Lunches - Morse,LA

My dd is the pickiest eater on the face of the earth.

She will eat:
pbj with the crust cut off
lunchables (won't eat the meat though, just the cheese, crackers and cookies) I buy the smaller ones
cold pizza leftovers
pepperoni and cheese wraps (prepackaged "rave" brand)
I make her buy lunch one time per week

My kids didn't like sandwiches so I did a variety of about 5-6 snack-type things, which would include a snack when they needed one: lunch meat, cheese slices/sticks, gogurts, fruit cups, real fruit, bag of chips, cookie pack, puddings/jello, nuts, chicken nuggets (they didn't care if they were cold), granola bars, crackers, etc. Most of it is prebagged so it was easy to just pick different things so their lunch was always "different". I wasn't too concerned about it only being "healthy" since they eat a healthy breakfast and dinner. I mostly wanted to make sure it was going to be something they would at least EAT. lol Good luck!

Here are a few of the things I pack for my son (5) - his class is peanut free...
Fruit cup
cheese
hummus and turkey wrap - just rolled in a WW tortilla
hummus/carrots/crackers
summer sausage slices
apple slices / other fresh fruit
fig newtons
These are the most frequently packed.

If you are at a loss for ideas, go to a local au bon pain, panera bread, or other sandwich/salad joint, grab their menu and duplicate at home.

Not sure if your kids are broad eaters, but the shop downstairs from my office offers the following which I quite like-

sandwiches-
turkey club
caprese
black bean burgers with avocado and carmelized onions
roast beef and herb cheese
chipotle turkey
grilled chicken with blue cheese

wraps-
thai peanut chicken
southwest tuna
chicken ceasar
medditerranean
napa chicken with avocado

salads-
chicken cobb with avocado
chicken ceasar
thai peanut chicken
turkey apple brie
tuna garden
southwest chicken

soups-
garden veg
chicken noodle
french onion
minestrone
beef barley
chicken tortellini
split pea
black bean
italian wedding
chili
baked potato soup
cream of broccoli/ mushroom/ asparagus

Any of these seem like a bit of a production, but really, make 4 at a time (for the two kids, hubs and why not, one for yourself) and it goes really fast- i.e. caprese sandwich. itallian bread, mozarella, arugula or other mixed greens, some pesto, some jarred red pepper and you are done.

Best,
F. B.

I generally pack one protein/whole grain item and either two veggies and a fruit or two fruits and a veggie.

Protein/grain - PB&J on whole grain, grilled cheese on whole grain, hummus, left over pasta with whatever meat/veggies we made it with, plain yogurt with fresh fruit chopped in (covers fruit too), left over black bean chili

Veggies - broccoli (raw or cooked), green beans, peas, corn, salad, carrot sticks, sweet potato, greens and beans (kale w white beans), guacamole (cover top closely with plastic wrap or it will discolor), seaweed salad, edamame

Fruit - bananas, clementines, oranges, melon, strawberries, blueberries, pears, peaches, grapes, dried fruit (when we run low on fresh - raisins, craisins, apricots, prunes).

My husband - um, he takes care of his own lunch.

I do NOT use a thermos - they seem to keep food warm (ideal bacterial growth temperature) and not hot. My son is perfectly happy to eat virtually all leftovers cold (I do too, so I do not feel like this is any sort of problem)

Leftovers from last nights supper if they are able to heat them up.

Well for kids, there's the traditional PB&J with carrots or raisins or another piece of fruit. Lunchables aren't terribly bad but a little on the expensive side. I recently discovered hummus and it's something that a lot of kids like (it tastes kinda like bean dip to them). That with pita chips is a great side to any sandwich or wrap.
I'm not sure how much you cook or like cooking, but baked chicken is a great leftover or day-after meal, with a salad or as a salad. Wraps of course are good, too. If you do cook, you can look up recipes for some healthy and hearty soups and stews. And I've always loved veggie plates.

I asked this same question about a week ago and got some great idea. Here is the link: http://mamapedia.com/questions/5690076803310551041

For an adult lunch, I do a basic healthy lunch: sandwich (lunchmeat if I have to, but often a piece of leftover chicken, meatloaf, or roast beef sliced thin), piece of fruit, and yogurt. I also have a microwave handy at work, so sometimes I put in a can of soup, and just open and heat.

For the kids:
Wraps
salami & cheese slices
mini carrots & Ranch
Sliced chicken breast in pita pockets
Gogurts
turkey sandwiches on their favorite bread
toss in whatever their favorite fruits are
fruit snack packages
veggie chips

For hubby:
Leftovers
pasta
wraps
chicken breast
rice & diced chicken
chicken stirfry over rice
anything made w/ground turkey. Just substitute in your meat dishes
stew w/lots of veggies
grd turkey tacos (meat sep from tortillas. Can put in micro & assemble at work)
taco salad made w/the grd turkey
yougurt & Grapenuts
a few raw almonds
fruit salad
homemade veggie pizza (make your crust, load up w/lots of veggies)

My son is very picky. But he loves a thermos with soup, spaghetti, mac n cheese. He will eat pepperonis and crackers. I also always pack him a fruit and/or veggie, and something like pretzels. My daughter likes everything. I can pack her salad, wraps, leftovers, any kind of sandwich, stew, chili, a burrito, quesadillas, etc. She likes a bunch of raw mixed veggies and a dip. She likes cream cheese and jam sandwiches. She likes when I make her a croissant sandwich. I will give her a fruit salad sometimes.

I just invested in a good thermos for my son. He has typically bought his lunch at school but just had an expander put in for his teeth. So until he gets used to eating I am sending soups, spaghetti o's, etc for him. The thermos keeps the stuff hot so you could have a lot more choices to send.

I usually pack a protein source, a fruit, a veggie and a grain.
protein:
hard boiled eggs
cheese sticks or sliced cheese
sliced meat (on a sandwich or with crackers)
hamburger patty
peanut butter (on sandwich or celery)

veggies are usually carrots or snap peas, sometimes a salad (my son like plain lettuce), green beans, etc.

Fruits are easy to pack as is most of the time.

Grains are either bread or crackers, sometimes granola with yogurt or cereal (I send milk in a thermos).

If you don't have small thermoses for them yet, get them. We often send pasta, mac and cheese, soup and things like that to school. It really helps break up the endless sandwiches. We also do hard boiled eggs, sliced cucumbers, olives, grape tomatoes, berries, and many other fruits and veggies as sides. Sometimes I'll even put together a small salad for each. We try to reuse tupperware and small containers we have, so we can pack everything without using throw-away baggies. Since we have started that, it seems to make us more creative with food ideas. Every now and then we throw in a cookie, but only once every few months or so. The school really likes to keep the kids eating healthy.

I can't help with kids' lunches. My boys are 9 and 16, and they take sandwiches every - single - day.

My husband and I take our lunches, too. We make pasta and soup every Sunday, and those become our lunches for the week. We'll eat it for dinner one night (with the boys, too), also. We make all different kinds of soups and pastas, usually without recipes. We just decide if we want a tomato based sauce or a cream sauce for the pasta, and then throw in whatever peppers and spices sound good. Sometimes we add chicken or seafood, but sometimes we just have pasta. As for the soup, we make all kinds - various bean soups are our favorites, but we also make tortilla soup, potato soup, jambalaya, and gumbo (this week's meal).