Message Boards

You know, I'm on the site looking for the same ideas myself! :)  We like to try and stay away from plastic packaging, so in that line of thinking, one of the favorite ideas I've found is to make pudding and pour it into individual dishes with lids to make it quick and easy to pop in lunches in the morning.  Also, you can make your own "Lunchables" by putting together a slice of cheese, meat, and some crackers.  If you bake, having a large ziplock bag of cookies in the freezer would be handy.  You can pop a frozen cookie in your child's lunch bag, and by lunch, it's thawed out.  Good luck!

I have 3 boys (ages 4,6 & 10) who do not like the same things.  What I do is pack a hot lunch in a thermos.  Anything from Hot Dogs cut up with ketchup, Mac & Cheese, Raviolis,  or Spaghetti.   I fill a Rubbermaid container with juice, the night before I fill a 1/4 of the way and put in the freezer to keep cold.  I'm not sure how quick and easy this is, but it really works for us and they actually eat their lunch now.  Prior, their lunch would come home half eaten.   

This was an email from parenting magizine. really cute ideas that you can do the night before,per4haps w/ your 9 yr old.

http://www.parenting.com/recipes-gallery/Mom/Bento-Lunch-Boxes?cid=enews.holi.081110

Im not very good with ages of kids and what would be Predictably right or not... i am just a young parent but atleast for my 2 shildren  ages 5 and 4  i make thing around what they like to eat.. and Do my best with out it being Sweets,  so For my son hes pretty much easy he likes any kind of Sandwhich meats with Sliced bell peppers and normally a Banana  so he has all food groups in one lunch.. and for taste wise because he likes just mayo i throw a dash of salt and pepper in but just a dash on the sandwhich... 

My daughter shes a very picky but simple eatter She LOVES cucumbers so some times i just give her a half cumcumber with a butter and pickle sandwhich and shes in heaven.. but sometimes i mix it up by making a cucumber salad and its made up of cucumbers very thin sliced sour cream and onions... you can add salt and pepper to taste...

another easy fix is premade pigs in a blanket..  take normal breafest sausges cook them..  half way or so .. smear them with a little bit mustard and then wrap them.. bake the doah untill finished... and these can be eattin cold and still taste very good or atleast i think they taste better then they do when warm... with that either a fruit or vetable salad and everything is good.. still all  nutritions in one meal.. you can make these like 12 at time and they will hold for atleast 4 days in the frigerator

Homemade Lunchables

Pizza crust made at home

sauce in a little cup with lid

cheese

hamburger or cooked pepperoni

OR

crackers (wheatables)

cheese

lunchmeat

PINWHEELS

tortilla

lettuce(romain is good)

cream cheese

lunchmeat of choice

cheese

FOR MOM: ROASTED BELL PEPPERS

spread 1/2 totrilla with cream cheese

lay down lettuce, meat and cheese (roasted peppers)

roll and cut into pinwheels

Like Mc D's Chicken wraps

tortilla

cheese

chicken strip

ranch dressing

lay all on tortilla and roll up like mc d's

Thermos!!!!!!  That is my best friend.  I send my kids to school with hotdogs, spaghetti, chicken nuggets, soups, leftovers.  The choices are endless and don't have to take alot of time to prepare.  One of my sons only likes hot food so this was a good compromise once he couldn't come home for lunch anymore and the school doesn't have a lunch program.

I would not dare give my child a lunchable because they are loaded with sodium. Here are some ideas you my want to try: meats rolled up such as black forest ham, salami, prosciutto, pepperoni slices or sticks, white cheddar, provolone, crackers, celery and mini carrots with ranch dip, hard boiled egg...the odd occasion I would toast the bread and make a sandwich to keep it safe from sogginess.
Tuna salad without the bread, and breadsticks on the side went over well, too. Pickle spears, cherry tomatoes, raisins, almonds, clementines (easy to peel), grapes, in season berries...Make pinwheels out of wraps. They won't get soggy, and they are two-bite sized. Kids don't like a big thing in front of them to eat. They prefer to nibble on small things. I hope this help you.