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Brown bag lunches your kids will eat!
By Elizabeth | October 3, 2007
I took the same lunch to school every day for years-Oscar Meyer bologna and an American cheese slice on white bread, with mayo, plus a baggie of Ruffles and two Chips Ahoy cookies. Washed down with a healthy pint of school milk, of course. There’s very little actual nutrition in that lunch, except for a serving or two of protein, so ever since my oldest son started all-day kindergarten, I’ve been on a quest to find brown bag lunch ideas that are tasty, fun, and provide servings from different food groups. These are some of my boys’ favorite lunches, and the recipes come from a printout dated 08/19/04, with the URL http://rallieonhealth.com/recipes:
Crazy Eights
8 whole wheat crackers (I like whole grain Club crackers)
8 ham squares (buy low fat ham slices, cut into a shape small enough to fit the cracker)
8 cheese squares (cut two 2% milk cheese slices into quarters)
8 grapes, or a small apple cut into 8 slices
8 baby carrots
8 celery sticks, or 8 small broccoli florets
8 animal crackers
Notes: This always seems like a lot of food to me, but the lunch bags come back empty!
Tic Tac Toe Lunch
1/2 whole wheat pita filled with homemade lowfat tuna or chicken salad
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup crunchy O-shaped cereal
1 cup raw veggies
1/4 cup lowfat Ranch for dipping
Notes: The idea for this lunch is to include an index card with a tic tac toe grid drawn on it, so your child can use the raisins and cereal for Xs and 0s. But my sons assure me that lunch monitors would never let them play tic tac toe with their food, so they just eat without playing.
Safari Lunch
1 Safari Sub Sandwich-Small sub roll filled with lowfat meat,cheese, mustard or mayo, lettuce
1 “Tropical” banana
“Quicksand” pudding cup-butterscotch or vanilla lowfat pudding
1 cup “Rain Forest” veggies-broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, or any combination
1/4 cup lowfat dressing for dip
“Kings of the Jungle” animal crackers-8 large, 15 small
Notes: Pack a plastic spoon for eating the pudding!
Seaside Lunch
1 Peanut Butter and “Jellyfish” sandwich-ONLY if your school allows Peanut Butter
1/3 cup fish-shaped crackers
“Sand Dollar” apple slices
1/3 cup fish-shaped gummy treats
1/2 cup “Palm Tree” broccoli florets
“Sand Pail and Shovel”-lowfat yogurt cup and plastic spoon
Notes: Check with your school if you aren’t sure if Peanut Butter is allowed, many schools have banned it due to children with Peanut allergies. For the apple-use an apple corer to remove the core, then cut slices horizontally through the apple, brush with lemon juice to prevent browning
Pirate’s Treasure-My boys’ favorite!
“Treasure Chest” of chicken-small plastic container with baked and cooled chicken fingers
1/2 cup carrot “Gold”-peel a large carrot, slice crosswise into coins
1/4 cup “Pearls”-yogurt covered raisins
1/2 cup lowfat “Pirate Pudding”-pudding cup, in your child’s favorite flavor
2 “Walk the Plank” pretzel rods
The great thing about Brown Bag lunches is that you can customize them to your child’s likes, dislikes, nutritional requirements, and size them to fit your child. A small kindergartener probably won’t be able to eat all the food in these lunches, so just scale them down accordingly. Pack half a sandwich, a fruit OR a veggie, non-dairy products for kids with milk allergies. The idea is to get a wide variety of food groups into your child at lunch, and to make lunch fun!
Topics: Lunchbox Ideas | 18 Comments »
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18 Responses to “Brown bag lunches your kids will eat!”
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October 3rd, 2007 at 10:37 am
These are GREAT!
How do you keep the tuna salad from getting soggy though? That’s Josh’s favorite and I’m afraid to pack it because of the “soggy” factor.
He goes to school at 7:00 and doesn’t eat until 1:00!
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:24 pm
What great ideas!
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Mimi-My boys both like green leaf lettuce, so I line the pita with a piece of that, then spoon the tuna salad on top. They’ve never mentioned it being soggy. Nathan probably pulls the lettuce leaf out, too :)
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Jenn-Aren’t they great? Fun, reasonably healthy, easy to make-perfect!
October 4th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Another great item you can make it pizza rounds. Take a whole wheat english muffin, spread pizza sauce on it, put cheese on it, and melt it under the broiler.
October 4th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Adam-Thanks for the suggestion! I don’t know why I don’t think of things like that, maybe because I know it won’t stay warm. But my kids probably wouldn’t mind :)
October 4th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Yeh, np – they’re good cold, too.
October 5th, 2007 at 12:22 am
You’re going to laugh, but my boys like cold grilled cheese sandwiches in their lunchbox. And cold cheeseburgers, no bun.
Anything “wrap” “roll” or “cubed” seems to be a big hit too!
October 5th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Oooo.. those sounds like cool lunches. I think my gal will love the safari idea. :)
October 8th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Loretta-Whatever you can get them to eat sounds good to me!
October 8th, 2007 at 11:05 am
BlurMommy-Let me know if you try them, and what she thinks! I love how you make your “Toddler Bento” lunches :)
October 10th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
My 4 yo twins are interested in trying the Crazy Eights recipe. I’m looking forward to giving them something they will actually eat for lunch. Thanks for sharing!
October 10th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Jen-I hope your twins enjoy the lunch!
October 14th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
[...] Recipe Blog Carnival YUM! Quick Healthy Lunches Older Children Can Cook or me in this case since my children are only 4. Brown Bag Lunches Your Kids Will Eat – I am going [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
I love the fun names you gave the different types of lunches. Great variety of healthy foods in each of them too and kids will actually enjoy these – thanks for the great tips.
January 8th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
hi my son is 2 and a half he is about to start pre school in just a few days. They don’t use microwaves there. I have no idea how to make lunches for him as he is a vegetarian, and we like to make his foods warm aswell. I loved your ideas with you creative touches you have put on them. I think I will give what ones I can use a try. Thanks.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:47 am
[...] Eights and Safari Lunch, recipes on this Brown bag lunches your kids will eat [...]
June 14th, 2008 at 10:46 am
What great lunch ideas!
Lindas last blog post..eeeeeeeek!