School Lunch Ideas for Kids {no bento, nut-free}

We remember last year all too well, right? By June May we were a lunch-making-hot-mess. I know I was! Well, it’s that time of year, parents – prepare yourself for 10 months of school lunch making! 

Right now we’ve got that drive since it’s just the beginning. We {hopefully} have built ourselves up over the summer to be lunch-packing rock stars. Yet, jump on the web to find school lunch ideas for kids, and you might get discouraged. 

I was.

Most of the ideas I found over the past few weeks were full of peanuts and nuts {most school are nut-free}, and don’t get me started on bento. Ugh. Kudos to those parents that send butterfly shaped sandwiches and artistically arranged star cheeses … each. and. every. day. 

That’s just not for me. I strive to send food. Period. 

So, I made myself a round-up of school lunch ideas for kids – all nut & peanut free AND no bento. Yet you could cut it up all fancy-like if you wish. Yet, the expectation to do so isn’t here, folks. 

These ideas below are simple. For instance, my kids love sandwiches, but not everyday. So, I have a few other ideas to mix things up and prevent boredom for both the sender and the eater.

When choosing from the list below, obviously keep in mind what your kids would or wouldn’t like and will or won’t eat. If you want to add a dip for veggies – have at ‘er. If they don’t like tomatoes, take it off the list. If tuna makes them gag, don’t send it. 

When shopping, take a handful of ideas from each group. At the beginning of the week, chop the veggies and fruits and have little baggies of everything to grab and go so you aren’t doing the mundane prep work every school day. Do this for fridge and pantry items.

Also, when making sandwiches and wraps I make two days worth, so I get the next day off from making a main. 

** At my kids school, they have one lunch and 1 snack during a full day. So I send a main lunch item and then 3-4 options from the other 3 groups. I might do {2} fruits, {1} veggie and {1} from the ‘misc’ group one day with the main – and then mix it up for another day and go harder on the veggies etc. 

Also, I don’t send cookies or treats and this includes juice. Again, that’s just me. Instead, I send a water bottle and on occasion, my kids will have a milk from the milk program {we buy pre-paid milk coupons to send at leisure, so I get to pick and choose the day they get one}. Yet, if you want to add in some juice or milk to the send list – please do.

As well, our school discourages lunches that need to be heated up in the microwave. Once in a while is alright, but if so many kids did this all the time, there wouldn’t be enough allotted lunch-time for all the kids to heat, eat and be done before the bell rings. So, I opt for the thermos idea instead of things that need microwaving. 

My point with this list is to not have a day-to-day rule on what you need to send. You also don’t need to spend a lot of time cooking, baking and cutting cutesy shapes – unless you want to.

This is just a compilation of ideas so that the same thing isn’t sent each and every day. In my eyes, beating the mundane is winning. 

  MAIN/PROTEIN

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• Tuna Roll-ups {take a tortilla shell, spread on tuna salad made with mayo and finely chopped celery, place lettuce on top and roll. Cut roll into slices to make it bite sized}
• Jam sandwich {on occasion, this is the one ‘treat’ I will send}
• Deli meat, cheese, lettuce and mayo sandwich 
• Hot soup in a thermos, will still be warm by lunch
• Chicken Salad sandwiches {or rollups like the tuna idea above}
• Sliced deli meat or pepperoni sticks, cheese, pickles and crackers
• Night before dinner leftovers in a thermos {like chili with a bun}
• Hard boiled egg with crackers and pickles
• hot dogs {naturals without nitrates} in a thermos

 FRUITS

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• whole apple or slices 
• whole orange or slices 
• plum
• grapes
• fruit cup
• Melon {cantaloupe of honeydew}
• Berries
• Applesauce

 VEGETABLES

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• Carrot Sticks
• Celery Sticks
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Sliced cucumbers
• Sliced Peppers
• Broccoli 
• Snap Peas
• A mix of all, salad-style

 MISC.

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• Granola Bar
• Muffin
• Cheese String
• Yogurt Tube or yogurt cup
• Rice Cake Crackers
• Goldfish Crackers
• Pretzels
• Fruit Leather
• Cottage Cheese
• Roasted Chickpeas
• Naan bread and hummus
• mini bagels with herbed cream cheese

If you have an item idea to add, leave me a comment below! 🙂