Pittsburgh Nesties
northhillsbride
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Lunch packers - come on in!
So I know we've done this before, but I'm looking for more ideas for lunch, please!
Today is day #3 and so far we've had two jelly sandwiches and one cream cheese/jelly sandwich. (Gavin is not keen on PB.) Sides, we have no problem with.
A friend gave me some tried-and-true thermos ideas, yesterday, for hot lunches. What are your tried-and-true go-tos?
On a side note, I came across lunch recipe & website today, and thought I would share:
My three sons!
Re: Lunch packers - come on in!
since hes a fan of cream cheese, what about veggie cream cheese spread on tortillas with some turkey or ham? and cut into wedges or use cute cookie cutters ( who has time for that though)
theres wraps in the deli section i have to find out the brand, i think mission - they stay soft.
I've been looking at the pictures on here.
There aren't really any recipes...but there are lots of ideas.
Mostly we do pb&j or pb&honey sandwiches. Noah's not very good about bringing home containers, so I can't do any thermos stuff because the thermos would end up in the trash.
I commit a Nestie sin and let Noah buy school lunch most days.
But, I have to pack Brody's lunch. Sometimes I'll pack cold pasta and left over chicken. Cold cuts and cheese.
Also, I wouldn't stress too much about having a ton of variety...most kids don't seem to mind eating the same thing. On days that we're home, my kids usually ask for a pb&j. My mom packed me the same lunch from 1-12 grades and honestly, I'd probably still eat that same lunch every day if she was willing to pack it!
I struggle with this, too. For Liam, my go to's are:
-cottage cheese, Kashi cereal bar, serving of veggies, fruit
-same as above, substitute cottage cheese with yogurt
-Cheese and crackers, veggie, fruit
For both of them, I will often do some type of leftovers (pasta or chicken most often) with sides of veggies and some fruit. Jake will eat PB & J sandwiches, so he usually gets 2 of those a week. Not so much in this weather, but once fall hits, I rely on canned soup (I know, I know....but they both love it). Other than that, I don't have any unique ideas!
Jake - 1.15.08
Liam - 5.17.11
My mom always sent us with a sandwich, a fruit, pretzels or chips and a sweet treat along with a drink. For like all 12 years I was in school. hahaha. didn't bother me. Unless she sent in cheese curls, which I didn't like. So I traded those with a friend. I also threw my sandwich away for a few years too. hahaha. So maybe her formula wasn't so great afterall.
We send EJ with just a partial lunch to amend what she can eat at daycare. Most days it is just a piece of pizza (which I make for dinner and freeze leftovers) or a grilled cheese sandwich or pita/quesadilla type cheese melted on a starch. We are not real creative.
Jake - 1.15.08
Liam - 5.17.11
I'm coming in reluctantly. I've never packed lunch for the kids, and I'm not excited about starting this now that Jackson's going to school. He's asked me for ham, carrots and pepperoni in his lunch
I need to check as to whether his school is nut free.
He loves when I cut his sandwiches into shapes, so I may be doing some cute ham sandwiches. I got fruit snacks, the little individual fruit cups, yogurt and some snacks.
I also bought a thermos that can do hot and cold, so some days I may get crazy and heat spaghetti-os or something equally healthy
Don't worry Emmy, I think my school lunches trumps your canned soup! I'm the bad Nestie mom of the day. HA!
DD is still at home but she eat pb&j or a cheese sandwich for lunch and that's the way she likes it. If I try to throw something new in, she asks, "can I still have bp&j?"
I did find this site via pinterest. There are some good ideas. Some better than others.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mslil65/1637854803/in/set-72157601755804789/
Amber, I'd buy the school lunch too if his school had an actual cafeteria. They have only a warming center, and what I saw coming out if it didn't look too appetizing. BUT, if Jackson tells me he wants to buy lunch, I'll gladly agree to it to save myself time and energy.
We usually end up doing a lot of the same things over and over. Partly because Mason is such a picky eater, partly because I have no other ideas, but mostly for convenience - even when I have the best ideas/intentions, sometimes it just comes down to whatever is easiest and fastest to pack!
For sandwiches we do cheese, jelly, cream cheese/jelly, cheese/chicken/turkey, quesadillas. We can't send peanut butter to daycare, but some new things we have been trying at home are wraps with peanut butter and apples (or bananas).
Our daycare will heat things up, so we'll also do mac n cheese, soups, pizza, dinner left overs.
I know there are a couple of sites going around Pinterest with some lunch ideas too, that might be a good place to check.
Amanda and Emmy - how do you do the grilled cheese? That is something Gavin mentioned, but I'm not sure how to make sure it doesn't get soggy? (FWIW, we use a toaster oven for the sandwiches.)
Sami - we do use a lot of wraps for lunch - I never thought of the veggie cream cheese with a cold cut. For awhile, Gavin loved bologna, but now turns his nose up (and by no means did we over-serve it, as they only get lunches at home on the weekends!).
Cold pasta is a good one, too. Good thoughts!
Right now I pack at lunch and I have a small container that has a lid with the freezer gel in it, and a thermos for his milk. So everything, including the lunch box, goes in the fridge at night and he only has about 5 hrs between the time it leaves the fridge and he eats it.
Amber - we're going to let him pick a hot lunch once a week right now, and maybe more in the Winter. It's only $12.50/week for 5 meals, so it's very affordable!
