BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Cooking For Kids School Lunch Ideas

Hi!

I think I cut off the l at the end of the link, so it was htm instead of html. Ops--it must have been before my caffeine had a chance to kick in.

Thank you for the link. Those are great ideas for healthy snack ideas for lunches--for kids and adults.

I love the "Instead of this choose that" chart. That's very helpful!

Thank you again!

Now might be a good time to check with your child's school, and find out if there are any restrictions on food items for lunch.

For example, many schools have a 'no peanut' policy, etc.

If your child has food allergies, or you know someone who has, the The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network can help.

They offer websites for kids, teens, and adults coping with food allergies:

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network

I hope everyone is enjoying these last few weeks of summer!

Good idea to check with the school...my grandson's school has a no peanut butter policy. It is going to make it very hard..he loves his fruit and vegies and his peanutbutter.
Sundancer
www.mikessportingoods.ecrater.com

Hey Sundancer!

Many parents decide to make the after school snacks from the items that are not allowed in school lunch.

For example, if your grandson loves fruits and veggies with peanut butter, that can be his special after school snack.

Or, it might be a fun time to try out some new nut free dips--not to replace the peanut butter, but to be able to bring it to school.

The other day at the store, I ran into a Mom shopping with her kids. The Mom was making it so exciting for the kids, because they had a list of new snacks to try. In reality, it was the "nut free" list, but the Mom was making it more of a game.

They were having so much fun that I wanted to play too, lol!

Restaurant Leftovers!

If your family have a favorite restaurant or two, call and find out what their weekly specials are.

It's a great way to save money, and leftovers can be used for school lunches the next day or two.

And, even if it's not on special, usually the portion sizes are so huge that they easily allow for tasty school lunches the following day.

Of course, if your child's school has a food allergy policy, the leftovers may be better served for a work lunch or at home lunch.

Coming up soon on the Cooking for Kids site, I'll give you recipes for turning popular restaurant leftovers into tasty second meals for your kids.

What are some more school lunch ideas that you use?

Kids love pizza and I make this easy pizza bread that tastes good cold. So easy to make it the night or day before and slice for lunch the next day.

Pizza Bread
1 loaf frozen bread dough
pizza sauce
favorite pizza toppings, diced small
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet. Roll out the bread dough to a small rectangle. Spread with pizza sauce. Not too much. Less is more. You should be able to see the dough through the sauce in spots. Top with your favorite pizza toppings. Starting at one of the longer edges, roll up the dough. Pinch edges to seal. Brush with olive oil. Bake until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped.

Allow to cool. Slice to serve.

Kids love the swirled pizza bread!

My kids love breadsticks and a side of pizza sauce for dunking, too. They are pizza crazy!

Friendlygirl, that sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing!

Just a reminder to think "school or work" leftovers when it comes to holiday meal planning.

Many of us are exhausted after the holidays, and planning now will save you time later.

Even if your kids will be out of school for a few days or a week after Christmas, you can still plan for their lunches at home by using holiday leftovers.

If you need help with leftover ideas, simply post the holiday menu items that you think you'll have a large amount of leftovers, and we'll help you come up with creative "new" dishes.

Children love making decisions for themselves and being allowed to have a say. Do involve them planning and shopping their lunch menus.. you can explain why healthy food in an age appropriate way,you can explain the food pyramid and how it's important to choose foods from all the groups in a balanced way.. You can prepare a pyramid chart and make your child tick off items each day as they eat.. Hope Kids will do this with interest and have healthy foods without hesitation... evescafedotcom|all about women

I really like this thread. Very good idea. I bought a laptop lunch kit for my daughter, and used it for about a year. It is a bento style box that you can put all kinds of things in. The plastic is really high grade, with no Bpa or anything. It came with a little book full of lunch ideas for kids. The laptop lunch makers have a website with more ideas on it. For some reason, my duaghter decided it is a little kids lunch box and won't take it to school. She just wants a plain old bag. This year I am trying to show her how to make her own lunches. We are starting out with canned salmon mixed with mayo and plain yogurt on whole wheat. I am going to show her how to make a peanut butter and banana on whole wheat, and she knows how to pack leftovers from dinner. She is ten, so walking her through it enough times she can fully do it on her own is where we are at now. I am hoping if I show her how to do it by herself, she will use that knowledge to make healthier choices all the way through the rest of school We will see if it works :)