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How to pack a brown bag lunch that won’t be traded.  What did you like to find in your lunch box when you were a kid?

One of the best parts of shopping for school supplies is picking out the lunch box that your child will like to take to school every day. Once you have the equipment, you will need to fill it!! We all know about lunch box content trading. To make sure that the lunches you pack are envied by other kids, but eaten by your child, include your child in the planning process. There’s no point in packing Chicken Salad in a Pita pocket if your little one hates it!!

Some foods need special; attention, like milk, meats and cheeses. These foods can make you sick if food poisoning bacteria is allowed to grow on them. Wash the lunch box thoroughly and dry it every day, as bacteria can grow easily and quickly!!  Make sure your child understands that any leftover parts of sandwiches, chicken, dairy products, and other perishables not eaten at lunch time, must be placed in a trash can in the lunch room, not saved for after school.

 Put something cold in the lunch box. A fun trick is to freeze a juice box overnight and put that in your lunch box right next to the sandwich. That way your sandwich will not get too warm and your child will have a cold drink at lunch time. As an alternative you can pack a small plastic refrigerator dish filled with ice that has been frozen the night before and popped into the lunch box in the morning.  Actual time for eating lunch at most schools is about 20 minutes and is of course filled with distractions. Make sure the lunches you pack are easy to eat and packed in easily opened containers.  Small children may not eat very much at one time. Think about packing half portions, appetizers or some such instead of a whole sandwich. You can include more choices if the quantities are smaller. Small foods are not only easier for children to handle, but they are more fun to eat. Cut sandwiches into smaller pieces, use tiny tortillas for wraps and small sandwich buns. Choose baby carrots and small pieces of fruit, or mini boxes of raisins. Use different types of bread for sandwiches. Mini waffles, rice cakes, mini croissants, pita bread, small bagels or raisin bread.

Instead of making sandwiches, consider packing individual sandwich ingredients to let your child make their own sandwich, or eat the ingredients separately.  Cereal bars can pack a lot of nutrition into a food kids love to eat. Include raisins, or other dried fruits in the recipe for additional flavor, color and nutrition. Include something fun such as a sticker, cookies wrapped in plastic with a ribbon, sandwiches cut into playful shapes, or meats and cheeses or fruits threaded on a caramel apple stick.  When you are planning brown bag school lunches, one way to save time is to plan a whole week of lunches when you do the grocery shopping. Some fruits may need that extra time to ripen in a closed paper bag on the counter. You can make sandwiches for school lunches in an assembly line ahead of time and freeze them. In fact freezing any type of bread before you start assembling sandwiches helps to stop the bread from tearing when you spread with spreads. This works well with coarse textured breads that won’t get soggy when thawed. The sandwich will be thawed by the time lunchtime arrives and will keep the rest of the food nicely chilled as well. If you like lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on the sandwich pack those separately, as they do not freeze well.

Fast food packets such as mustard, catsup, salsa etc. are handy for the lunch bags. Pick up a few extra when you dine out. Pack pre-moistened towelettes to clean up messy hands in a hurry!!  Kid pleasing hot foods such as soup and chili can also go to school in a wide mouth thermos. Don’t forget to pack a plastic spoon. Also whether for chilled or hot foods, prepare the thermos by either filling it with iced or boiling water beforehand. It will more efficiently keep your foods the correct temperature; not just more pleasurable to eat but safer as well. Pack fresh fruit or cubes of mixed fresh fruit in a plastic container. Veggie sticks are welcomed by kids especially if you include a small container of their favorite dip. Most kids love to assemble their food on the spot; dipping veggies, stacking slices of meat and cheese on crackers an so on. Give them some choices from each food group and let them mix and match.  Sometimes variety isn’t welcome!!

Your child’s idea of a perfect lunch could be a peanut butter & Jelly sandwich and an apple or granola bar. It’s not unusual for kids to want the same thing for lunch everyday. Some kids just want familiar things and don’t really like variety. As long as it’s a balanced meal don’t worry, they will eventually tire of it and want something else.  Cookie cutter sandwiches are fun to make with your kids. Slice the crusts off the bread and use cookie cutters to make fun shapes.  Add a few sunflower seeds, pretzels, or nuts for crunch appeal.  Include some mail for the kids; a note from Mom is a treat.

Add some fun and colorful stickers to the outside of a paper bag lunch

For a special touch, buy party napkins with cartoon characters or super heroes. Check the clearance sales at card shops and party supply outlets to buy them at greatly reduced prices.  Try a variety of fillings and bread alternatives. Fill a Pita pocket with egg salad, chicken salad or tuna salad. Make mini subs on a ranch roll or hot dog bun. Spread bagels with cream cheese and jelly. Make tortilla rollups with ham or chicken and cheese. Use left over chicken or ham to make sandwich spread. When you make dinner, think leftovers. Make sandwiches from sliced home baked ham, roast beef or turkey breast instead of processed luncheon meats. Make an extra large roaster and slice half of the breast for chicken sandwiches. Make two meat loaves and save one to slice for cold sandwiches.   For sandwich boredom.. Lunch doesn’t have to include a sandwich every day. Buy an extra large bucket of chicken so there’s left overs for lunch. Make pasta salads using colorful pasta in fun shapes. Add thinly sliced pepperoni or salami for extra protein. Make a cold veggie pizza. When lunch doesn’t include a sandwich, add a  slice of quick bread, a muffin or mini muffins, bread sticks, mini bagels with jam or cream cheese, peanut butter or cheese on whole wheat crackers, nachos and salsa or graham crackers.  Wrap mozzarella cheese around soft breadsticks and serve with a small container of spaghetti or pizza sauce for dipping.  Core an apple and stuff the inside with peanut butter. Top with raisins, nuts, sunflower seeds or toasted coconut. The filling will keep the apple from turning brown.