Back To School Lunch Ideas

It's the moment I've been waiting for. My big debut and I'm completely excited. How can someone be so excited over lunches? I have no clue, but I've been ridiculously excited over making lunches for my little kindergartner. The first school supplies I bought were ones for packing lunch. Like I said, I'm ridiculous about it.  Here is what I've packed for my daughter for the past two weeks that she has been in school.

Ham and cheddar roll-ups, homemade cornbread, carrots and cucumbers,
fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries and kiwi.

Ham, cream cheese, and cucumber wrap, carrots, string cheese, pickles ,
kiwi and grapes. 

 

Ham and cheddar roll-ups, carrots, cheese crackers, kiwi, blueberries,
Fig Newtons.

PB&J, cottage cheese, mixed veggies with a little Season All  for flavor,
mango fruit strip. 

Ham and cream cheese pinwheels, string cheese, pickles, mandarin oranges,
mango fruit strip. 

Same pinwheels as above, as requested by my daughter. She loves them!
Grape tomatoes, olives, mixed veggies, kiwi. 

Peanut butter and honey sandwich, grape tomatoes, strawberry yogurt topped
with homemade granola, mango fruit strip. Note to match the sandwich :) 

PB&J on a homemade waffle, string cheese, grape tomatoes, and grapes. They're
learning shapes, so I included all shapes!

Ham and cheese sandwich, grape tomatoes, cheese-its, strawberries, grapes and pickles. 

Homemade lunchables! Sliced fresh peach, carrots and tomatoes.

Requested by the eater: ham and cheese dinosaur sandwich! cucumbers, olives and
mandarin oranges. 

There you have it; two weeks of lunches for a hungry, little student. Most days she got some milk or some Minute Maid Fruit Falls, which is flavored with juice rather than high fructose corn syrup. I put a lot of emphasis on healthy food for her. The bread is always wheat and I try to get something from every food group. Also, I consider what she'll actually eat, so that means sometimes unhealthier things, like cheese-its, fruit snacks with her favorite characters on it, and flour tortillas are used. As much as I'd prefer whole wheat tortillas and NO fruit snacks, she's the one eating it at a table with peers who have fruit roll-ups, pudding cups, bags of chips, and pizza from the lunch line. I don't want her to feel disappointed when she opens up her lunch. When I have homemade cookies around I throw those in there and feel better about it since I cook with whole wheat.

My little kindergartner has decided she would like to eat lunch at school once a week. So, she's eaten from the lunch line twice and I always excitedly ask her what she ate. (Always excitedly. Never judgmentally. Inside, the nutrition nut in me is always cringing.) 

Hot lunch 1: Pizza, corn, peaches, strawberry flavored milk. 

Hot lunch 2: Fried chicken strips with ketchup, corn, peaches, strawberry flavored milk. 

Diverse, right? To give the school credit, they use whole wheat in most things and always offer a variety of fruits and veggies, but when it comes down to it, it's a five year old making the choices. She will always choose corn over green beans and flavored milk over plain. I encourage her freedom of making that choice, so I keep my trap shut. 

I'll be posting lunches weekly, so check back often! Thanks for reading! 

Noms and Hugs, 

    Cindy

p.s. I'm working on my photography skills and blogging skills and will probably change things around until I figure it all out. Bear with me! Thanks <3