School Lunches - South Weymouth,MA

Try sunflower butter ..tastes just as good as peanut butter and is safe because it is not a nut butter.

My 3 yr old son is very picky too - thankfully, pre-school is only for about three and a half hours, so I only need to pack snacks, but I totally understand how you feel - his school just became completely peanut-free, and peanut butter is one of his favorites.

For a drink, I send a Fruitables drink box - it's fruit juice, but with vegetables added, and even I can't tell the difference between the Fruitables and regular juice.

I send my son with snacks that I know he'll eat, and then worry about lunch when he gets home. Pretzels, cornbread, fruit (cut up and ready to eat), fruit snacks (the Welch's are ones are good), a blueberry muffin, applesauce, animal crackers, raisins, granola, pancakes (you can freeze them and thaw them before school, and if you cut them up, they're great for dunking in applesauce!) and anything else I can come up with that's fairly good for him that I know he'll eat.

The key is to send two snacks - that way you're daughter can pick which she wants to eat (if she doesn't eat both). This is a good age to start giving kids choices, and what they eat is one of the few things they have control over...which is why I think three yr olds are so dang picky ;-). Good luck!

I would not assume that a child has a peanut allergy. You should ask the teacher. You can always send in crackers with slices of cheese and meat or a small container of hummus. Does your daughter like tuna fish or egg salad? What about yogurt, fruit and vegetables to dip in it. A thermos of soup or chowder with the little oyster crackers was always a hit for my kids. There are so many things you just need to think a little differently. Again, I would ask about allergies though not assume.

Good Luck
B. O

Soy nut butter. There are no nuts in it. They don't know the difference.

Crackers and Cheese, heat up the mac and cheese until it is very hot - and pack it in a thermos. (Don't skimp on these, I got a few cheap one's and they fell apart or wouldn't open - I got a stainless steel Thermos brand in the short version and it's lasted 2 school years so far). Once you have the thermos, it opens up a lot for picky eaters -Soup, leftover pasta, meatballs, etc.
My kids love roll ups - rolling ham and cheese together, or putting it in a flour tortilla. Vegis and Ranch dressing for dipping. I send in dry cereal in a tupperware and a separate jug of milk.
They may be pickier at home, sometimes my kids will eat what I send as there is no one to accomodate them and their pickyness. Also they don't have to have what we perceive as 'lunch' as long as they have a fruit or vegi, a carb and some protein, they have lunch.
One last recipe - sounds weird by my picky/no sandwich eater likes Cream cheese (mixed with a little honey), spread on a ww tortilla, shredded carrots and raisins.
Good Luck

Sounds like you are getting a lot of good suggestions. The thermos is a must at my house for mac and cheese, spaghettios, chicken noodle soup or left overs from dinner the night before. Be careful with the eggs though, I know my preschooler can not bring peanut or egg products to school. If you can bring eggs I know alot of parents send in hard boiled for lunch. I also have something called a Bento box (you can find them online) for my older daughter. They are a Japenese style lunch box with lots of little compartments for fruit, veggies, hummus, other dips etc. Kind of fun to eat out of. You can fin them on line. Good luck!

M., Target has hot lunch kits. I send my son in with mac andcheese it stayshot.You must put hot water in for like5-10 min before food. L.

My daughter is 4 and also very picky. Her daycare/preschool will warm up hot items, but frequently her lunch consists of yogurt, rice cake or saltines and fruit (strawberries, banana, applesauce etc). Her school supplies snacks - usually fruit, crackers, pretzels, goldfish. Good luck!

Hi,
My daughter is the same way and when I sent her to nursery school for the first time I had no idea what to do. So, I went and bought one of those "Thermos" containers for hot or cold food (silver and black). I got it at Stop and Shop for $20. I don't know if your school will allow it-I can't imagine they wouldn't. So, I sent her to school with mac n cheese, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, noodles with cheese, etc. !! I always included a bowl and utensil in the lunch bag. Also, So it stays warm for hours, before you put the food in, boil water and let it sit inside the container for 15 min. and then put food in. It works! Good luck!

