Need Healthy School Lunch Ideas for Increasingly Picky Eaters!

My kids love the idea of a wrap and it mixes it up a little bit. I use a whole wheat wrap and put almost anything in them. My kids think they are great.

How about lunchables? Not the ones you buy in the store but homemade. Cut up some lunch meat, vegetables, crackers, cheese, fruit and send some milk or have them buy milk at the school. They have plates that are seperated into different areas that comes with lids. These are perfect for homemade lunchables. It is fun to eat and the other kids will want to know where they can get them.

Hi J.,
We eat about the same it sounds like. By the end of the school year we always hit this doldrums too....My girls are 11 and 13. Some things that work well...make ahead on the weekend sushi rolls with veggies and tofu, little sized burritos and tortilla roll ups. Our fav for the tortilla roll ups are salad greens feta cheese any other veggies to be found with cream cheese spread in on the tortilla and toasted sunflower seeds with salad dressing of choice. Roll them up and slice them like sushi and they will last a couple days in the fridge. Another good one is pizza bagels. I am suprised by how much they will eat cold that we normally think of as hot food. I also got little plastic containers so they can take dips like hummus or ranch or make their own "lunchables" It is a challenge I know but good job!!! Healthy kids now mean healthy leaders later.
H.

I think the boy is getting old enough now to pack his own lunch. Encourage both of them to check out what their friends are eating and see if that gives them any ideas. Some other things you can try: hummus in a pita with some vegetables; tuna or salmon sandwiches; soup in a Thermos; salads. Some school cafeterias have microwaves; if theirs does, they can bring leftovers from dinner to reheat. Even if they stick with lunch meat, varying their bread can make things interesting: a bagel one day, sliced bread the next, pita, croissant. Maybe they'd like cereal: pack them cereal and a bowl, and they can pour milk over it. (Give them something different for breakfast that day, if you want.) Try a lunch without a specific entree: some crisp veggies (maybe with dip), fruit, a piece of cheese, a few crackers. They still get all the nutritional components they need, but it's not as boring because there's a variety of things. Maybe your 10-year-old would be interested in buying lunch at school. Since you've been feeding him very healthily, he's likely to make pretty healthy choices himself, and as he gets older, he'll need to start taking more control of what he eats (making his own choices).

Hi J.,
Kudos to you for being seriously organic!!! My first advice to you would be get your kids good lunch boxes that will keep things cool. That way you can send yogurt, salads, dips, etc. When my kids were elementary age; they r now Jr and Sr at SKHS, simple things like carrots and ranch dip or a home made pasta salad was the back bone of their lunch.
Have you seen "Annie's Organics" web site??? They have some simple ideas for kid friendly foods.
I would love to know where your veggie farm is and r U open to the public? I grow some of my families food and prefer to buy local when I can, especially when it comes to what I feed my family.
Good Luck,
Vicki

I do the usual things that you mentioned as well as the following (homemade and organic as much as possible): Hummous and pita bread, assorted veggies and homemade dip, refried beans sent along with tortilla chips for 'dipping', normal sandwich fillings like tuna and egg salad but with crackers instead of bread, all different kinds of salads, celery with almond butter...I'm looking forward to seeing other healthy ideas, too. Sometimes we all need some new tricks!

Try making "lunchables" at home...my kids love cheese and crackers and sometimes lunch meat too (try Hormel natural choice brand for more healthy, don't know if it's organic though). It's a nice change from the meat and cheese sandwich. You can vary the meat/cheese/crackers for different types of tastes.

We will also make lettuce wraps, with lunch meat/cheese, rolled up in lettuce, often with veggies like peppers or cukes mixed in. They don't miss the extra carbs from bread, and helps them get their healthy veggie carbs in!

I don't know if anyone mentioned tuna or if you are averse to that. Canned meat mixed with a dressing on bread, as in chicken salad or tuna salad...or you can buy it in mini tins set to go, altho that can be expensive. Or you can make your own, send it in tupperware. I will put it in the freezer for 1/2 hour to get it super cold before I pack it, so it's still fresh at lunch. We change it up a bit with different bread or different fillers, i.e. water chestnuts or celery chopped and added in.

Also try a different bread, my kids LOVE pocket bread! Especially with tuna, but it does get soggy. They will have to build their own sandwiches.

cream cheese and varied meat wraps are fabulous! spread the cream cheese thin and layer meat thinly...roll one end small and tightly . wrap in aluminum and show them how they can peel away the aluminum to eat it. It is fun, easy and non messy!
Also try:
cooked yams and black beans wrapped (can add chix)
crm chz, turkey and cran sauce wrapped
curry chix and rice wrapped

hope that helps!

what about think outside the sandwich? Be creative. There are actually books on how to be creative wtih your kids in foods. Carrots and ranch dressing are portable in tupperware. Pnut butter on celery sticks. Fruit salad. Regular salad. We have such weird dietary requirements between everyone in my household I've had to be really creative.

