School lunch

[MrsK]

For those of you who have kids that EAT, as in they have big appetites, how much do you pack? K1's teacher says he's complaining that he is still hungry after lunch. The school keeps kosher so I send meat free lunches. Today, it was a cheese stick, an orange, a breakfast bar, and applesauce. Other days I might put in a small serving of Morningstar Farms chic'n nuggets, mini bagel with cream cheese, crackers, apple, pear, small serving of cut up pineapple, a cup of yogurt, or the like but it's always about 4 items. Is that enough? He's 4yo next week, about 43lbs, and skinny as a rail. I'm trying to figure out if he's just asking for more because he's eating too fast (he scarfs his food) or wants the other kids' meals. I'm running low on healthy vegetarian lunch options for my picky kid.

[diggitydot]

School lunch

My biggest eaters (DS and DD2) take a sandwich, string cheese, fruit, granola/fiber/protein bar thing, juice, and maybe some crackers. She's almost 14 y/o and he's 11 y/o. They both have wicked fast metabolisms, too. Those two easily consume more food than anyone else in the house. They're both ~ 5' and 100 lbs.

[Vanquisher]

I have a good friend who keeps kosher and is vegetarian. I can ask her, if you'd like. I'm sure she's been sending lunches for years, and has a 15-year-old boy.

[PrincessFiona]

When I worked at the Montessori preschool, I was always surprised by how much some of the tiniest kids ate. We often had to ask parents to send in more and even joked that some of the little ones could put away more than we did.

Your lunches sound so healthy. If he's still hungry, I might add a sandwich with sun nut butter, extra fruit (like grapes already chopped up), or crackers and cheese.

[Michele]

K (5y - my picky eater) gets bread (Hawaiian mini sub roll - yes he's spoiled), yogurt, pretzels, banana, grapes/cantalope and crackers every day. He comes home hungry....but he's too picky for me to send anything else. He likes peanut butter sandwiches but his school is nut free.

D (7y - s.l.o.w. eater) gets a sliced chicken sandwich (on the same Hawaiian bread), fruit, frozen peas, crackers sometimes a cheese stick....and cheerios for snack. He's starving when he comes home too. But he's picky about cold foods - much prefers warm food, but sending food in a thermos gets him in trouble (his own boy issues). He also eats too slow to send anything else. He doesn't have time to eat it.

P (3y) will eat a bowl of soup, a grilled cheese, 1/4 cup of grapes, handful of pretzels and sometimes a yogurt for lunch. I have no idea where she puts it all.

[Vanquisher]

My friend reponded:

"Hi Heidi,

Yes, those veggie burgersand the like are good. How adventurous is this little guy? I've sent leftover veggie chili, which is filling. I also make a big batch of pancakes every so often (whole wheat flour makes it not awful) and I freeze them. For lunch, I'll take two or three and put them in a sandwich container. And what about leftover mac and cheese? The pasta is filling and the cheese gives some protein.

Dried fruit is also good, because it keeps and can be quite filling.

Another thought is quesadillas, with beans and cheese, if he'll eat the beans. They are nice and filling too.

Can she send tuna? That's often a good choice for a kosher place, since you can eat fish with meat or dairy.
Let me know if you want more ideas, although I must admit I shudder every time I need to make school lunches."

There is no way the amount you're sending would have been enough for my son at that age. I hope some of these ideas help.

[MrsK]

My biggest eaters (DS and DD2) take a sandwich, string cheese, fruit, granola/fiber/protein bar thing, juice, and maybe some crackers. She's almost 14 y/o and he's 11 y/o. They both have wicked fast metabolisms, too. Those two easily consume more food than anyone else in the house. They're both ~ 5' and 100 lbs.

Well, they give him milk at school so he has that too. It sounds like he's bringing almost as much as your kids minus the sandwich (fruit, granola bar, crackers, cheese). Sandwiches are tricky. The school is nut-free so no pb&j, but he doesn't like peanut butter anyway. He won't eat sunflower seed butter, hummus, or other spreads. He refuses veggies and he's iffy about cream cheese. He won't do tortilla wraps either.

I have a good friend who keeps kosher and is vegetarian. I can ask her, if you'd like. I'm sure she's been sending lunches for years, and has a 15-year-old boy.

The school gave me a whole list of options but he won't eat a lot of the stuff on the list (hummus & veggies, eggs/egg salad, pasta salad, soups. . . ) I'm more concerned about whether I'm sending enough food for a 4yo. I don't want to starve the kid but I don't want him over-eating because he's bored or jealous that another mom packed a candy bar in her kid's lunch. IDK what the other parents send so IDK how his lunch measures up. If I ask him, he says that they pack candy bars. He eats everything unless I pack something that he doesn't like -- I've tried to slip in carrot sticks and stuff like that from time to time; he's rather go hungry.

