cold lunches

I was going to comment on the comment on the last post and figured it probably would be too long. So, though I have no real ingenious ideas, here's what goes into the lunch boxes of my girls....

Sandwiches - turkey, cheese, pb (no j for my picky kids)

Pasta Salad - toss leftover pasta with some italian dressing and that makes my girls happy. you could throw some chopped veggies, diced cheese, pepperoni, diced ham or whatever they like.

Meat, Cheese, Crackers

Lettuce Salad - this is a rarity, but sometimes Jaci wants salad. she doesn't like anything extravagant so it works for me.

Cold wraps - anything you put on sandwiches can go in a tortilla. Chandler has had me melt cheese on a tortilla and wrap it in foil with hopes it would still be warm at lunch. I don't think it was, but she didn't mind. of course, now maybe I could squish it into a thermos, eh Cindy? :)

Speaking of thermos... We bought cheap thermoses this year (and may have to upgrade) but that does open up a world of possibilities.

Ramen Noodles, Soups, cheesy burritos....

My kids don't like chips and salsa but if they did, I'd do that. I don't buy things lunch-box convenience-packaged very often (we go through LOTS of snack-sized baggies) but every once in a while I let them pick a Lunchable.

We have a rule, they have to take a fruit or veggie. Usually it's carrot sticks or apple wedges. I dip the apple wedges in lemon juice to keep them from turning brown before lunch. Sometimes, Chandler will do a banana or grapes. They don't like canned fruit, otherwise you could do cute little fruit cups. :)

They usually throw in pretzels or chips. We love string cheese around here. Sometimes (rarely) I get fruit roll ups or fruit snacks. And right now I have a case of pudding in the cupboard from Sam's Club.

I bought little drink bottles that they filled with yucky Country Time powdered lemonade last year. This year I vowed to cut down on sugary drinks. They do water bottles (I splurged on the Aquapods) or juice packs because they don't drink milk really.

Kraft has a Lunchbox builder website. To me, it's basically a different spin on the same ol', same ol' but sometimes that's all ya need!