By the way, lunch meats have nitrites, sugar, hormones, antibiotics. I myself do a lot of organic foods for my family, especially avoiding the "dirty dozen" top toxic foods by buying organic. Some of the foods on this list are Strawberries, bell peppers, lettuce.

Have you asked them what they want? Are they helping pack their own lunches? What do they see the other kids eating in school that they would like to try? You would just have to find the organic version. Kids who are involved in the prep of their meals, are more likely to eat their meals... and have a healthier relationship with food overall. Although living on a farm, you probably already do a bunch of that... and they are most likely very aware of where the food comes from. Please don't take any of this the wrong way. I don't mean to sound patronizing, and I think what you are doing is great. I am very excited to read all the responses and ideas.

I heard of someone who basically set up a menu of sorts. It was a list of options (or maybe even a photo board (for a toddler who was picky about breakfast)) and the child could in essence "order" what she wanted to eat. It reduced the headache and panic for parents, and gave the child a feeling of control over her meal. Again, maybe more of a toddler solution... but then I don't know your situation intimately.

We would make a lunch staple on Sundays in prep for the week ahead. My dad would ask us what we wanted, and as a family we would make a big batch of whatever it was (ie trail mix, fruit salad, mixed nuts, ants on a log, oatmeal rasin cookies, etc...)and it would be in our lunch everyday that week, or until we ran out whichever came first. It was a fun family activity and we knew we were getting something that we wanted. It was also one less thing dad had to worry about or decide upon in the morning. It made the rest of the lunch much more tolerable.

Good Luck!

Have you ever tried a lavosh? It's a good twist on the deli sandwich....Spread cream cheese on a flour tortilla, thin layers of turkey, tomato, lettuce and cucumber, roll it up and they can eat it like that or you can cut it into smaller sammies or disks, super yummy and portable.

I have to share my new found discovery. If you want them to eat healthy stuff like its candy, try Special K Protein Meal bars! There are SEVERAL kinds and flavors, all packed with protein and vitamins, AND they actually taste like a treat. Look wherever they are stocking slimfast stuff, and you'll find them, or, in with the granola bar section on the cereal isle.
Do they like dipping bananas in peanut butter? Or are they tired of PeanitButter all together? LOL* If they still want peanutbutter, use HONEY instead of jelly. That way you're still getting all that PB Protein into their bodies.
And don't forget about raisins, or even cinn-raisin bread!

Let us know what you pick and what works! I'd even like to know. I pacdk my hubby's lunches every day and he has the same issues that your kids do! *lol*

My kids are teens now and I've had this same struggle. They seem to go through phases of likes and dislikes. Lunch options are limited. I always tried to put together a well balanced lunch, but something always came home uneaten. Kids only have about 30 minutes to eat lunch at school, if that. They want to talk and spend time with friends more than they want to eat. I found they ate more if everything seemed "snacky" and smaller portitons with more variety. Like adults, they don't want the same thing every day, and do get bored with sandwiches and apples. My kids like hard boiled eggs, granola bars, lunch meat(without the bread), cheese (slices or sticks), seasonal fruits, fruit snacks, peanuts/almonds, rice cakes, jello/pudding, cereal, celery and peanut butter, Laughing Cow Cheese and celery, carrot sticks, and pepperoni slices.

I found that many of these items can be nutritious, prepared ahead, packaged, and ready to put into a lunch bag. Everytime I'd figure out what to send them in their lunches, their likes would change. Good luck!

I was just having the best snack ever and thought I'd add this--vanilla yogurt, crushed pineapple, and chopped pecans. Another professor is having vanilla yogurt, diced mango, and Grape Nuts :-)

I think that there are LOTS of great recipes in Vegetarian Times that would be good. Also, maybe try pita chips or pita pocket sandwiches or wraps with tortillas (just to mix it up from the sandwiches a bit). Or try different types of hummus as the spread for sandwiches. Maybe "ants on a log" with celery, peanut butter, and either raisins or craisins.

I really admire what you're doing with organic/healthy foods. YAY! :-)

Hello, I also have a picky eater. We have resorted to peanut butter and crackers, individually packaged Tillamook cheese wedges, yogurt and fruit, such as cut up apples, grapes or strawberries. We send this all with an ice block to keep it cold. Good luck.

