The Making of a Lunch for Princess-Lunchbox Philosophy and Execution
March 23, 2007 by Jenn @ Frugal Upstate
Filed under Frugal Living
Philosophy behind lunch:
Princess takes her lunch in to school every day. I send her lunch in for a combination of reasons:
#1 Although lunch only costs $1.45, and I have never done the actual math to figure out how much my lunches cost, I am assuming that I am saving money by doing so.
#2 I feel very strongly that the lunches I send in are nutritionally superior to what the school provides. (uh-deep fried mozzarella cheese sticks as an entree anyone?)
#3 Sending in lunch allows me to see how much food she is actually consuming. I send notes in every day for the first 2 weeks asking that they send home all uneaten food so that I could see how much food she was eating. (the ulterior motive was also to get all the zippered baggies back without seeming like a nut job). This has worked well-I’ve been able to talk to Princess about not spending so much time talking at lunch and to spend more time eating-something I might not have known about if I hadn’t seen that she is bringing back 2/3 of her lunch some days!
Planning lunches:
Before school started this year, Princess and I sat down and had a talk about what types of food she liked and would be willing to eat. We made a list of the types of food she might like for her breakfast snack, and for the various elements of lunch. The elements I try to include daily are a “Main”, “Veggie/Fruit”, “Snack/Dessert”, and a Drink. You can see that conversation, as well as links to some good off site lunch planning articles here at “Kindergarten is Coming“.
Don’t be afraid to think outside the box for things when it comes to lunches. Sometimes our “Main” is your typical sandwich, but sometimes it is a bagel and cream cheese, with the “veggie/fruit” being tomato soup (made with milk). We frequently use tortillas to make “roll ups” or “quesadillas” instead of regular sandwiches“. The roll ups can be cut into pinwheels (a plus on the fun factor) or left in long tubes. Burritos are also a big hit, and very easy with a can of re fried beans and some shredded cheese. Sometimes the “Main” is Mac ‘n Cheese, or leftovers. I plan sometime soon to make Hummus with homemade pita wedges as a main! My “Veggie/Fruit” is sometimes pickles, raw veggies with dip, or even jello jigglers made with real fruit juice (although that is bordering on a dessert).
Especially when you have younger kids, “Cool” or “Fun” factor is important. Jello jigglers, Sandwiches cut into shapes with a cookie cutter, lunches that have to be assembled at school~~ All these things have a “cool” or “fun” factor. Also anything that is “mini”.
It is for just this reason that I love my mini muffin pan. A box of regular muffin, cake or brownie mix baked in an 8X8 pan is ok, but that same box baked in mini muffin pans is “cool”!
Making Life Easier:
Prepackage some things for a “grab and go” morning.
When I make Jello for Princess’s lunches, I make the entire box up into 6 Gladware containers and stick them in the fridge, then I have them ready all week to throw in to lunches when needed. Ditto for Pudding.
Whenever I bake, I put part of the delicious results into my cookie tin, but then I package part of it into lunchbox sized portions in those “snack size” zipper bags and pop them straight into the freezer. There is a gallon sized freezer bag that I keep especially for all those snacks in the freezer. After a couple of baking sessions you will have a mix and match grab bag of homemade goodness to throw into lunches. Don’t worry-even if you throw them in frozen they will defrost by lunch!
The same general idea works for pretzels, chips, homemade trail mix etc. Buy the big family size bag (or make your own in the case of trail mix) then package it into the lunchbox size bags. when you need to make lunches you (or the child if they are old enough) can just grab the bag and go.
Packaging Lunches:
In general when I make Princess’s lunch I use 2 types of packaging, either plastic zipper style baggies (yes, I wash and reuse zippered baggies) or plastic reuseable containers.
For her drinks I use either plastic juice or milk bottles that I have washed and re purposed, or small plastic squirt bottles that I purchased at Wally World.
I also bought two thermos at the beginning of the year. I admit, they are not the best in the world-to be safe with a kindergartner I bought the double walled plastic kind. If you are packing lunch for someone older I highly recommend using one with a glass liner, like the real thermos brand. The plastic doesn’t hold heat as long. One is the short type with a wide mouth used for soups and casseroles, the other is the taller thin kind for drinks etc. Both are “child sized.”
~~~Note: When using a thermos for hot things, fill with hot water for 3 minutes to preheat the thermos before adding the hot food. This will keep your food hot for as long as possible. I nuke a measuring cup of water in the microwave, but some folks just use the hottest tap water~~~
For her actual lunchboxes I use two kinds. For her “Breakfast Snack”, which is eaten 30 min after she gets to school, I use a “thermal” (and I use the term very loosely) lunch bag that I purchased at the dollar store. It is the one that I mentioned mending 
The other is a very high quality lunchbox that I purchased from LL Bean using my credit card coupon dollars. It was one of Princess’s Christmas presents. Before that she used a nice Barbie thermal lunchbox that I had picked up at a yard sale for $1 last summer. I have considered buying this bento box insert, but haven’t quite worked myself up to spending the money. . . .
I always send in plastic silverware (reused until she destroys it) and cloth napkins.
A typical day’s breakfast & lunch:
Here is what a completed cracker sandwich would look like. I have a feeling that she actually just eats all the pieces. Oh well, that is up to her!
