I need some school lunch ideas

@sissy15 (12266)
United States
July 30, 2016 2:10am CST
With school starting soon I've been writing down a list of foods my son will eat vs. the foods he won't eat. My son's school does free lunches for the entire school, but unfortunately there are a couple of days they serve food he won't eat. Like every Wednesday is pizza day. I have one of the few kids that won't go near pizza. I like that his school posts lunch menus for the month online so parents know what days they should pack. My son is sort of an odd picky eater, he eats a lot of foods most kids won't touch, but shuns foods most kids love. My son isn't a mac n cheese fan (but neither am I), there's only one kind of mac n cheese he'll eat and that's the Velveeta shells n cheese and it has to be the kind that goes in the microwave. He won't touch pizza. He also is weird about other things he'll eat. Some things he'll like one day and not the next. The foods he always loves are chicken, broccoli, corn, rice, tacos (cheese, onion, hamburger, lettuce NO sauce or tomatoes), hotdogs, hamburgers, raw carrots (can't be cooked or steamed), meatloaf, potatoes, pork n beans, baked beans, some pastas, frozen or fresh peas (NOT canned, not that I can blame him), spaghetti and meatballs, PB&J, waffles, pancakes, strawberries, apples, blueberries, bananas. There are other foods I can't think of, but he is weird about how he'll eat some things. He'll eat onions on or in certain things, but not others. He will eat broccoli just about any way it can be cooked, but carrots have to be raw. He is weird about sandwiches. He will sometimes eat a ham sandwich, and other times he won't touch it. Pasta he will either love or hate. He usually likes chicken about any way it's made. He requested chicken, rice, and broccoli for dinner next week. He won't touch salad anymore, he used to love it, and he used to love tomatoes. He would sit and eat almost a whole container of cherry tomatoes at times when he refused to eat anything else, now he won't go near them. He does eventually get tired of some foods so I can't just give him the same foods everyday. That being said I'm having fun trying to figure out what to pack him for lunch on the days his school is serving things he won't eat. I am not sure how he'll do with some foods being cold, but I'd like to do more than just sandwiches. I am thinking about having him try hummus one of these days, but I have my doubts he'll like it. He is but isn't a picky eater. He does like a lot of foods, but some of it is hard to pack in a lunchbox where it will have to be iced. I don't know how he'll do with some foods being cold. I don't know how to keep some foods warm to send them. I've been looking up ideas, and some of it just seems like an awful lot of work when there are going to be days I just don't have the time. I am trying to figure out lunch box friendly foods that go beyond the traditional PBJ or lunch meat sandwich. I think I might have my work cut out for me. Anyone have any good lunch box ideas?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@skysnap (20154)
30 Jul 16
I usually check the site named "the kitchn" that site has plenty of ideas.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (12266)
• United States
30 Jul 16
Thanks I'll have to try that.
• Dayton, Ohio
30 Jul 16
I am in a similar situation for a different reason. My son, now 15, has done his own research about food and has found out how bad a lot of it is. He has a few specific ingredients he does not eat, such as high fructose corn syrup. Unfortunately, that is in a ton of things the school serves. The idea when packing a students lunch is to make sure that it has nutrition. It does not have to be traditional to be a healthy school lunch. I don't know if your son likes nuts, but I like to cut up some cheese into cubes and include almonds in my sons lunch. Then include some veggies. For the drink he likes tea.
@sissy15 (12266)
• United States
30 Jul 16
At 15 he is pretty much able to pack his own food or go with you shopping and pick out stuff he will eat, so that makes it a bit easier I would think, but my son is just odd about things, and he's not old enough to understand what can and can't go in a lunchbox. I'm honestly not even sure if the school has anything kids can't bring in their lunchbox outside of soda. I wouldn't pack that anyway. I don't know if my son would even eat almonds. He likes peanuts and cashews, beyond that I'm not entirely sure, because sometimes he will like something, and the next he won't.
@jstory07 (133797)
• Roseburg, Oregon
30 Jul 16
Just fix a sandwich with what he likes and some chips that he would like. Is there any fruit that he likes. Put that in his lunch to.
@sissy15 (12266)
• United States
30 Jul 16
He doesn't always like sandwiches. He sometimes likes PBJ, but gets tired of it after awhile. Other times he doesn't care for the bread, while there are times he will eat the bread, so I'm trying to do things other than just sandwiches, and I want to try and switch things out too so he doesn't get tired of them. I can do some fruit and veggies. I like him to eat at least semi healthy with some vegetables and fresh fruits. I usually send peanut butter as a dip for some vegetables, and I think I might try hummus with him sometime soon to see how he likes it, but I have my doubts he will.