Thursday, May 28, 2009

lunch ideas

we have many days of lunches at the pool and playground coming up...like months of them...and i need some good ideas for lunches.

packing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches gets old fast.

come on...i need some GOOD ones (with recipes if needed, i guess)

14 comments:

Holly said...

well, I feel silly commenting because I don't want to set the bar too low but 'roll-ups' always work for us.

cream cheese, spinach, meats, veggies, cheeses, ceasar dressing, etc....
different combos rolled up in tortillas

Tisha said...

Hey, she said what I was going to say! Holly's smart : )
We also take lots of crackers and cheese-with or without different kinds of lunch meat-and/or fruit and nuts combos.

Beckysblog said...

I like both those ideas!!!! And lots of fresh fruit which my kids just devour on picnics.
My kids love cold meat sandwiches with different cheeses too.
And jello jigglers.

beckley said...

yeah, the only thing here that rotates is the flavor of the berry in the jelly.

blueberry.
rasberry.
strawberry.

sigh.
somebody is very serious about his pbj :)

Jennifer said...

I have made homemade "LUNCHABLES." I never by that junk for my family, too much salt, preservatives, fat, etc. But I buy a cooked turkey breast (Target/Costco) and healthy cheese and wheat crackers and then make little stacks to go. I either put them in a big plastic tub or wrap individually in foil. Then fruit and drinks and you're good to go.

You could also do some fun cabobs (?SP)with the same turk. just cut in cubes, cheese cubes and grape/melon/berry/apple cubes alternated on sticks. They cna't have more until they finish the whole stick. :)

I also make taco salad (turk.or beef), lettuce, grated carrot, cheese, tomato chunks (big enough for tomato haters to eat around), can of black beans, rinsed and drained, cup or so of corn (even throw it in froz-helps keep the salad cool. Chips on the side, at the pool they could even use the chip as their spoon/fork.

Hope this helps.

jenn said...

ok...since i ALWAYS have brain freeze when it comes to thinking up new things for lunches, i ripped out an article from parents magazine that had a bunch of lunch ideas:

- cold veggie pizza
- cucumbers and hummus
- pita pockets with grilled chicken strips and veggies
- banana bread
- hard-boiled eggs and mini whole-grain waffles
- pasta salad
- pb&j on whole wheat bagel
- yogurt and fresh strawberries
- ham/turkey/cheese rolled up together and "skewered" with pretzel sticks
- edamame
- bean salad
- whole wheat crackers and string cheese
- any fresh fruit: plums, kiwi, berries, oranges, bananas, watermelon

ok...so yeah, i have all these ideas, but my kid won't stray from pb&j or mac&cheese!! maybe one day...

jenn said...

i thought of another "side" - frozen grapes!

The Goetz Family said...

My kids' 3 favorites is cold pasta salad...I cook 2 boxes of pasta (we have a lot of kids who really like their food!) and add whatever veggies they like (cucumber, carrots, peppers, SNAP PEAS are awesome!), parm. cheese and italian dressing. Also, I will heat up chicken nuggets right before we leave and just wrap them in foil and voila, they get nuggets which are always a hit. Lastly, leftover fried chicken. Most of these I have done for lunch or for dinner at the pool, but they've always been a hit.

Kim Mattes said...

i was going to say cold pasta salad too. make it with whole grain pasta and it is even better for them...pepperoni's and veggies in it are yummy with itialian dressing. or ranch dressing with ham/turkey and peas, cucumbers etc... here is something else that i saw that i was going to try but i haven't yet:

BLT Cukes

3 slices crisp cooked bacon
1/2 cup finely chopped lettuce
1/2 cup finely chopped baby spinach
1/2 cup diced tomato
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise
green onion (optional)
1 large cucumber

combine all ingred. except cucumber. season with salt and pepper. Peel cucumber and trim off ends. cut in half lengthwise. use sppon to scoop out seeds and discard seeds. Spoon bacon mixture into cucumber halves. cut into two inch pieces. sprinkle with green onions. makes 8-10 pieces

anthonyandbeth said...

i'm just loving that i can take advantage of all these ideas. :)

Courtney said...

you people are the BEST!!! thanks!

Cassie said...

snap peas and hummus!

Kim Mattes said...

i forgot some of our other fav sandwich ideas... to go along with the PB&J theme, we like:
PB & bananas, PB & honey, PB & nutella. also apple butter, ham and swiss cheese is good and veggie cream cheese and cucumbers is good too.

Christy said...

ummmm...thanks Courtney!!! and all of you...I'm totally printing this page to put on the fridge :)