School Lunch Ideas: iLunchBox
September 4th, 2008
Now that a new school year is upon us I’ve been trying to find ideas for school lunches. My daughter’s school has a catering program which we pay for each month. They deliver hot meals and beverages each day which makes it so easy for me. There have been a few months here and there when we chose not to participate (oh, who am I kidding, we forgot to send in advance payment for those months) since she didn’t always eat what was served, but I always struggled trying to find things to pack for her lunch. And let’s face it, there’s only so many weeks times you can send your child to school with a Lunchables box before you start feeling like a crappy, lazy ass mom. Since this is a topic that I know a lot of busy moms out there have to deal with, Karen and I will try to compile some ideas for all of us to share. If you have any tips or recipes, please feel free to throw them out there as well!
For one source of lunch ideas, check out iLunchBox, which I found out about from Amanda. This is a new online community dedicated to the pursuit of healthier lunches for school aged children. iLunchBox has informative articles, handy tips and healthy recipes for on-the-go lunches. You can even sign up for their e-mail newsletter to get the latest information. You can bet I’ll be checking out this site often for healthy lunch ideas!
12 Responses to “School Lunch Ideas: iLunchBox”
Heidi September 4th, 2008 at 4:41 am #
Alright I am not going to feel like a lazy ass mom even though I did just stick a lunchable in her lunchbox. Well, ok, I was a lazy ass mom today, but it’s just this once, promise. (fingers behind back) Thanks for the site ideas. I need them.
Kel September 4th, 2008 at 5:37 am #
My daughter is a lunchable junkie…she begs for them when we are at the store and says she ALWAYS wants to eat them for lunch. I have to admit though, after a few weeks of lunchables lunches I am starting to feel like a bad mom. Thanks for sharing the site, I will definitely have to take a look!
~K
Amy @ The Q Family September 4th, 2008 at 6:55 am #
Oh!! You don’t know how much I wanna thanks you! I have been so sick of the sandwich I made for Miss J eventhough she is not complaining. I don’t want her to eat school lunch just because she doesn’t a good eater. So I can only imagine she will take a few bites here and there. Packing lunch gives me the opportunity to see how much she eats each day. Plus I’m a cheap mom that don’t wanna pay $1.90 for a PB&J sandwich that I can buy for $0.20 from my grocery store.
Thank you.. thank you and thank you..
Marcia "HDMac" McFarlane September 4th, 2008 at 7:22 am #
This looks like a great website even for hubby’s lunches!!!
Mama Zen September 4th, 2008 at 9:47 am #
Thank you so much for the link! Sadly, I am lunch challenged.
Sandy (Momisodes) September 4th, 2008 at 10:25 am #
What a fabulous idea! Thankfully Babisodes’ preschool caters their food and she eats it (usually). But she only attends 2 days out of the week. I have to figure out an actual meal for the other days she’s home. She can’t eat a bag of popcorn for lunch like her mommy ya know
Teresa September 4th, 2008 at 10:35 am #
I remember as a kid, I was always the one to bring my leftovers to school. I loved them! It’s kinda like My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
mikki roo September 4th, 2008 at 1:10 pm #
Thanks for that link… My oldest is starting kindergarten in spring, so I have to start thinking about that stuff soon! I’ve been lucky until now I guess
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Thanks, Kellie, for commenting on my blog… it was a rotten week, but I was so blessed to have my husband home one day and a caring aunt who took my baby another day (okay, I know he’s almost 3!!). I finally got Penicillin last night and I’m starting to feel like a completely new person…
Asianmommy September 4th, 2008 at 6:09 pm #
Thanks for the great link!
Midwest Mom September 5th, 2008 at 1:38 pm #
Parents and administrators at my sons school got together last year and even reworked the hot lunch schedule. It was so gratifying to have the choices for those who buy lunch be as healthy as the food we would serve at home (i.e, no fried food, no fruit in heavy syrup, fresh fruit and vegetables whenever possible!) Great link, too! Thanks!
-MM
Angela September 7th, 2008 at 7:24 pm #
My daughter is in kindergarten and I decided to splurge and buy her a laptop lunch box. While it was expensive it makes packing lunches a breeze! It gives you space to put four things in the lunch box. No need for ziplock bags or anything else. I have been packing things like cheese, pirates booty, whole grain sun chips, olives, fresh fruit, freeze dried fruit, fruit rool ups, I make either balogna or peanut butter jelly sandwiches and cut them up in fun shapes such as stars, moons, flowers, etc using fondant cutters. I took a picture of the laptop lunch fully packed and put it on my blog on her first day of school which was Wednesday, August 13th. So far she hasn’t wanted to buy a school lunch and I am glad because I know exactly what she eats everyday!
BusyMamas September 9th, 2008 at 1:17 am #
Glad I’m not the only one that likes Lunchables around here! They’re a lifesaver when I didn’t bother to prepare anything for the kids!
Midwest Mom, that’s great the school system is making an effort to serve healthy stuff! Hopefully this will be a trend in all states.
Angela, I just got a laptop lunch box too! I haven’t used it yet and am still trying to figure out what to put in it so thanks for all the great ideas!