Back to School...Lunches!

And now for school lunches. We can definitely use some help in that department. My children have some different tastes than most, they are not very excited about most kid foods aside from chicken nuggets and fries. Pizza doesn't float their boat, neither does mac and cheese, pb&j, sandwiches in general--in other words pretty much every easy child lunch out there. Don't get me wrong though, I'm glad they like the things they do because it's what I like it's just that it doesn't translate into easy brown bag lunch making or picnicking either for that matter.

Not only do I want lunches to be relatively simple in concept, they need to be easy prep too. Our kids will be making their lunches the night before as part of the homework routine, so it needs to be something they can put together on their own for the most part. That said, I think it will be fun to try our hands at some recipes for the sake of learning some age appropriate cooking skills. Here's a list of things I hope to try making together with my kids:

Lunch Ideas:

Stuffed Pita Pockets:Not very original, but may be just what my kids need to jump start regular sandwich eating. Neither school age child has ever been a big sandwich eater, which let me tell you can put a real wrench in lunch options, particularly brown bag lunch options. But maybe if we try some meat, cheese, veggies in a pita with ranch or some other sauce in separate container for dipping or pouring on just prior to eating we'll have success.

Sandwich on a Stick: I could not love this idea more! There again, it's an atypical sandwich option and I don't know any kid who doesn't love eating things off of sticks. Plus, what a fun thing to prepare thus encouraging children to help in their lunch making process and it can obviously and easily be personalized.

PB&J Blossoms: These are just too cute! My kids are not enticed by peanut butter and jelly but just might be if they're in a fun shape and especially if they helped me make them. We shall see!

Ham and Cheese Empanadas: At first glance I sort of balked at these, but only because I thought they look ridiculously time intensive for a kids school lunch. Upon closer inspection though I saw that they actually look pretty simple and relatively quick. Add to that the fact that they're kid-helper friendly and I think they'll be worth a try. And really the options for fillings are endless, the concept lends itself to all kinds of combos. Will let you know how they turn out.

Taco Roll-Ups: Oh boy do we have some mexican food fans in our house! So naturally these ought to be right up their alley. I can imagine cooking up a batch of the meat and beans and freezing what we don't use right away for easy assembly later on.

Best Tuna Salad: An easy variation on the old standby to hopefully mix up the sandwich rotation a bit as needed.

Pinwheel Bites: Who doesn't love pretty, bite size food? Who cares that it's nothing new, just seen in a new way and that might just be enough to make all the difference. Take virtually any sandwich combo you can think of and put on bread that you've rolled out a bit and then roll it all together and slice into pinwheels, definitely fun lunch material. Substitute tortillas for bread and you've got an even more unusually fun option. I'll be giving herbed cream cheese with sliced ham on a tortilla a try. So tricky!

Homemade Lunchables: Another genius idea for sure. My kids love lunchables, which not surprisingly I'm unwilling to provide them on any regular basis, but making our own? You betcha! There's no recipe or link to share for this because it's a pretty basic concept. We're thinking a small divided container (ziploc brand or something comparable), ritz crackers or something similiar, sliced cheese any thickness or shape you want, thicker sliced meat-ham steaks anyone?, all divided out just like lunchables and maybe some sort of fruit (cups or applesauce or fresh), and for fun a miniature candy bar because we all know the dessert is what makes the kids interested in those store bought special in the first place.

Bento Boxes: Love this idea! Although several of the items shown at this link are a bit out there as far as my kids tastes go, the idea is definitely usable. Heck, I want to eat all the boxes shown here! Our favorites are the Mexican Bento (cheese quesadillas? Who'da thought?!), Americanized Bento (liking the turkey bologna sandwich filling and boiled egg addition), All-American Bento (egg salad never looked so good!), and the Mediterranean Bento (pita and hummus, so appetizing and kids love dipping so it may just work). Mainly I just think opening a container with any number of those options diplayed in such a fun appetizing way is sure to be a hit!

Another link: Our Best Bites has a little post on kids lunches in their archive for even more ideas, some of which I've covered a version of already but check it out!

That's all I got and I think it's great start for us. Here's to hoping that we have happy school lunch-making and eating kids this year!