Wow - what great ideas! I have been pleased to find many organic and natural choices lately at Costco and of course Trader Joe's. If your kids are tired of sandwiches, you can try the organic pop tarts, or I really like the whole wheat banana "hotdog" idea, and the hot food in a Thermos. Good luck! Thanks everyone for the great links to lunch websites!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Hillbilly Housewife site! This link: http://healthy.hillbillyhousewife.com/recipeindex.htm might have something you find useful.

Good luck! :o)

K. W.

I send plain rice cakes w/ a small container of peanutbutter, hummus, eggsalad, ect and a plastic spoon for spreading. Pretty much any kind of dip or spread that your kids like. Homemade trail mix(raw almonds, dried fruit, whole-grain cereal, ect.). Cottage cheese w/ fruit. Hard boiled eggs. Cheese sticks. Whole-wheat wraps w/ cream cheese and turkey. Cereal bars(Earth's Best are organic). Put container of yogurt in freezer the night before and add it to lunch box in the morning(my daughter loves to eat it like this!) Cliff Bar makes a great kid's energy bar called Z Bars.We usually do a couple of the above as well as 2-3 fruits/veggies(blackberries,soy beans,cucumbers,grapes,ect.) and we're set! Hope some of these suggestions help! Happy, healthy eating!!
Jen S.

Hi J.,
Have you thought about wraps? You can make them using white, wheat, or spelt flour tortillas. You can put anything in them.
A few suggestions: turkey with a little cranberry sauce & lettuce,tuna salad,chicken salad with grapes, seasoned cream cheese and vegies of choice like thinly sliced bell peppers, tomatoes etc..., egg salad, melted cheese,etc...
Roll up left over pancakes spread with peanut butter and a dab of maple syrup etc...
Caesar salad, chef salad, or little containers with the makings of a salad they can put together.
Homemade soups in small containers with things you can put on top like grated cheese, nuts, little crackers,olives or whatever would go good with the type of soup.

You didn't mention what your kids are picky about eating. There are a lot of good websites with wonderful ideas that used to use as a nanny of four kids. Check the web.

Hi There,

I too live on a farm, and I have 3 kids! We try keep to a pretty organic diet as well. I have found some really great things that are all natural beside organic PB & J - and yup - they have gotten burned out on that! I make meat & cheese sandwiches, they sell organic/natural lunch meat now, & of course organic cheese. You can also buy baby organic carrots and lots of other organic produce and cut it up - our garden isn't ready yet :(. I put organic peanut butter on celerery as well. I found organic single serving chocolate milks in a case and natural juice boxes at Costco, and natural fruit snacks and trail mix - so that has helped. I use the Organic Baby & Toddler Cook Book for ideas too. Organic egg salad sandwiches, tuna, sometimes I send leftover Amy's organic pizza slices in their lunches - they think that's cool! I put in those cooling pouches just to make sure things stay cool throughout the day. Organic Clifford Juice boxes, there's tons of stuff at Fred Meyer's in the Natural section or at your local Food Co-op. I basically mix up the menu and they help pack so every day they get a variety, and I find organic chocolate so they get a little treat here and there. I bake organic muffins, send organic bananas and oranges and apples, so every day they get some different fruit as well. My oldest is 8, and she never complains about her lunch. I just experiment and shop around for differnt organic brands and buy in bulk - Costco has come a long way and has been really helpful this school year - good luck!

Have the children help you decide and prepare. But some suggestions are: carrots, celery stix with p-nut butter, applesauce, mandarine oranges, granola bars, chex-type cereal, make-yourself lunchables, bagels and cream cheese (the mini-bagels are great for lunches)rice cakes with p-nut butter, low sodium pretzels, yogurt, graham crackers, string cheese. Mine have also always liked what we call mish-mash. It's a prepared mixture of whatever they like-cheerios/raisins/peanuts chex/raisins/peanuts, etc. Once made, I just keep it in an air-tight container and scoop out what's needed, when needed. It's always a great way to get the children involved in what we call the "preparing for the 'work-week' chores" on Sunday after church.
Hope this helps,
~Mary~

Hello
I don't have any specific recipes, but I picked up some really cool kid-friendly and fun cookbooks at bookstores and honestly can't wait to start trying some of the ideas in them. You can get a really good deal on books at discount book stores like Half Price Books or order from Amazon. Good luck!

This says "toddlers" but it really is for any school-age kid...

http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=93092

Hope this link helps! We use it for my picky son. I like to stay away from the junk so we use this list quite frequently. Oh, and these are healthy ;)

Good luck!

I am with you! I bought a thermos and that has beeb helpful. I can put healthy chicken nuggets, quesadillas, mac and cheese(am's organic of course!), and it really keeps them warm until my daughter's lunch time. I have done pb and j on a whole wheat hot dog bun with a banana as a hot dog. Also, pretzels and sunflower butter for a change. I hope this helps! L. E

Almond butter and jelly on a wheat tortilla.
Pb and banana sandwich.

