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21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

02/12/2015 By Charlene 31 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

For some reason in January I noticed there were a lot of searches on the blog for snack ideas and school lunch ideas. Usually I see those searches at the beginning of the school year but since people seemed to be looking for inspiration, I decided to put together a post with all sorts of lunch and snack ideas for the kiddos.

I do put some effort into lunchboxes. I usually spend 15-20 minutes per night making them for my girls and then I make something very similar for my husband and myself.  I want my girls eating good food so they have energy to get through the day and so they can concentrate and focus on schoolwork in the afternoon.  It is also important that they are excited to eat lunch- those of you with little ones know what a big deal lunch and snacks can be for children.  Mine get extremely excited to open up lunchboxes and see what waits inside.

I usually pick my battles with food for the kiddos- dinnertime is when we arm wrestle over what they will eat- for lunch I prefer to stick to things I know they like. That eliminates waste and also they haven’t reached the stage yet where they just throw things away and pretend to have eaten it 🙂 I can see exactly what they eat and for the most part these lunchboxes come home completely empty.  Sadly my girls don’t like so many things– lunch meat (with the exception of salami or roast beef), avocados, most vegetables… the list goes on and on.

Oh and this school year the kids have been really excited for lunch– they actually open it in the car on the way to school and it is so fun to hear them chatter.  “Oh look Addy we got watermelon today!”  or whatever and I can hear them already sneaking a few bites of this or that.  So I do feel the small amount of time at night really pays off.

Some things I take into consideration- I don’t pack things that will potentially get soggy like quesadillas or things that really are better hot like English Muffin pizzas.  I also try not to pack things that will take too long to eat.  The kids like to hurry through lunch to get to recess time so nothing fussy or they miss recess.

Anyhoo– these aren’t perfect lunches (we eat cookies and crackers and chips in moderation) but they are examples of things I have packed over the last month or so.  I do wish I could have lunchboxes filled with broccoli and avocado and beets and tell you my little ones ate every bite- but sadly I tend to stick to cucumbers and carrots as I know they will for sure eat those.  One of my kids is allowed peanut butter and one is allowed peanut butter but she has to sit in a specific section of the cafeteria so I try not to use it in her lunchbox.  Otherwise, we don’t have any food allergies or other dietary concerns.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

My girls love those little Bento Boxes from Starbucks so this was a copycat of one of the bento boxes- sliced apples and peanut butter, grapes, hard boiled egg, crackers and cheese cubes.  For the no-peanut butter kid, I use the almond butter recipe here instead.

This particular box was actually not for lunch but was what I packed for an airplane trip. The girls ate every bite.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Kiwi, Oranges, crackers, Applegate salami, cucumbers, grape tomatoes and a homemade marshmallow 🙂  (recipe for marshmallows here)

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Cheese, crackers, strawberries, celery with peanut butter and raisins, Greek yogurt and the very best gummy bears ever (from Sprouts in the bulk bin)

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

For my little girl that can’t take peanut butter to school, strawberries, tomatoes, cheddar and crackers, Greek yogurt and amazing gummy bears 🙂

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Cucumbers, sandwich soldiers, pretzels, grapes and a homemade peanut butter cup (the no peanut butter daughter got a solid chocolate cup instead) Recipe for homemade peanut butter cups here

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Macaroni and Cheese – we like Back to Nature box mix and I usually make it the night before, put it in a large bowl and in the morning heat it up to extremely hot.  Pop into a thermos and the girls say it is still warm at lunch.  Carrots as a snack.  This is hands down their favorite lunch 🙂

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

“Nachos Lunch” with brown rice chips, shredded cheddar, tomatoes, oranges, kiwi and blueberries.  My big girl prefers shredded cheese to cubed or sliced cheese.  Go figure.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Raisins, watermelon, cucumbers, Pirate’s Booty, oranges and a chocolate dipping sauce.  I had this in the fridge overnight so the chocolate was warmed slightly before we left for school to make it a sauce.  (Chocolate sauce recipe here– it is DELICIOUS but the chocolate hardens when it gets cold.)

