Brown-Baggin' It

I used to let my son have hot lunch as often as he wanted when I was working - it was easy.  But as he grew older, he started to turn it down (it wasn't the healthiest or tastiest fare).  Since I worked from home at this point, it was no problem to pack lunches.  My formula was:

1 main "dish" (sandwich, usually) + 1 fruit or veggie + 1 "crunchy item" (chips, pretzels, crackers) + 1 "dessert" (usually a homemade dessert of some sort) + 1 AM snack item (usually string cheese, yogurt, etc.) 

It was easy, for awhile - he's a PB&J kind of a guy.  Only a PB&J kind of guy.  I kept asking if it was too boring having the same sandwich every day, but he said he liked it.  When the peanut-free lunchroom and classroom arrived, we had a challenge (we have a smaller school, so it happened a lot later for us than for most schools).  It was a change that had to be made for safety reasons, but PB Boy was not too excited about branching out into other lunchtime cuisines.

We tried the Thermos thing, but he didn't like that.  He "hates" lunch meat (this from the boy who devoured a turkey & havarti sandwich with horseradish spread this weekend).  Last year, we spent the year experimenting and trying out new things.  Here are some of the results of my quest for creative and healthy school lunches:

This Lunch Rox (I love this one!)

Parents Magazine - "Let's Do Lunch"

Parents Magazine - Healthy School Lunches & Snacks

Lunchbox Ideas at Kraftfoods.com

Laptoplunches.com - Menus - they make cool bento boxes and products, but also have a ton of menu ideas and recipes on their website

Cooking Light - Lunch Box Recipes for Kids (or Adults!)

We haven't figured it all out yet, and by no means do my kids eat the "perfect" healthy lunch every day, but I think we've made some improvements.  We've even started working on "the waste-free lunch" (definitely a work in progress).  Feel free to share your ideas and go-to lunches!