The school allots 30 minutes for lunch. After waiting in line for most of that time, children that buy the school lunch learn to scarf their lunch in less than 5 minutes or risk not eating at all. This sets them up for a lifetime of eating too quickly (leading to all sorts of issues later....)
The school lunch items are mostly fried, processed meals. I don't want my children to develop a taste for daily chicken nuggets, french fries, pizzas, burgers, and cookies. It's not that we never eat these things, but not everyday.
Packing our own lunch allows me to see the amount and variety of foods my children eat each day so I can maximize the amount of nutrition they receive.
By packing our own lunches, we greatly reduce the chance of peanut exposure.
All that being said, how does someone pack a healthy lunch? It's easier than you think.
I try to include items that satisfy these 5 categories when I pack a lunch for my children:
Okay, sounds like a lot, but it's not. You need to remember that these categories are not mutually exclusive. For example; if I pack my son yogurt, it is a protein, a calcium source, and if I add fruit - a fruit/veg. It may also be his dessert. Often, the fruit I pack
his dessert. And he couldn't be happier.
In case you're wondering, I pack my son water 90% of the time. I pack him milk or a smoothie the other 10%.
I work from a long list of "acceptable options" when I pack lunches. For the most part, I take a look in our refrigerator and put together whatever we have. But I use this list for ideas/guidance. You can make things fresh each morning or use leftovers from last night's dinner. It's up to you!
I select a main entrée, a side item, and a dessert. I check to make sure I've covered the 5 needs above (protein, carb, calcium, fruit/veg, dessert) before I close the bag and that's it.
Meat Sandwiches (turkey, ham, roast beef, salami, or chicken)
adds: cheese, shredded carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers
Alternatives: pinwheel wrap sandwich, insides on a skewer, insides served with crackers
Egg salad Sandwiches adds: celery, cucumber, spinach, lettuce, peppers
Tuna Fish Sandwiches adds: celery, cucumber, spinach, lettuce, peppers
Jelly sandwich adds: chopped almonds, walnuts, ground flax, bananas
Almond butter sandwich adds: bananas, jelly, sliced berries, ground flax
Pasta (spaghetti, fettucini alfredo, pesto/chicken, lasagna, manicotti....)
Soup (chicken, minestrone, beef stew, vegetable....)
Egg Rolls
Salads (lettuce based, tuna/chicken salad, pasta salad...)
Yogurt adds: granola, oatmeal, raisins, fruit, ground flaxseed, berries, cereal
Egg Sandwiches (egg+ham+bagel, egg+english muffin, egg+ croissant, scrambled egg+salsa+tortilla....)
Quesadillas adds: peppers, salsa, lettuce, chicken, beans
Pancakes, Waffles, French Toast adds: berries, breakfast meats, apple bits
Enchiladas, Burritos, Fajitas, Tacos adds: guacamole, lettuce, salsa, tomatoes, beans, peppers
Sloppy Joes, BBQ sandwiches, Burgers (of any kind)
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Pizza, Calzones, Mini-pizzas
Desserts
Dried Apples, pears, pineapples, kiwi, cranberries, raisins, prunes
Applesauce
Mandarin Oranges
Oranges, Apples, Pears, Bananas, Grapes, Plums, Peaches, Kiwis
Cut up Watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew
Mixed cut fruit adds: coconut, almonds, raisins, walnuts
Sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds
Granola Bar, granola or muesli (oatmeal, coconut, raisins)
Banana Bread
1/2 a muffin - banana, blueberry, apple cinnamon
Berries
Jello squares, pudding, yogurt
Cookie or brownie
Trail Mix
Extra Veggies (most of my entrées contain veggies)
Sliced cucumbers
Carrot Spears (with our without hummus)
Cooked Veggies (mashed potatoes, steamed/roasted carrots, green beans, broccoli...)
Salads
Cut up Broccoli, cauliflower, celery, peppers
Ants on a log (celery + almond butter + raisins)
Extra Protein (most of my entrées contain proteins)
Boiled Egg
Cheese chunks or String Cheese
Meat and Cheese kabobs
Cottage Cheese
Yogurt
Chunks of cooked meat (chicken, ham, etc)
Shrimp
Milk
Smoothies
Beans (hummus, baked beans, refried beans, or add beans into entrées)
Fillers (in case you are coming up low in the carbohydrate category or your lunch is too low on calories)
Crackers + cheese or hummus
Pretzels
Chips + salsa and/or hummus and/or guacamole
Veggies with or without some sort of dip
Fruit with or without some sort of dip
Trail Mix
Popcorn
Rice and Veggies
Biscuit, Bread roll/croissant/slice, corn muffin
Hopefully this list will help you feel confident enough to pack healthy lunches for your kids.
*You'll notice an absence of peanut products in my list. My son is allergic to peanuts.Most of the items in our lunches are homemade and packaged in reusable containers but you can certainly take shortcuts to make it simpler.
It's super long. But it's full of very important info - a few tidbits:
for the Nintendo Wii.
My daughter claimed this right away. It is a doll-house right? That's what we thought. She opened it up, added all the stickers and furniture and was having a blast with it. But why did Olivia have a map and treasure chest. Why did she have an eye patch?
. Now we just need to get plenty of games for them to play. I've seen 4 and 5 year olds play the DS, so I'm hopeful that this will help make the hours zoom by.
DVD set. It came at the perfect time. We had just finished our home theater and had hoped to use this DVD set at our "opening night." 
on DVD. As you can expect, my daughter was super excited when she opened the package. She loves Barbie, sparkles, and everything glam. She knew this DVD was for her and we watched it right away.