My three sons!
I do a lot of the steam bags of veggies that come with a pasta or rice also in the bag. It's quick, easy and she likes it. I'll throw in chicken or tuna with this sometimes, too. I'll do strained soup here and there. We'll do peanut butter sandwiches with pretzels and some of those cheese crumbles (she loves these days!). I haven't sent grilled cheese to daycare - I'll have to try that!
Freakin' work blocks the site. I'll take a look tonight - thank you!
My three sons!
Amber-I wish our daycare provided food, I'd be all over it! I'm sick of packing lunches already, and they aren't even in "real" school yet.
Clare- for the grilled cheese, they reheat it for Liam. Jake would never eat it, he has a melted cheese phobia. No lie-the kid will not even look at pizza, or anything else that involves melted cheese.
Jake - 1.15.08
Liam - 5.17.11
Oh, how I miss the time when our daycare provided food! (They even provided formula and baby food!) Sometimes their options weren't always the best, but I would do anything for them to bring back that meal plan. I can't think of anything I dread more about our evening routine than packing lunches. (and really, it doesn't take that long, but for whatever reason, packing lunches turns me into a whiney complainer!)
We let it cool before we wrap it up. Lets the steam escape. She doesn't have a problem with eating it cold.
Also, lunch is my least favorite meal. I would much rather just snack all day and skip lunch all together and wait until dinner to make something substantial.
I KNOW! I feel the same way, I gripe about it every night. I will say that it at least gets me out of cleaning up the kitchen...we've kind of fallen into the habit of Brian cleaning up the kitchen while I pack lunches & make coffee for the next day, so I guess I get the better end of the bargain. But still. Blah to the packing.
Jake - 1.15.08
Liam - 5.17.11
damn food allergies. I would be all over the elementary school lunch program if I could! I just resigned to the fact we will always be packers.
DH is the lunch packer at our house. Our deal is I get the kids ready and he gets the stuff ready. Although, some morning when Miss B is being a divia I'd rather be the lunch packer
HA! we'd never make it out of the house if we packed in the morning! so you get extra points for that!
Jake - 1.15.08
Liam - 5.17.11
I've been packing for both kids all summer and I'll continue to pack for Heather for Kindergarten, at least until I get a sense of what the lunches are like. I'm not opposed to the concept of school lunch...I just don't know what her new school offers yet!
I'm really sick of packing lunches, but I have gotten so efficient that I can do it while the kids are eating breakfast...as long as DH is prodding the kids to keep eating. I try to do it in the evening, but when I have too much to do, I put it off until morning.
Our rotation:
Leftover noodles from dinner in a thermos - mac'n'chees, tortellini, ravioli, penne
Cream cheese & jelly sandwich
Cheese sandwich or Cheese & crackers or cheese on a tortilla cut up like the banana dog
Hard boiled egg
Sunbutter and jelly (daycare was nut free. I might stick with sunbutter even if H's new school isn't restricted just because she can be messy.)
Leftover hot dog (Todd only) or Hummus with snap peas & crackers (Todd only) or leftover quesadilla
Sides:
Fruit, applesauce, raw carrots, raisins, yogurt tubes (frozen, so they are cold at lunch time), cheese stick, cheddar bunnies, Snap pea crisps, Veggie sticks
Some of these ideas are a little exotic for me (or just seem like too much work) but there are still some good ideas at this website http://www.produceforkids.com/healthy_eating/ideal_meals/lunchbox_faves.html My sister swears by the PB fruit roll ups and the inside out sandwiches. She actually was just on a morning TV show showing how to make them (she works for Produce for Kids so I'm a bit partial).
Clare, those banana dog bites look delicious! I want those in my lunch!
-Abbey
ohhh i am so glad this was posted!
my DD started Kindergarden this past week. She has an insulated Disney lunch "bag". There is a slot under the bag, my DH insists it is for an ice pac (though I think it might be just an extra space?). Do I pack an ice pack, or does that matter? Can you mix cold stuff in he same bag with the thermos and have both hot and cold foods together? They have no friges and her lunch stays in her backpack until lunchtime. I am sooo stupid with this! Thank you in advance,, I used to just bring my lunch to school in a brown bag and that was that.
Signed,
Dumb mom
ps if I don't reply, it is because I am at work- but thank you for your help!!!
Aidan refuses school lunch (not that I blame him on most things!), so he packs each day. He's a very picky eater too, which makes it tough.
I do uncrustables with a Pampered Chef cutter that I got a long time ago - he likes those. If we do the thermos it's usually soup or noddles - heat boiling water and dump into thermos and let sit for a while. Then dump the water and fill it with the food - supposed to keep things warmer longer. For grilled cheese, I have containters that have a vent in the top - I just leave those open and it seems to help it from getting soggy.
There's some good ideas on Pinterest, if you search. Also, Easy Lunchboxes on FB is good too.
My three sons!
What about hummus? Can you do hummus on a pita? Or some crackers and veggies to dip in it?
I love this blog for ideas:
http://www.meetthedubiens.com/
Hmm m- I'm trying to think if he has had hummus.... But I love the idea of cheese and crackers, too, since he loves though!
Thanks for all of the links - I just sent myself an email with them to check out tonight!
My three sons!