Lunches

[lisaann]

I thought it would be neat to start a thread with lunch ideas. Packed lunches for school, lunches for homeschooled kids, Dad ect.

We homeschool so I don't have to pack a lunch every day but early afternoon is my favorite time of day to run errands. It is just too easy to stop at a fast food place to eat and that is just to expensive and not healthy. My resolution this year is to pack us lunches to quickly grab for errand days.

* Sandwiches can be made ahead of time and frozen. I have been doing this for my dh for awhile now and decided to also make some up for the kids and myself. I go to BJ's and buy 4 loaves of bread and all the sandwich fixin's. I make up all 4 loaves at the same time assembly line style, pack them each in their own baggies and store them in the freezer in plastic shoe boxes. I also put our initials on each bag since not everyone likes the same things. I have found that mustard, cheese and a small amount of mayo freeze nicely. All I have to do is get out the sandwich and put it in the lunch box, it is thawed by lunchtime. This is time saving and money saving plus I only have one mess to clean up. :thumb

* Other lunch things I get at BJ's are: yogurt, cheese sticks, drinks, small bags of chips, fruit.

What do you guys do for lunch?

[Biblecat2]

These are some of the things I pack in my sons and hubby's lunches:

Left overs from the previous night's dinner
Regular meat sandwich if there are no leftovers
B & J sandwich
fresh fruit
cheese and cracker packets
hard boiled eggs
yogurt
Can of fruit juice

[wife]

well, teachers at hubby school get free lunch. But I used to pack him leftovers or a sandwich.

For the kids when we are home, I usually make mac and cheese, ham sandwiches, or sometimes frozen pizza. They will eat carrots or string cheese or sometimes a salad with it.

When they go to 2 day school it is usually a sandwich with a few sides. Sometimes I will do this if we are going to be on the road. But I try not to leave until after lunch. But we sometimes pack a snack

[HSmomto4]

I have a menu I follow for the kids here at home. We have fish sticks, chicken nuggets, sandwich, mac and cheese and we eat out once a week or if we don't eat out it is their choice here at home. I found having a set schedule works better for lunch. Hubby gets a sandwich, chips, cookies and fruit. Sometimes he just eats out.

[lisaann]

Hmmmmm, I like the idea of having a set menu. :nod

[Cookies4me]

:nod set menu
Need to work on that :thumb

[topekaclark]

We have one in ps, he eats lunch at school everyday. High school gets more food choices. I think ihe went for months eating hamburger/fries. LOL

The rest I hs and hubby comes home and eats with us. I try to keep it simple, sandwiches, fruit/veggies, frozen pizza, soup, Spaghetti O's (yuck). Our budget doesn't allow use to eat out too much plus we have a 2 1/2 year and it's soooo much easier to feed him at home.

Lisaann, you said you froze sandwiches. I have questions, when it thaws doesn't it get soggy??? If not, I would like to try it for last minute lunch picnics.

[lisaann]

Lisaann, you said you froze sandwiches. I have questions, when it thaws doesn't it get soggy??? If not, I would like to try it for last minute lunch picnics.

No, it doesen't get soggy. Think of it this way: you can freeze bread, you can freeze lunchmeat and you can freeze cheese. Why not put them all together and save yourself time. :thumb

I think though that you need to be careful with packing them. If your lunchmeat is very wet then you need to pat it dry before making the sandwiches. I wouldent try freezing a PB&J, I'm sure the jelly would get soggy. If I were you I would try making up 2-3 sandwiches and see how they turn out for you. This has been a real time and money saver for us! Plus I havent heard any complaints yet. :yay:heh

[lulu]

Actually, I DO freeze PBJs. I spread the PB on both pieces of bread. This keeps the jellly from getting the bread soggy. Works for me.

[House of Light]

I have been packing lunches for my 3 public school kids......this is new for me, so this is a great thread!

I made homemade buns on Monday. Great change in the lunch box, instead of just plain bread. I made 5 dozen, and they are half way gone today! Depending on the kid, its either PB&J, or ham and cheese. I have been putting in a pudding or yougurt, a baggy of almonds, and raisins, with a few chocolate chips(can't help it!) I also have been making oatmeal cookies.

Youngest son has requested veggies from our garden, so it a twist top rubbermade container I have chopped cucumbers and tomatoes. He eats the whole thing everyday. As winter comes, I plan on putting in soups, (they can warm them there I think!), and pumpkin breads, and lefse, and homemade garlic toast...I take buns that are a few days old, open them, spread real butter on, and garlic powder....bake on low for an hour or so. My great grandpa made these and called them Rusks, my dh calls them FLARF. Guess what name my kids call them? "Uh,.....could you please pass the FLARF?"

I don't like to buy the individual packages, because they are spendy. I buy in bulk and break it down. I have purchased lunch boxes that can act as coolers, and many rubbermade and glad lock containers.

Oh......and and large bottle of cold water. We refill our own bottles with the purified water in our fridge.