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Banana Coconut Oatmeal with maple syrup (used the recipe here and it was fantastic) and kiwi and mango for a snack.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Blackberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, cheese and tortilla wrap, celery with Boursin cheese and a homemade gummy candy (recipe here)

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

This was a big hit as you might guess 🙂  Pumpkin seeds, cucumbers, strawberries, watermelon, mini buttermilk pancakes with almond butter and pure maple syrup for dipping.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Papaya with lime and coconut, homemade oatmeal cookie, Roast Beef sandwich, tomatoes and mozzarella and blackberries

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

 

Pirate’s Booty, our favorite Sprouts gummy bears, homemade pretzels (my husband made these for Superbowl), cucumbers, rainbow carrots, red pepper hummus and strawberries.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Nachos again- tomatoes, olives, shredded cheese, brown rice chips, Girl Scout cookie, strawberries.  Salsa in a little cup would have been good too or black beans.
21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Andes mint (Christmas leftover- ha!), blackberries, oranges, carrots, hard boiled egg and Ritz crackers with Boursin cheese.  Sometimes I do hummus or peanut butter in cracker sandwiches- my kids love them.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Cashews/almonds/chocolate chips, carrots, hummus, frozen blueberries, kiwi and BLT sandwich skewers.  *I only include frozen berries because the kids LOVE them and eat them at snack around 9am.  Otherwise they would melt in the lunchbox and create a mess.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Pretzel roll with pickles, lettuce, tomato and cheese and shredded carrots, apples with cinnamon, Aussie Bite, homemade coconut marshmallow (recipe here), Greek yogurt.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Strawberries, cheese sandwich, brown rice chips, milk with a drizzle of vanilla agave syrup (delicious!)

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Crackers, colby cheese cubes, pepperoni (cut with mini cookie cutters), carrots.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Every so often I make chicken nuggets for the girls– these I make in the morning before school and I like to cook them just slightly too long so they are very crispy.  I wrap them in foil and they seem to stay fairly warm for lunch.  If they are crispy they won’t get soggy but the time the kids eat them- our favorite is the Rocky Free Range Chicken Nuggets from Costco.   I also included BBQ sauce, apples with cinnamon and cucumbers.

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

Yogurt covered pretzels, cantaloupe, black olives, plum, cucumber and cream cheese sandwich and a blueberrie/spinach and pineapple smoothie with apple juice.

I can send the smoothie with my 7 year old to school- she won’t spill and she will close the lid tightly.  My 5 year old, I bring the smoothie for an after school snack on the way home since she will spill and blueberries stain 🙂  Some people get upset that I give children mason jars but we have never had a broken mason jar and they have used them since they transitioned out of sippy cups.  If you have a plastic cup or thermos that works just as well.

And here are a few supplies I use when packing lunches–

21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

We use the Pottery Barn Kids All in One Lunchbag (I got them for $37 on sale)

thermos funbtainer

Thermos Funtainer-– these seem to be the Thermos’ that work best and the kids like them.

I try to use real forks to avoid waste but sometimes I send mini cocktail forks– I get these at Walmart in the party supply section.

Sometimes I use these plastic containers instead of the metal lunchboxes or sometimes I use the green Goodbyn lunchbox you can see above.

And a few other tips:

How to Make Perfect hard Boiled Eggs

How to Perfectly Boil an Egg

skinny fruit dip

Skinny Peanut Butter Fruit Dip

10 Amazing Smoothie Recipes via My Frugal Adventures

10 Amazing Smoothie Recipes

I’d love to hear what your great tips and ideas are for great school lunches!

Filed Under: Children's Activities Tagged With: 21 Ideas for Awesome School Lunches

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Comments

  1. Elizabeth says

    02/12/2015 at 2:32 PM

    Amazing entry! So helpful!

  2. dodi says

    02/12/2015 at 3:18 PM

    Your kids have to have the most creative and healthy lunches at school! I’m impressed. 🙂

  3. Christine says

    02/12/2015 at 4:28 PM

    Impressive! They eat everything in those lunches?

