I can’t believe my first baby is starting school! It seems just like yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. Now I’m sitting here preparing for him going to school. I’m going through all the school information including lunch. Immediately I realize there’s going to be some issues with hot lunch:
- My child is super picky so there’s going to be a 50/50 chance whether he’s going to actually eat it
- Today’s hot lunch is super expensive. I could go get more to eat at Panera then what the schools charge these days
- They are already given a small time frame to eat lunch, standing in line to get food is going to make it worse
I know packing a lunch is going to be the best option for us. It’s cost effective, I can guarantee my son will like it, and I can ensure he’s eating a healthy and balanced meal. I don’t want to send him with a sandwich everyday either, plus schools frown upon peanut butter which is pretty much the only sandwich I can get my son to eat.
We sent him to camp at his school which included lunch time which was perfect because it allowed me to test out options for lunch. I sent him with cold and hot items each day. I wanted to make sure the hot food stayed hot.
TIP: If you’re worried about your child eating, tell them not to throw anything away. Tell them to keep all food leftover in the container or baggie you sent with them. This allows you to monitor how much they are actually eating each day.
My son came home and said his mac n cheese was still warm. SUCCESS!! This right here made my job a million times easier!
During camp we also weren’t allowed to have peanut products due to the fact that they couldn’t separate the kids with allergies like they normally would. As you will see a lot of the lunch items I’ve included are peanut free. I do however include some good options that include peanut products if your school doesn’t have restrictions.
Back to school here we come!
Love,
Jackie
