What do you usually prepare in your kid’s lunch bag to bring to school?

9 comments

1. My parents usually put lunch in my lunch bag…

   Usually a sandwich, juice pouch and granola bar. Maybe a fruit.

2. When I was packing lunches for my sons it would be a bagel sandwich or PB&J, granola bar, sliced apples and a banana, mini carrots or peanut butter celery, applesauce packet, and something sweet—cookies, chocolate, banana bread etc. As they got older I’d double the sandwiches and add more stuff (peanut butter packets, high protein bars, protein drinks, string cheese) if it was a race day. They always had a water bottle so I never packed drinks.
   (They ran XC, XC skied and ran track so they had pretty high metabolisms.)

3. I have three different lunch boxes depending on whether I’m giving a hot lunch, a chilled lunch, or a sandwich + snacks that don’t require ice. So, sometimes use a thermos and sometimes a bento box and sometimes other containers in an open bag, with or without an ice pack.

4. https://i.imgur.com/sunfn4O.jpg

   That’s my son’s lunch. We just like the open rectangle insulated boxes because we use the little tupperwares. So for use simple open design is best.

   Mostly we throw in some leftovers as well as some snacky type stuff and fruit.

   Today is spaghetti and meat sauce, Mac and cheese, strawberries, apple sauce, cheese, granola bar, goldfish crackers.

   One thing you might be able to do is make the interior seamless. Some of the lunch bags have seams inside and they are a bitch to clean and junk always builds up at the seams.

5. Usually a sandwich, sometimes leftover cold pizza, a bag of chips, a yogurt/applesauce pouch (that doesn’t need to be refrigerated) and maybe a treat. He also carries a snack like crackers or a granola bar. Biggest thing about his lunchbox is it has a hard inner piece to keep it from getting squished.

6. I don’t think that’s practical. It’s far better to have a more modular system like my kids do that have backpacks and matching lunchboxes that can be attached to them. I think we got them from Pottery Barn if you want to look at that site. They generally leave their backpacks somewhere (with all the books, notebooks, pencil bags, etc.) while they get lunch where they only take a lunchbox.

   Anyway, I usually pack a sandwich of some kind (occasionally other foods like a Mexican style tuna salad, grilled chicken shredded into a “salad” as well, etc.) They also take some chips or popcorn, a sweet of some kind, and water in a thermos. Probably 3/5 days they also take fruit of some sort but that’s usually my wife’s contribution (or if I do it, I just give mandarins or something faster and easier.)

7. My son used to take a Zojirushi Ms. Bento in the Zojirushi Mr. Bento bag, and a slim thermos because they stayed upright in the side pocket of his backpack.

8. + Cut bell pepper or carrots

   + sliced salami and crackers or a PB sandwich

   + orange segments or cut apples

   –OR–

   just a tupperware of leftovers

9. Usually a bento box plus two snack containers and a few ice packs.