[MrsK]

My friend reponded:

"Hi Heidi,

Yes, those veggie burgersand the like are good. How adventurous is this little guy? I've sent leftover veggie chili, which is filling. I also make a big batch of pancakes every so often (whole wheat flour makes it not awful) and I freeze them. For lunch, I'll take two or three and put them in a sandwich container. And what about leftover mac and cheese? The pasta is filling and the cheese gives some protein.

Dried fruit is also good, because it keeps and can be quite filling.

Another thought is quesadillas, with beans and cheese, if he'll eat the beans. They are nice and filling too.

Can she send tuna? That's often a good choice for a kosher place, since you can eat fish with meat or dairy.
Let me know if you want more ideas, although I must admit I shudder every time I need to make school lunches."

There is no way the amount you're sending would have been enough for my son at that age. I hope some of these ideas help.

This is helpful. If it's not enough, I'll send more of what I'm sending. I know he won't eat chili, tuna, or mac & cheese. I've been avoiding the pancakes because I feel like I'm already sending enough carbs/starches with the nutrigrain bars, crackers, etc. I've been trying to pack more protein/dairy/fruit and keep it to one starchy/carb item.

[MrsK]

Also, forgot to mention. He gets snacks too. He usually eats a fruit, a bowl of cereal, and 8oz or so of milk before school. Then the school provides a mid-morning snack that includes a variety of things like fruit, crackers, cheese, pretzels (kind of along the lines of what I've been packing but smaller servings). He also gets a snack at home in the late afternoon around 3pm -- fruit, yogurt, something like that. He's fussy at dinner and doesn't eat much but by then he's usually consumed enough calories for the day.

[HouseofWool]

I would make sure to up the protein, so it sticks with him longer. What about yogurt in the tubes that you can freeze so it won't be gross by the time lunch rolls around.

[MrsK]

When I worked at the Montessori preschool, I was always surprised by how much some of the tiniest kids ate. We often had to ask parents to send in more and even joked that some of the little ones could put away more than we did.

Your lunches sound so healthy. If he's still hungry, I might add a sandwich with sun nut butter, extra fruit (like grapes already chopped up), or crackers and cheese.

At his last school, they used to provide the kids with a hot lunch. A lot less healthy than what I've been sending but the teachers always reported that my boys asked for second and third helpings every day. I just find myself packing lunches and telling myself that I cannot send a nutrigrain bar and fig newtons, for instance. I feel like I have limited categories -- fruit, dairy, veggie protein, and carbs -- there is only so much I can do to avoid duplicating and I don't want to start filling in with chips or other non-nutritious snacks.

[MrsK]

I would make sure to up the protein, so it sticks with him longer. What about yogurt in the tubes that you can freeze so it won't be gross by the time lunch rolls around.

They refrigerate the lunch so yogurt and such is not a problem (except by boys end up wearing more yogurt than they eat). Also, I pick him up right after lunch so he's gobbling up his lunch and then asking for more while he's still at the table. I just gave the boys their afternoon snack -- yogurt and a cookie. He ate the cookie and rejected the yogurt. Now he's demanding another cookie. K2 ate the yogurt and the cookie. He had lunch at home with me which was 1/2 a peanut butter sandwich and some applesauce. I'd offered him some orange segments too which he refused to eat.

[spotty_dog]

I pack most lunches in these containers: http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Contain.../dp/B003U6DJ90

The main compartment might be nearly full of leftover pasta, with fruit and cheese in the other compartments. Or a peanut butter sandwich in the main compartment. Or two mini bagels with cream cheese. Or some pieces of pita bread, and then a nice big helping of hummus in the larger of the compartments, and fruit in the smaller, and then sometimes a string cheese or a squeezy yogurt as well. Oh, and one of his favorites is "homemade pizza Lunchable": two of the round whole wheat sandwich thins in the main compartment, a good sized pile of shredded mozzarella in the big compartment, and pizza sauce in the small compartment. Plus some fruit somewhere to round it out.

[diggitydot]

Does he normally eat when he's bored? If not, he's probably not going to do it at school.

I'd up the protein, too. Does he like hard-boiled eggs?

[MrsK]

Eating when bored is not an option at home. But I'm thinking he may be wanting to eat more if he is stuck at the lunch table while the slower kids finish their meals.

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