  4. Charlene says

    02/12/2015 at 4:51 PM

    Hi Christine- yes. They love cucumbers and most fruit. My littlest doesn’t love kiwi but I love it and it is packed with vitamin C so I force it on them in winter. She eats it 75% of the time. My big girl loves kiwi- otherwise everything I pack I know they will eat. I’d love more variety in lunches but they are picky and I don’t bother packing what they won’t eat because it just wastes the food. I save the fights over snap peas and such for dinner :). Cucumber sandwiches are hit or miss- the little wierd-os aren’t huge on cream cheese but otherwise yes the lunchboxes come home empty 99% of the time. Otherwise they eat what remains in the car on the way home. They are STARVING by 3pm and they don’t get anything else until lunchboxes are empty 😀

  5. Jill says

    02/12/2015 at 6:19 PM

    How do you like the Pottery barn lunch boxes? I’ve seen other metal ones similar to that one and it didn’t have the best reviews. What are the pros and cons?

  6. Sara says

    02/12/2015 at 6:33 PM

    Thank you for posting all of these great ideas! 🙂

  7. Charlene says

    02/12/2015 at 7:04 PM

    Hi Jill- I like them ok. They are hand wash which is the biggest downside. They hold a good amount of food- my 7 year old eats a lot. It is good if you have kids that want a lot if variety because there are lots of slots. I can’t always put as much as I want of things though- like I’d add tons of watermelon but unless I put that in the center I can’t put a lot in there. Oh and it is narrow- so no huge chunks of melon. Last I wish it had a slot for a water bottle. I pack those separately. HTH! I am not disappointed in it but I wouldn’t rave either 🙂

  8. Charlene says

    02/12/2015 at 7:05 PM

    Oh for sure they don’t– I wish veggies weren’t such an issue but thank you Dodi.

  9. Ashley | Spoonful of Flavor says

    02/12/2015 at 7:22 PM

    Great lunch box ideas! I am so glad to hear that you love my oatmeal recipe!

  10. Rachel says

    02/12/2015 at 8:41 PM

    So awesome! I would never have thought of putting Mac and cheese in a thermos ha ha. Such a good idea that’s why I love this site!

  11. Charlene says

    02/12/2015 at 10:09 PM

    Rachel- I hope it works for your little ones. Mine say it is still warm but I heat it up steaming hot in the morning, add a little more milk to keep it creamy and then pop in the thermos. My girls love macaroni day 🙂

  12. Ariana says

    02/13/2015 at 10:50 AM

    Such a helpful post!!! I was running into a lunch rut with my 5 year old. Thank you for the inspiration!!

  13. Meghan says

    02/13/2015 at 1:08 PM

    Many thanks for this – my kindergartner has just realized how awful the school lunches are, so my grace period of not having to make lunch has ended. I knew it was just a matter of time!
    Pottery Barn Kids website has some of the all-in-one lunch bags on sale right now – I just got one for $31.
    Baked beans mixed with frozen spinach is another favorite meal; send it with grated cheese to mix and melt when it’s lunchtime.

  14. Charlene says

    02/13/2015 at 4:07 PM

    You are welcome Ariana! Glad you got some ideas.

  15. Charlene says

    02/13/2015 at 4:07 PM

    Meghan- you’ll have to come back and let us know what you think of the lunchbox 🙂 It is nice to skip a bunch of baggies on little containers.

  16. Stephanie says

    02/15/2015 at 10:45 AM

    Thanks for posting this. It made me think about when my mom use to pack lunch for my sister and I. We use to be excited like your kids to see what we got for the day. I did not like school lunch very well since my mom made everything from scratch, and the school food was no where as good as hers. Our friends were so jealous of our food. She would get asked by our friends sometimes for her to make their lunch too. She got creative like you do to give us good healthy lunches. I remember she would put corn on the cob in our lunch box occasionally. I do not have kids yet, but I have to pack a lunch a lot for school and work, and this gave me some good ideas for myself. It is so hard to come up with food ideas.

