School Lunches

I loved buying school lunch when I was a kid. Bringing my own brown bag fare just seemed embarrassing, but not anymore. Have you seen the cool lunch gear available to kids today? Bento boxes and divided trays that come with their own silverware and cartoon shaped food picks and flower shaped cutters... it's awesome!


Compared to other places I have seen / heard / read about, my son's school cafeteria seemed to offer pretty decent food, and they even kicked it up a notch this year by switching over to all whole grains and sweet potato fries. But still, I like being able to see what he did and didn't eat, so I pack my son's lunch more often than not. Besides, $2.75 for school lunch isn't exactly a steal.

I try to offer a variety of healthy foods, so even if he just picks at it, he's still getting some good stuff in his system. And yes, there's usually a little treat in there. Just something sweet in case he's in the mood, and so he doesn't feel left out when his friends are chowing down on sugar-loaded granola bars and chips and ice cream.

Here is the lunch I packed today:



Half of a natural jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread, lightly steamed baby carrots, pistachios




An apple, 100% juice fruit punch, 1 Hershey's Nugget




This container stacks into itself, and then has a lid with a snap-on ice pack

 I try to cover all of the food groups except dairy, because he has milk or yogurt with his breakfast, after-school snack, dinner, and bedtime snack.

I am always looking for new lunch combos and ideas. What do your kids like to eat?