Frugal but healthy back to school lunches

[Frugalbigmama]

I am on a mission to make my son's lunches fun and healthy! I want him to be the envy of the class lol. I personally prefer to stay away from crap while shopping smart and using the sales of the week to pack fantastic lunches. I welcome your ideas!

[Frugalbigmama]

So my mission this week is to get all my small re-useable containers/juice containers organized so I can see what I have/need. I am starting a list of things that I can make so I can pull from the freezer and pack him great lunches (he loves homemade mac and cheese so plan on making this for the freezer)

[lilo0003]

Awesome plan. I have one in High school this year so I am not sure what this means for lunch. Both boys love banana bread and banana cake and the recipes I use freeze like a charm so as August starts to cool down I start baking as I find it easier to just pull one out of the freezer on a Sunday. Now I start looking for the cheap bananas.

I know what you mean about the juice containers, I seem to find parts of them but never all the parts in the same place.

[Natalka]

How old is he?

[Frugalbigmama]

I have one in high school too. But he has access to a microwave so last year I was pretty good for making extra dinner and sending him with leftovers. I add a drink and fruit and sometimes cookies and he is good. My youngest is 9. He loves bento style lunches so will be easy to please him. I have some ideas for the wrap roll ups (cream cheese and ham etc)

[Natalka]

It sounds like you are doing great already!

Variety was the key for our son. Luckily for sandwiches, he liked a big variety - and we didn't do much processed sandwich meat, but used sliced pork roast, roast beef, baked ham, roast chicken - and he loved those. Mind you, he also liked cucumber sandwiches (a fave of mine, too). Sometimes cheese in sandwiches, not often - and he liked real cheese, not the plastic type - though there were times he liked that too.
Once in a while gave a wrap or pita - but he often found them too messy.

When he was in high school, I'd make a hoagie - out of a whole loaf of french bread, load everything up, then cut it into four or five pieces - and then that would be lunch for him (and me at home) for two days.

In elem, he also liked what he called bits and pieces lunches - cut up sausage or meat, cheese, pickles, crackers, etc. - whatever we happened to have. Also would sometimes give him smoked oysters (I drained and dried them, packed them separately).

Always a fruit or veggies and dip (depending upon what else was in the lunch), and a sweet something - most often something homebaked. In elem school there was a restriction of no nuts and no seeds.

His lunches were always the ones others wanted!

In high school, there was a cafeteria - so I was thinking, yay no more lunches to make - but he preferred lunches I made.

Now, he always DID offer to make his own lunches, and sometimes did. However, being a SAHM, I had the time - and that way I could ensure what was in there!

[Frugalbigmama]

I have it planned out I think just want to get/ keep organized. I don't like processed meat so will use leftover chicken etc to make wraps/pitas etc. I shop the sales and fruit for the week is what is on sale.

[Momof3girlies]

I have a ton of ideas on my pinterest.

[walkonby]

Frugalbigmama I can see you are already well organized, plus you are determined to give them lots of healthy choices and variety.
They cannot beat that for a meal away from home. I commend you for starting early to plan this all out, so no last minute rushing come Sept. If anything comes to mind I will add it to your thread! Good luck.

[Darth Penguin]

I got my 3 kids intereasted in chosing meals so that they wanted the left-overs as part of thier lunch=tme meals...getting children involved in chosing and helping to cook makes them better able to bugdget and cook once they have left home..

[TooCouponCrazy]

Sounds like you have a great plan. I always pack lunches at home and am always looking for new healthy options.

I tend to make my kids a lot of different types of wraps. It's something they do not have to heat if they don't want to and they do not have to wait in a huge line for the microwave. It seems some kids spend most of their lunch waiting to have theirs heated.
Good luck. Be sure to let us know how you make out.

[Frugalbigmama]

My youngest doesn't have the option to heat anything up so I send a thermos if its to stay hot. So far I have sent a burger, hotdogs and tacos and homemade mac and cheese. Hoping to send lots of cold wraps this year.

[Frugalbigmama]

Hello all! Bumping this thread It wasn't a bad year but hope to be even more organized this year. Wraps are my youngest fav so thinking a few days each week he will have these for sure (with whatever meat we have leftover- chicken, steak etc) I always have lettuce and marble cheese on hand) Pickles- I bought 6 large jars when they were on for $1 each this past summer. Cucumbers sliced up with salt and pepper- Always on sale and I always seem to get PC pts. DS also loves taco salad (and tacos) so this is something else I will send this year. Peaches cut up have been in his hockey camp lunch this week and he loves them. Hope they are still nice the 1st few weeks of school. Yogurt-DS told me he loves it now- Yipppee! This year feels like it will be easy for packing him healthy lunches. His brother- well that is going to be harder but will figure it out. He loves fruit. I plan on baking a bunch of thing too.

[lovelikewinter3]

My favourite way to give my daughter a healthy and inexpensive lunch is to make a little extra for dinner, and then she gets leftovers the next day! She loves it, and I'm happy because it's healthy and cheap. We also usually send her with a fruit or veggie, some yogurt (which I buy in the big tubs and transfer into small reusable containers), and a juice box (10 for 1.99$ at the most expensive)

[Frugalbigmama]

Today's lunch: 2 chicken wraps (real chicken from roasted chicken the other night) cut up watermelon and pineapple. Sunflower seeds and rice crackers.