School Lunch Ideas

This sassy little cutie has been begging to take her own lunch since the start of the school year. At first I thought it had to do with her friend’s cute characterized lunch boxes (which she also begged me to buy). I could see that she was also intrigued by how her car pool friends could bring their leftovers home and have snacks in the car.  She very adamantly told me that the lunch ladies would not let her save her food for later. What is a girl to do?

If you are my six year old – the answer is obvious. If mom won’t pack a lunch, pack your own! When my husband asked Lily to get her homework out one night, a plastic bag with wrappers fell out as well. After my husband inquired what was in the bag, Lily nonchalantly replied, “That’s the wrappers from the lunch I took to school today.”

When this information was relayed to me, I was slightly mortified. What could my daughter have possibly packed on her own and what did the school think I was sending her to school with? Her lunch that day included a GoGoSqueez, a Nature’s Bakery Fig Bar, Stretch Island Fruit Leather, and a granola bar raided from the snack cupboard and packaged up nicely in a Ziploc bag. Glad I had some healthy snacks on hand, but I’m thinking some protein would have been good, too!

Lily and I came to an agreement that she can pack and take her own lunches as long as she shows them to me before she takes them. She hasn’t decided to take her own since then, but I’ve decided I better have good lunch supplies on hand just in case! I love that someone shared this infographic with me just in time for new ideas. The shopping list saves me time and I am already printing off coupons from Coupons.com at least once a week. My next month worth of lunches is going to be pretty easy! These meal ideas will be perfect for my little boys at home as well.

Infographic-School-Lunches-FINAL

If you like what you see, check out the full post at Coupons.com and download the printer-optimized PDF version.

What are your children’s favorite lunch meals and snacks?

Still need more back to school inspiration? Check out these fun ideas!

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Healthy School Lunch Ideas

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Bosch Universal Plus Mixer

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6 Comments

aprila · October 9, 2013 at 1:46 pm

I have a hard time figuring out what to pack in my son’s lunch. I dont want to pack the same thing and I am always try to think of healthier items to pack. I love coupons.com I am always printing coupons from their website

Growing Up Madison · October 9, 2013 at 3:57 pm

My son if he could eat PBJ every day he would. Not sure what other favorites he has but the kids usually eat school lunches.

Jenna @ A Mama Collective · October 9, 2013 at 4:06 pm

I absolutely LOVE this compilation of lunch ideas! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂 My kids don’t love PB&J even though it’s my favorite/easiest thing to make. They like quesadillas (which are also super easy) and other simple things – basically because I’m always running out of ideas. Thanks to this, I hopefully won’t run out of things to make them!

Sarah Jane · October 9, 2013 at 4:45 pm

I love all the lunch ideas. My daughter loves eating cheese and apples or grapes.

OurFamilyWorld · October 9, 2013 at 6:08 pm

This is awesome! So many good ideas. I love how you can mix things up every day and still make sure your kids are getting nutrition.

Natalie @ TheCreativeMom · August 6, 2014 at 10:33 pm

Great idea!

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