Lunch...What Is It Anyway?

[SilverSabre25]

I hate lunch. I always have. What constitutes "lunch food", anyway? This is assuming you give the kids lunchy stuff and not the "full Sunday Dinner" type meals, which I am heartily tired of doing for my crew because they don't really eat much...I'm bored and I need a change.

I don't do pizza/hot dogs/chicken nuggets/fish stick type stuff either, though lord knows it would be easier if I did

[jessrlee]

Today we had:

Sesame chicken
Veggie/ brown rice pilaf
Banana
1% milk

My cost worked out to about $.75 a head.

[Heidi]

I have 5 in my group, 3 toddlers and 2 preschoolers. A lot of time, they get some of what our family ate the night before, or something I have frozen from a previous meal. I freeze everything in meal sized containers. For instance, at Thanksgiving we had a lot of hm mashed potatoes leftover, which I put in freezer containers. We just used the last one up, juiced up with some cheddar cheese.

Occasionally (no more than once every two weeks or so), we go the fish sticks/hot dogs/chicken nugget route, and other days we have sandwiches. I found some little whole grain mini-pita rounds at Sam's club, and I keep them in the freezer, too. They are perfect for little hands.

[bice99]

We had left overs from my own family's dinner last night - homemade fried rice, pork, veggies, skim milk.

[SunflowerMama]

Today we had...

Egg salad sandwiches (using plain Greek yogurt and avocados instead of mayo/mustard) on high fiber ww bread
carrot sticks
grapes
Veggie chips
skim milk

A lot of times we'll do leftovers from the night before, like a pp mentioned. We do a lot of crock pot meals and casseroles. And visa versa. I'll do casseroles for the dcks and what's leftover will be dinner for my family that evening.

We also do a lot of different types of ww pastas and sauces with homemade bread, veggies and fruit.

My dcks also LOVE breakfast for lunch. Homemade ww waffles, scrambled eggs with veggies (spinach, tomatoes, etc.) and some fruit.

[Cat Herder]

I did baked/diced chicken breasts (that they dipped in ketchup), thick cut green beans (steamed/well drained), steamed/candied carrots (the little baby ones with a bit of light brown sugar/butter; drained before serving) and dinner rolls, today.

I find that the fewer ingredients I use, the more likely they are to eat. :confused: Everything on their plate could either be picked up with fingers OR with silverware. I served three helpings and the dog got nothing....

Mine are in a funny..."no sauce" phase... Apparently getting dirty is just too icky right now.... :: I think they follow the lead of the oldest...

This phase, too, shall pass.....

[Ariana]

This is our regular menu:
Tuna fish sandwich with cherry tomato and cucumber and soup
grilled cheese and tomato soup
black bean pizza with non dairy cheese
chicken, brown rice and broccoli
Beef tortillini (not chef boyardee!)
Homemade chicken nuggets or fish (quinoa flour and salt and pepper coated strips of chicken breast fried in olive oil) with veggie pasta or kamut pasta.
Sometimes we do leftovers like meatloaf or stew. Experience has taught me that most kids do not like stuff mixed together like casserole's so I don't even bother.

[MNMum]

I admit, sometimes I give into the kids desire to eat those "kid" foods. They love the dinosaur chicken nuggets! It's rare, but an easy lunch when we do it. Usually served with brocolli, so they can make a forest for their dinosaurs.

I just found the goldfish shaped WW bread flats. It's great, no left over crust!

[Meyou]

We had ham, cheese, ww bread and butter, green beans and bananas today.

[JaydensMommy]

Today I made the kids sloppy joes and they loved them! We had them with corn on the cob, peaches and milk. Other things they love: English muffin pizza, homemade chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, BBQ Chicken sandwiches, and of course their favorite is spaghetti.

[LittleD]

Most of our lunch ends up in the garbage my one dcb (2) won't eat anything but pasta, french fires, pizza and any snack food (no veggies)

It's rubbing off on my dcg (1.5)

I just give them left overs from our supper the night before, or I make our supper at lunch, and refrigerate the rest for us. This way I'm not wasting my cooking skills :: and don't feel to bad if they don't eat something I worked hard at for them.

[laundrymom]

I refuse nuggets,fries, sticks, Or hotdogs.

I take chicken breast, cube it, bake it, I'm big on correct portions too. I measure every portion. Every day. I just use measure spoons & cups for serving.

I do Havel thins, moss chz the fresh kind in the brine, and top with sliced tomatoes. Broil..

[AnneCordelia]

Today we had grilled cheese, carrot sticks and apples.
To.orrkw we are having black bean quesadillas.

[mema]

Today we had hamburger gravy with mashed potatoes, a roll, and oranges-all but 1 child ate everything plus some. I usually also do the lunch for supper or supper for lunch thing, mainly because our nights are busy and we usually have leftovers so why waste them.

[Rachel]

I do protien / starch / veggie.

Simple foods like baked chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans
meatballs, pasta, rice
etc.

I also sometimes do a big chicken soup, so it's an all in one meal (chicken, veggies, noodles)