Our first “School Lunch Roundup” post quickly became one of the most popular pages on the blog so I thought I’d put together another one for you (2018 update: there are so many of these now that I’ve put together a School Lunch Roundup Series page where you can see them all)! For those who are newer to our site be sure to check out “My Favorite School Lunch Supplies” to see the details on all our containers, lunch boxes, thermos cups, etc. Also, if you see a recipe below that you may be interested in (like quesadillas, apple sandwich, refried beans, chicken noodle soup, etc.) just search for it using the search box at the top, right of the page. Most are on the blog, but unfortunately I’m not able to put a live link in photo captions.
Also, I’d like to make sure everyone knows about our meal planning sponsor, Plan to Eat. The start of school means getting back on a schedule and they can definitely help when it comes to the kitchen and grocery shopping. Plan to Eat is a web application that creates a categorized grocery list from recipes that you drag into an interactive meal planning calendar. You can easily import recipes from any website using their handy bookmark (similar to “pinning” in Pinterest), which helps to keep all of your favorite recipes in one place. They are currently offering a completely free 30-day trial, so you should definitely give it a try!
So without further ado, here is a summary of the school lunches that I’ve been sharing on my Facebook page:
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Please feel free to share your lunch packing ideas in the comments below!
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Food Allergies: Dairy (including recipes)
This isn’t the place that I first saw it, but I don’t know which page it was, and I had to send a THANK YOU comment. My son opted to go to the local school last month, after his entire school career being in a virtual school. So, I had to start packing lunches. And then, he threw me a loop today, and reminded me of a field trip tomorrow, and oh, the lunch has to be disposable. EEP! I would have been frantic, if i hadn’t read some of your ideas on that recently! Instead, I shrugged, said “ok”, and proceeded to pack the exact same planned lunch in disposable plastic containers (That I pulled out of my recycling from yesterday’s lunch and washed). I even refilled a cheap plastic water bottle that I had in the car, and turned it into lemonade. Real food, and everything from the plastic fork to the water bottle can go in the trash (if it has to… I wish they had the option to recycle).
Thanks, Lisa, for making my panic not appear. :)
Where do you get those cute little frozen smoothie holder pops?
:)
Hi Liz. You can find them here: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/03/19/real-food-tips-4-hints-for-using-freezie-pop-molds/.
Hey there! I’m in my first year of dental school and trying to find healthy lunches to bring with me to school (instead of getting on the bus back to my apartment every day) — I absolutely love your ideas, and plan on using many of them.. thank you for sharing. I wanted to know what brand/type of whole wheat pitas you are using? I’d love to find a healthy option! Thank you!
Hi there. Lisa usually gets her whole wheat pitas from Trader Joes. ~Amy
Sabrina, I hear ya! My son is 14 months old and would devour this yummy lunches and expect 3 more. Boys really eat a lot. My question is, how do you keep sliced apples from turning brown?
Hi Angelique. Lemon juice does the best job but lots of people prefer pineapple juice for the taste. :)
Great ideas! Most of these look like something my kids would eat or at least try.