The first edition of this post was so popular last year, and is still bringing me search traffic (hi Googlers! Welcome to MomCooks!) that I am reposting the recipes along with some new information. 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 (My boys like the whole wheat Ritz)
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
What about a container to hold all of this in? Well, in my post Make your own Lunchables, I suggested buying store Lunchables, then washing and drying them to reuse them. In the comments, someone suggested looking for a more sturdy reusable container with compartments to hold everything. And I did! Have you heard of Laptop Lunches?
Photo courtesy of laptoplunches.com
Laptop Lunches are similar to the Japanese Bento Box, are reusable, recyclable, and dishwasher safe, and come with a book of healthy lunch ideas and lunch making recipes. Laptop lunchboxes do not contain phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), or lead. And, from what I have read on the website, kids love them!
The basic Laptop Lunch kit includes the Laptop Lunch bento box with inner containers and utensils, and The Laptop Lunch User’s Guide, for $20.99. There’s an insulated carrying case available that holds the Laptop Lunch plus a reusable water bottle, with a velcro pouch for an ice pack (not included but sold separately) and a zippered front pocket, which costs an additional $15.99. So, $36.98 all together. If I can get one for Ryan and convince him to stop buying the hot lunch at school, that will save me, oh, about $100.00 from what I spent last year on hot lunch money.
I’m planning more posts with recipes for sandwiches and side dishes, veggie dips, as well as reporting on what my kids do and don’t eat in their packed lunches this year. Plus I have to feed Kaitlyn and myself every day too, so we will probably just eat the same thing as the boys, which means making lunch for four every day. Don’t miss a post, subscribe to my feed in your reader or by email, and click through to see photos and get the latest news from my sidebar. Enjoy!
Hey, I might have to steal some of these ideas even though I’m not a schoolkid. I’m trying REALLY hard to eat healthier, especially after discovering that I’ve gained ten pounds in the last few months. HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN? I’ve been eating so little. :(
Great blog, I will use some of these ideas, and will stop back very often. Keep up the good work!
Tracees last blog post..Tropic-Kool Delight Cake
These are awesome ideas! I love the “theme” presentation. I also like how your ideas are simple enough to substitute with gluten-free and HFCS-free items easily (that’s always a challenge with most “magazine” ideas that we find). Wonderful job!
Oh, I’m definitely trying out some of your lunch menu suggestions! My girls have been into bento boxes and bought a few while they were on vacation. These lunch ideas will be perfect!
Liz- go to Flickr and search for “Bento Lunches”. You will not believe your eyes! People make some of the most amazing (and healthy) lunches I’ve ever seen! Sure beats the spoonful of peanut butter I eat some days :P
[...] also time to start thinking about school lunches. Elizabeth has some fantastic ideas in her post, “Brown bag lunches your kids will eat!” When I used to make school lunches, I would make the homemade lunchables sometimes, but I never had [...]
My son really likes his Laptop lunchbox. I have to try making him a Pirate’s Treasure box. I bet he’d love it!
Maggies last blog post..Gingered Sweet Pickled Cauliflower
Excellent! I bought the Laptop lunch system for my kids this year and it’s fantastic!
The “make your own lunchables” are the biggest hit!
mimipz5wjjs last blog post..Kickin’ Butt and passing it along…
This is perfect for me. #2 is starting first grade and will be packing lunches at least the first few days while she gets into the swing of things. I’ve badly needed ideas of what to send with her.
Susan Helene Gottfrieds last blog post..100 Words: Corn
these are such good ideas….great lunch tips
Pirate’s Treasure sounds like a lot of fun!
Have you seen the recent HFCS tv commercials.
We know this stuff is bad for us but now they’re advertising it as safe.
Keep your children away from it.
sorry I forgot the link
Corn Syrup TV Commercials
Paunchinesss last blog post..High Fructose Corn Syrup is Bad For You.
There are a lot of really good nut butters out there, my current fav is almond hazelnut. My kids aren’t allergic but we don’t pack it anyway. I use it just like peanut butter.
Great lunch ideas. Another great lunch bag option is an organic cotton lunch bag from Hero Bags http://www.herobags.com made in the US and machine washable. They are all the rage at my kids’school
there are such a great ideas to enhance the children’s attraction for taking launch. And also very much useful for improvement of launch habbts in children.
Oh your so right your kids will eat them, and if your husband sees them he’ll start asking you to make him sack lunches!
Free Recipes Lovers last blog post..Recipe of the Day: Bacon And Cheese Muffins
[...] Brown bag lunches your kids will eat!- The first edition of this post was so popular last year, and is still bringing me search traffic (hi Googlers! Welcome to MomCooks!) that I am reposting the recipes along with some new information. Ever since my oldest son started … [...]
[...] this MomCooks site (even though DadCooks, too) and thought these were some excellent ideas for brown bag lunches your kids will eat. We have a similar article on lunch ideas for kids [...]