Do they have a microwave at her school for lunches or are you not allowed to pack those sorts of foods? My kids' day care/preschool does and you can send in a thermos with hot items, like the eggs and mac and cheese your little one eats. If not, the grilled cheese can always be eaten at room temp, not as good, I know, but maybe she'll go for it. My girls, ages 2 and 4, eat peanut butter basically every day, so the other nut butters the previous post suggested are good ideas. My kids also eat yogurt, applesauce, a little fruit cup with fruit we cut up in it, and snacks like Clif energy bars for kids, Smartfood, animal crackers, cereal bars, 100-calorie packs of cheese crackers, and sometimes fruit snacks for a treat. These are the basic staples they have in their lunch box daily. I hope this helps, and good luck with pre-K!

Why can't u send mac & cheese or eggs? If you over heat it in the morn and put in a medal themoas it should stay hot. That is what i do when we go t the park. I also d grilled CHeese and Hot dogs. the book store has alot of book on meals for picky kid. Good luck.

Hi M.,

I love all the ideas you have received. However, I did want to suggest that you do not send anything secured with a toothpick. While my children loved cubed anything on a toothpick at home, preschool can be socially exciting and a young child may be less careful with a toothpick.

What a wonderful source this website is!

R

Hi M.,

I send in lowfat string cheese--you can always put it into a ziplock bag if she can't open the package herself. Maybe a container of yogurt? Raisins, dried apricots--really, try a variety of dried fruits and see what she likes. Or a container of fresh fruits cut up; like grapes. Also, goldfish crackers, reduced fat cheez-its are a hit, pretzels, stoned wheat crackers, wheat thins, etc. My daughter is also fond of kielbasa--both cold and hot--cut up into bite sized pieces.

Good luck!

Sun or soy butter or a thermos with warm items are great ideas. At 3 I'm assuming they'd help her open containers, etc. so I would think a thermos would be ok. My daughter is now 6 but staples in her lunch have been yogurt, cheese sticks, easy to eat fruits like grapes, strawberries, kiwi, ham or turkey with cheese sandwich (with the crusts cutoff and no condiments), "roll up" sandwiches (using a tortilla, rolled up and then sliced into spirals), carrot sticks, cucumber, grape tomatoes, some kind of bar/snack (I try to find ones without so much sugar), pretzels, popcorn, and even certain heartier dry cereal as a snack (like Cracklin Oat Bran or Brown Sugar Oatmeal Squares) or sometimes I'll make a "mix up snack" where it'll have pretzels, cereal, goldfish, teddy grahams, etc. all in the same bag. When she is hungry she will eat!

I DO send grilled cheese. My son will eat. it. I put extra butter on it so it doesn't get hard. Then I wrap in tin foil. My daughter likes hard boiled eggs so I send those a lot.
You can also get butters that are not peanut. Sunbutter, cashew butter, almond butter. She might accept that. My son also was willing to eat cold mac and cheese.

My daughter was the pickiest when she started school. I packed her a cream cheese and jelly sandwich EVERY day. I also included fruit, pretzels, crackers, things like that. To pack things more easily, I bought a case of jelly jars- for making jam. I got the smallest ones and use them every day. The work really well. The kids can open them easily and they last and last. I put yogurt in them too. Or applesauce.

The other thing to keep in mind is that school is amazing at expanding our kids' tastebuds. I bet your daughter will be a lot more adventurous at school than she is at home. Peer pressure can be a good thing sometimes!
Good luck!

You might be surprised what she might branch out to when she starts school. Maybe not, but sometimes that is a pleasant surprise. On the other hand, my child got pickier when he went to preschool and had kids commenting on his food--EWWWW! Such is life! But his teacher was a great support during snack and lunch.

We sent hummus and multi-grain pita bread, homemade chicken quesadillas, leftover pizza, string cheese and crackers, cut up spiced chicken (chicken coated with toasted cumin, coriander, salt and pepper from the night before--MMM!), turkey ham and cheese roll-ups (with toothpicks to hold the halves together), cold meat rolls (just roll up the slices) with mini cheese slices cut to desired size and/or shapes, vanilla yogurt, pineapple chunks, mandarin oranges (he LOVED those), goldfish, pretzels, tree nut/raisin/goldfish combo, grapes, carrots with ranch dip container on the side, apple slices (covered with a little lemon juice to not get brown), milk, juice (Apple & Eve 100%), Cracklin Bran cereal, occasionally Teddy Grahams, etc.