  17. Charlene says

    02/15/2015 at 10:46 AM

    Stephanie- I think corn on the cob is a brilliant idea 🙂 My little monster does not love corn so that is something we argue about at dinner or I would totally do that myself. 🙂

  18. Amy says

    02/16/2015 at 10:48 PM

    Thanks for putting this together. I just took notes after reviewing it with my picky eater. I’m excited to mKe lunches again (and will make mine at the same time). Thank you!!

  19. Charlene says

    02/17/2015 at 11:55 AM

    Oh if you come up with fun ideas please come back and share 🙂 I try not to get discouraged with things. They say you are supposed to try things 10 times before you give up on a food. With my 5 year old she doesn’t love Kiwi but I still pack it all the time in winter and she eats it probably 70% of the time. 🙂 That is a win to me for sure.

  20. Meghan says

    03/02/2015 at 2:02 PM

    The PBK all-in-one lunchbox has been a big hit! The only minor drawback thus far is its weight – it seems heavy to my five-year old. But otherwise it has been great; thanks again for the recommendation.

  21. Charlene says

    03/02/2015 at 4:44 PM

    Really? I have a 5 year old and she doesn’t have any issues but she is almost 6 so maybe that is the difference. I am so glad you like it 🙂 Much cleaner and easier than a zillion little baggies.

  22. Erin says

    03/09/2015 at 12:45 PM

    Thanks for the great ideas for picky eaters! I love the thermos funtainers and one suggestion I had read is to put boiling water in it for a few minutes before filling it to warm it up. I just pop it under the keurig and let it sit while I heat up the mac. Has worked great for keeping food warm until lunch!

  23. Charlene says

    03/09/2015 at 4:43 PM

    Oh Erin that is an awesome tip. I will for sure try that!

  24. Jill says

    03/14/2015 at 11:57 AM

    Where do you find those Chobani yogurt tubes and the vanilla agave syrup? I haven’t seen either of those anywhere, but maybe I’m oblivious!

  25. Charlene says

    03/14/2015 at 11:58 AM

    Jill the Chobani was from Target or Costco- I buy them both places. Agave can be found at stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts for more commerical stores like Target but they don’t tend to have as big of a selection. You can find strawberry agave, cinnamon agave… all sorts of flavors. 🙂

  26. Heidi says

    08/15/2015 at 10:32 AM

    These look great!!! Can you come pack my kids lunches?? LOL!!! Where do you find the little plastic containers with lids for syrup, chocolate sauce, etc?

  27. Charlene says

    08/16/2015 at 10:36 AM

    Ha ha! Heidi those are little snack cups that I found at Walmart. They are disposable ones from Diamond.

    http://www.walmart.com/ip/Diamond-Multi-Purpose-Mini-Cups-With-Lids-2-oz-50ct/17056809

    We try not to be wasteful with disposable stuff like this but I haven’t found the perfect size reusable cups that fit in lunchboxes.

  28. Sam says

    10/24/2018 at 9:40 PM

    Who cares if these are meant for kids. I am going to use these for myself!! Haha!!!!

  29. Charlene says

    10/25/2018 at 8:41 AM

    I totally agree 🙂

Trackbacks

  1. Bowl-A-Thon, Dutch Bros Elk Grove Opens and Jerry Manuel – Feb. 19, 2015 « Good Day Sacramento says:
    02/19/2015 at 12:00 AM

    […] http://myfrugaladventures.com/2015/02/21-ideas-for-awesome-school-lunches/ […]

  2. Hangin In The Hot Tub With Mark… Today in the News | Norcalnews says:
    02/19/2015 at 1:12 PM

    […] Adventures shared great ideas that won’t break the bank and the kids won’t trade out! http://myfrugaladventures.com/2015/02/21-ideas-for-awesome-school-lunches/ http://myfrugaladventures.com/2013/04/easy-homemade-almond-butter-healthy-delicious/ […]

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I'm Charlene- thank you for stopping by MY FRUGAL ADVENTURES! I am a Mom to two little girls living in gorgeous Northern California. This is a fun place to find simple & affordable inspiration for everything from gifts to home improvement to travel to children's crafts to what's for dinner tonight! READ MORE >>>

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