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Sandwiches are the
backbone of box
If you have a thermos
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Maggie is a stay at home mom who currently lives in the back woods of Virginia where she can carry on her lunch box obession to her heart's content. |
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© Hillbilly
Housewife 1999-2007
:-)
An
empty lunch box can be an intimidating thing at 6 am when you are
wiping the sleep from you eyes and wishing you had taken the time to
prepare and program the coffee maker the night before. To help
you out of this predicament, I offer the following suggestions.
You can mix and match them as you see fit, creating a good
combination for your crew. All the suggestions are cheap and
nutritious. Some require work the day before, but many can be
made quickly, even in a bleary morning fog. Some women will
print this page out and keep it on their refrigerator for ideas.
Other women will have their kids look it over and check or circle
all of the ideas they like. Be sure to add your own ideas too. 
lunches. They
are easy and quick to prepare in the morning, or can be prepared and
packaged the night before. Variety abounds, making monotony
something only to be endured by choice. Tommy is going through
a stage where he only wants grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.
I fry them in the morning, wrap them in foil, and pack them in one
of the side pockets of his insulated lunch bag. They seem to be
a little warm at lunch, and he is satisfied with them.
Sometimes there are so many variables in a child's day that it is
nice to know that lunch is predictable. I allow my children to
indulge in monotony until they tire of it. Then I encourage
them to explore the complex joys of variety. The following
sandwich fillings include proven favorites and new adventures.
Sandwiches
may be the mainstay of packed lunches, but other main dishes lend
variety and interest to the same old thing. The following main
dishes are packed cold in the lunch box. They taste good, and
are usually favorites among the lunch box crowd. Some of these
items will fit in flip top sandwich bags, others will need to be
packed into plasitc resealable container. Remember to send a
spoon or fork if the dish requires it.
at
your disposal, there is no end to the variety you can send
along. Many casseroles, soups and skillet meals pack nicely,
making a very interesting lunch for the lucky eater. Give a few
of the following a whirl when sandwiches seem boring or old. Remember
to pre-heat the thermos with hot tap water. Also make certain
the food is well heated before spooning it into the thermos. I
heat up soupy things on the stove, and more solid things I heat in
the microwave. Be sure to get everything very hot before
packing it.
If
you have a cold-pack thermos that holds 1/2-cup or 4 ounces or so,
then even more options open up for you. If you don't have a
cold-pack thermos, then you can pack a blue freezer-pack along with
the lunch, and rest assured that everything will remain cold until
lunch time. This is the method I prefer. I use small 4oz
and 8oz resealable containers put out by Glad and
Zip-Lock. Rubbermaid also makes some nice ones. They are
just the right size to hold a serving of pudding or yogurt or
fruit. They come home every day to be washed. Try filling
them with the following:
Other
items can be packaged in flip top baggies and sent along for
crunching. Children usually like a variety of extra nibbles
throughout the week. If you send fresh fruit, it will more
likely be eaten if it is cut into easy to eat wedges, than if it is
left whole. Also, small fruit like bananas or apples will
result in fewer leftovers than large fruit. If I only
have large fruit, I will give each child half of it, which is more in
keeping with their appetite. 
Next
in line is something sweet to nibble on when the rest of the food is
eaten. At my house this usually means a baked good. All
of the following items can be made at home the day before, or on
Baking Day. They pack easily in flip-top baggies and provide
the extra nourishment that makes sure everyone gets enough to eat.
We
end this litany of choices with beverages. A thermos will make
toting these items easy and healthful. If you don't have a
thermos, then be sure to pack a blue freezer-pack along with the
lunch, to keep everything cold and bacteria-free. If this isn't
an option then choose Kool-Aid, Tea, Water or Lemonade, because these
items can withstand temperature change the easiest. My kids prefer
pint (16oz) containers of beverage, so they can rehydrate easily
during lunch. 