Hi J.,
My kids aren't in school yet, but I found this cool book preparing me for when I too will be sending them to school with lunches every day. It called "Lunch Lessons Changing the Way We Feed Our Children" by Ann Cooper and Lisa M. Holmes. There are a lot of yummy super-healthy recipes in there. I also found a cool website with neat bento-box style lunch boxes (and a bunch of others) that might make lunch time more fun and interesting: www.reusablebags.com.

I hope this helps!
M.

Hi, J.. I can sympathize. My daughter was always a picky eater, would never eat school lunches, and I also wanted her to have healthy choices. One thing that worked for us (from grade school thru high school!) was a thermos of homemade soup (usually a hearty soup) or chili. Sides of cheese slices or sticks, crackers. Sometimes hummus and corn chips. Sometimes sandwiches, but she didn't always eat those. I tried to always have some fruit, some protein, bread or crackers or pita. I would also buy healthy energy bars and include those instead of cookies. The thermos allowed me to include mac and cheese sometimes or other leftovers. I would put in baby carrots and celery with a small container of ranch dressing. You can also vary the sandwiches by making wraps. I tried to make it as varied as possible. She didn't always eat everything, but at least the choices were good ones.
Hope this is helpful. My daughter is now a freshman in college and makes really good food choices as an adult, so I must have done something right!!

A.

My kids love yogurt with granolla and ground flax seed. As long as you pack an Ice pack or a frozen water bottle it should be good. I buy the granolla in bulk and send it in a reusable container, then my kids mix the two together. We also do Dried fruit and nuts(if your school allows them). Some of my students mom's send soup in a thermos. If your kids like cottage cheese you could send that and some fruit, in reusable bowls. Around Easter my kids even took hard boild eggs to school.
Good luck in your quest for healthy lunch alternatives.

Yeah, Try to bring the veg or fruit, granola bar, fish cracker, rice cracker, apple sauce, olives, tuna, chicken or salmon dip with cracker etc... I try to suggest to choice.

K.

We pack our daughter with tupperware stuff to make her own burritos at lunch, we make the bean and cheese roll up but she can add at home or at school cheese and send salsa to dip it. You could do the same with a quesodilla and beans, salsa, and guacamole. We also do salami and cheese and crackers, veggies with dip, ravioli with sauce. Good luck, its hard to keep up variety in the lunch box.

Hi J.,
I found a great book The Happy Lunchbox it has 4 weeks of meals and great tips for each recipe (and the kids can help) the web site to order/preview it is www.craftandcook.com and another great site is Toronto Vegetarian Association http://www.veg.ca/
I bought a sandwich cutter that cuts sandwiches into fun shapes they seem to think that their food tastes better this way :) Good luck
A.

My kids are millk and gluten free so lunches have to be createv. We do the loeft over stuff to.
-Tuna noddle salid,
-soft corn tortia wraps with ham and veggies,
-Tortia chips with humas dip for a snack,
-chicken salid,
-a nice grean salid with all the fixings are good just add the dressing in a little bag so they can top it at school,
-we do our oun versian of lunchables. with rice crackers, ham, turky, grap tomatos, cheese, and some apple sauce on the side
-left over ribs adn bbq chicken
-frout salid
Thats all I can think of right now. Hope it helps

I don't have older kids, but there are loads of ideas I can think of -- like homemade mini pizzas are good even cold and you can find whole wheat dough almost everywhere. If you have a Trader Joes store nearby, they've got some great ideas. Also, why not include multi-grain tortilla chips with homemade yogurt dip for a "treat". Smoothies also make a nice treat for kids and provide protein, etc. Try making their favourite sandwiches on different bread - multi-grain bagels, for instance. Cream cheese is also a good alternative. Veggies and homemade yogurt dip is fun and nutritious, fruit salad, etc. Hope these ideas help.

Here is a great website for bento box lunches. You may need to convert some recipes for whole organic foods but that shouldn't be to difficult. She takes alot of effort to make these lunches look neat too!
http://www.c4vct.com/kym/bento/

I read a blog that addresses just this problem...http://lunchinabox.net/

She makes bento boxes for her preschooler and husband. I'm not sure if your family is big into pickled eel and seaweed ( ;-) ) but the idea is similar - small, cute portions, packaged in unique ways. One of her favorites is a little egg press. Hot, peeled boiled eggs are placed in the press. The press is closed...and when the egg is cooled, it is formed into a little bunny face, or a smiley face...or whatever the press is. Check it out! She also has a link to a really cheap online store for all the materials.

Yogurt? Cut fruit and cheese? Bagle and cream cheese?