The preschool actually had a microwave and were happy to heat up the food for him. If that truly is not an option for your daughter, I'd go with a lunch Thermos (I got at Wal-Mart, silver and black) like several people have mentioned. I started using that more when our son got into school where that wasn't an option.

But it might be time to branch out a bit. If she's hungry enough, you'd be surprised what kids begin to be willing to eat, especially if their favorite friend at school likes it! My son resisted some foods at home he would willingly eat at school because he loved his teacher so much and she encouraged him to try it. Voila! A new favorite food was born! (Go figure!)

The sky is the limit, even if it may not feel like it at the moment. Our son is 12 and we have packed lunch for him almost every day until this year. We have lots of containers to cut down on trash waste and food waste--to give him the amount he actually wants--and it's worked well for our family. This year is the first year he is taking school lunch every day. Ah, to have a broader taste palette! What a joy!

He now loves calamata olives, capers, salmon, all sorts of stuff. He still is not a fan of peanut butter and jelly, or pasta dishes which are a staple in some homes, but it's a treat to see his tastebuds waking up over the years! Now, if I can just cure him of his love of pepperoni and salami. (I feel like a slug of a mother for allowing him to eat that stuff from cholesterol-city, but he LOVES it!)

Happy food trails!

If there's nothing else, she will eat it. :)

That said, try sunbutter or sunflower butter instead of peanut butter. You can find it pretty much anywhere now because of the nut allergies. Sometimes I let my kids bring a snack sized thermos in. You could give her macaroni and cheese in one of those (not the glass insulated ones though).

You can also try wraps or little pizzas. Definitely invest in a sandwich cutter too. They cut the crusts off and leave you with a design shaped sandwich - I've seen hearts and cars.

hi M. -
i think you cna pack all of those things - provided your daughter will eat things not warmed up (at my son's school they actually will warm up food) but....the thing that is helpful is if she learns how to open the tupperware containers, etc. I also make quesadillas, pizza, bagel & cream cheese. Snacks: yogurt, applesauce, granola bar, cut fruit. Good luck and have fun!

Are you sure they won't warm up food in a microwave? I have the same issue with my son and imagine it is pretty common....he won't eat sandwiches, just pasta for entrees. I know some moms who make roll ups for their kids but mine won't touch them. I have sent crackers with cream cheese. I am very lucky, he eats fruits and some veggies, cheese sticks and yogurt. I am ashamed to admit I have packed pop tarts and strawberry newtons on occasion. Hope this helps a bit.

I have been doing the school lunches for the last couple of years with my kids. We have tried many of the other suggestions I've seen. We also make pinwheels with flatbread. You layer turkey or ham, cheese and then sour cream or salad dressing onto the flatbread, roll it up and then slice it. There are a few different colors of flatbread so I let them choose the color that they'll have that week. My kids also like to take chicken nuggets. As long as you get a good thermos and heat it up by putting hot water in it before you put the food in, they do a good job of keeping the food warm until lunch time.

I have been packing lunches for my daughter for the past few years. She loves hummus sandwiches (sometimes with avocado in it), cream cheese and jelly sandwiches, chicken nuggets. I use a thermos for hot items but also noticed that she wasn't as picky about the temp of the food as I was. The rule of thumb that I followed was to pack a bunch of stuff (main thing, yogurt, fruit and veggie) that way she would atleast eat most of that and be good! Good luck!

Will she eat any luncheon meats? Ham? Turkey? My kids get lunch at school, but on days they don't like what they have they bring lunch from home. I got them a thermos so they can have leftovers though or something hot if they want it. So on days they don't want that they probably would have tuna fish. Although, that has a tendency to get soggy so I put the tuna in a separate container and send some bread and they can put the tuna on the bread. Not sure if your daughter would be able to do that. Or even likes tuna fish.