned to school over a month ago. However, it go without saying, that no matter if your children have been back for a while or if they are just now starting to get ready for the big day, you can never have too many lunch ideas!

Save your yogurt containers! After eating the yogurt, wash them thoroughly and fill with liquid Jell-O or pudding mixture (before it sets), cap, and refrigerate. This gives you individual snack-sized Jell-O or pudding at a fraction of the cost.
Take leftover cooked chicken and make chicken strips. Pack dippers such as salsa, ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, ketchup, honey mustard, or pizza sauce.
Use a variety of breads. Try Italian varieties, sourdough, different grains, Hawaiian bread, and different rolls.
Pack string cheese or cheese cubes. Send along bread sticks or crackers to eat with them. Or pack a prepared cheese spread with breadsticks for dipping.
Cut fresh fruit into bite-sized pieces and use fruit-flavored yogurt or pudding as a dip. Or mix the fruit with your prepared Jell-O (see Jell-O tip).
Each day include a short note to your child. Anything that shows them you love them and you are thinking of them will show your child you care.
Layer creamy peanut butter on a flour tortilla with jelly or fruit spread and roll up "wrap" or "jellyroll" style. Slice crosswise into pieces. Select the size tortilla depending on your child's appetite.
Heat frozen waffles and make a sandwich with them, using peanut butter and jelly. Or cut them into bite-sized pieces or sticks and send syrup for dipping.
Add fun to your child's lunch by using colored plastic wraps. Or during the holiday's, use special prints that are usually for plastic wrap, zipper-type bags, and napkins.
Cut open a bagel and spread each side with cream cheese. Lay several slices of lunchean meat on top of cream cheese and make into a sandwich.
Kids love to dip! Send baby carrots, celery sticks, or broccoli trees with their favorite dip or dressing. Or send peanut butter as a dip, and include some sliced apples.
Create your own "Lunchables"...cut meat slices and cheese into pieces that will fit on crackers. Pack the meat, cheese, and crackers together. Have extra mustard or mayo packets from your take-out? Pack those along for condiments.
If your child loves sandwiches and won't let you try anything new, have fun with the sandwiches - cut the sandwich into interesting shapes or cut with cookie cutters.
It doesn't have to be jelly everyday! Some other ideas for sandwiches using with traditional peanut butter are: sliced bananas, honey, butter/margerine, raisins, and thinly sliced apples.
Did you know you can create "wraps" with bread? Simply take a slice of your favorite bread (softer breads work better), and lay a slice or two of your favorite lunch meat and cheese on it. Roll up the bread tightly, making sure to press the edges of the bread together to seal.

About The Author: Brandie Valenzuela is a wife and homeschooling mom of three, who loves scrapbooking, cooking, and spending time with her family. In her spare time, she publishes "HomeMade Living", a popular weblog for mothers, at http://homemadeliving.blogspot.com

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By 03/06/2009

Lots of good ideas. Except for all the peanut butter ideas. Unfortunately, my kids' school is 100% nut free as are all the schools in our area. Some mornings I really wish I could rely on some peanut butter for lunches, especially with picky eaters, it's hard enough to come up with ideas.

By 09/04/2006

Debbie52 - I made up a whole loaf of WG bread for my boy, 10 pbj's in 10 minutes! I cut them diagnol and placed in generic ziploc, then froze them all in the bag. On some days I'll pack whole grain goldfish and cheese sticks (stocked up on sale.) He loves carrots and fruit so that is not a problem! He'll eat chicken nuggets, grilled cheese for school lunches on those menu days. He had pizza on the first day at the lunchroom, and he said he did not like it! So more cold lunches for him, I suppose! We also made our own jam this year, so that is a nice break on the budget!

By 09/01/2006

These are great ideas! Hopefully I could some day use some with my son. He eats well the things he likes but he doesn't eat a lot of variety :-( One thing I've been sending that he's eating well is instead of the usual peanut butter sandwich, I make up peanut butter and crackers. He loves pizza so sometimes if we have leftover, I just send a piece in a baggie. His lunchbox is insulated but I still put in one of those cold pack things you keep in the freezer. He doesn't even need it heated and will eat it cold or room temp. I try to vary what I put so it's not the same thing every day. Sometimes I just put a Quaker cereal bar and then a pudding, a drink and a little baggy of dry cereal. I'm just always glad for whatever he will eat. Sometimes some comes home and then he'll have as his after school snack.

I just had a neat idea...my son doesn't object to the crust on bread but it might be fun if I made a peanut butter sandwich and then cut it out with a cookie cutter. He loves Mickey Mouse and perhaps I could find a Mickey cutter!

By Tawnda (Guest Post) 08/02/2004

Other Peanut Butter options are to place some PB in a bowl and add some maple syrup. Stir well and place on bread. I grew up on these and although I can't eat them much now, I fix one as a treat once in a while after dinner. I prefer that over jelly! You can also use fruit syrups, molasses or corn syrup, but those aren't as good as the maple syrup.

Also, most kids like strawberry or grape jelly, cut real strawberries or grapes into thin slices and place on sandwich with peanut butter.

Also, another tip is to spread PB THINLY on both sides of the sandwich before putting jelly on. This keeps the jelly from soaking into bread and making a soggy sandwich. My kids always tell me they don't know why my sandwiches taste better than when they make them and I can only guess that is why. ha ha I also had kids that did not like to eat the bread corners so I would make sure I spread the PB all the way to the edges and now they have no trouble eating crusts and especially corners! In fact my 3 yr. old begs for my corners. ha ha