It is hard to see in this photo (hey, I was taking pictures at 6:30 am, let’s see how well you do at that time) but I cut the plastic from the cheese slice into strips and then placed them between the slices of salami and cheese so that they wouldn’t all stick together. The salami and cheese are also alternated so that they will come out in the order that they should go on the crackers.
The sweet gherkins in a reuseable container. This is two mini pickles each cut in half.
Cauliflower in a zipper baggie, ranch dressing for dip in a container.
Jello.
Pink Milk.
The lunchbox all closed up.
Both lunchboxes ready to go! The pink lunch bag has Princess’s real name written on the front in permanent marker (turned away from you). And the LL Bean lunch bag in monogrammed with her initials (which was a free service with the order). Regardless she is one of the few children who bring in her lunch, so it is doubtful someone else would walk off with her lunchbox anyway!
I hope that this information is helpful in your lunchbox planning! Happy Eating!
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Great overview of lunchboxes, I think I will include a link to it when we post our lunch today. We have the laptoplunch you mentioned and really like not having to deal with lids. My oldest two are to “grown-up” to use them now and use Mr. Bentos. I really enjoyed your post.
Maybe I am too frugal (is there such a thing?) but I bring a yogurt to work daily in an uninsulated container, frequently don’t eat it, bring it home 8 hours later, plop it in the fridge & eat it at another time. It hasn’t gone bad and I haven’t gotten sick. Of course my stomach is old and can digest nails too.
One note: Some first-aid ice packs have toxic ingredients–not great if they leak on to food. The ones designed for lunchboxes are non-toxic. You probably already checked that, but thought I’d mention it.
Midnight Raider–Thanks for pointing that out. My first aid packs are indeed non-toxic (it is printed right there on the pack), but that is always something one should check for.
And a good point for everyone to rember is that “non-toxic” doesn’t mean “wholesome and good for you”, it simply means “won’t poison you as far as we know”–something I used to point out to my soldiers when they thought it was cool to break open chem lights and pour them into their beers and drink them in a dark room. Uggh!
Of course what did I know, I was just an officer. . . .
Look at you!! I like this lunch info. I sometimes put my cold packs in a baggie, just in case of a leak, and so nothing icky gets on them. I can just wipe off the baggie or get a new one if it’s extra-icky. Also, thanks for some new ideas; middle child wants the very same thing every day, and youngest can vary a LITTLE but wants the same basic parts daily. I guess we have security issues with lunches.
Julie
What a great post! Thanks for sharing all your ideas!
My mama packed my lunches all through school, I packed my own lunches through college, and now I pack lunches for myself and my husband each morning before grad school and work, respectively! Thank you for your helpful hints. Here are a few of my secrets: homemade hummus + corn chips or pita wedges + fresh veggie sticks = delicious main dish for all ages; throw a tea bag in an adult’s lunch bag (hot water is available for free almost everywhere, and now you can have a “free” after-lunch hot beverage instead of blowing $2 on coffee); a good-quality collapsible cup (like those sold by camping supply stores) can be a fun, cheap, packable novelty for a kid’s lunchbag (water from the school water fountain somehow “tastes” better when you get to drink it out of a collapsible cup–plus, water is free!). Bon appetit!
Love the bento box idea. FYI-though they still aren’t tons cheaper, you can find the ones in your link on ebay for less. Just search “laptop lunches.”
Corinna-Thanks for the idea. I’ll have to look into that. I think this fall I’ll have to be even more organized and make the lunches the night before. Buddy will be going to school as well so I’ll be making 2 lunches. . .
I like your idea about homemade lunchables. Simple but smart.
My 5-year-old always wants to buy them, and I always say no because of cost, health concerns. But if I packed it myself … I’d have control.
Thanks for the tip.
The Bento lunch sets do look really cool. I did notice that down the page of different sets there was a bulk set of 24 in overrun mismatched colors. If you could get a couple families to go together, this might be an idea. Or use this as a Christmas and birthday gift idea.
Great post! It’s helpful, even for packing lunch for a toddler.
I would love to share a big package of these with someone! And I volunteer to put together the order.
Those Bento Boxes from laptop lunch do not fit well into the LLBean lunchbag. I own both (love the LLBean bag!). You can take all the inserts to the bento box though and arrange them into your LLBean bag, or you can wrestle with your LLBean bag and force the bento inside only to have your kid miss lunch because they could not figure out how to open it (the latch is tricky even for adults). Save your money and continue to use your tupperware and gladware.
Thanks Anon! I've been sticking with the tupperware (non name brand of course) mostly cause I still can't swallow the price of the laptop lunches. But I would like to point out that LL Bean as several different styles of lunchboxes-Ive noticed the one I bought for princess is much deeper & a tiny bit wider than the one I bought Buddy two years later. . . (a dif style I bought to match his backpack-figured it increased chances of it coming home with the right kid)
For the adults – I eat lunch out but carry my breakfast and afternoon snack to the office each day. Breakfast includes yogurt decanted from a 32 oz container to 8 oz canning jars, fresh fruit to mix in, a hard boiled egg and 2 slices of cocktail pumpernickel. I figure the pump is the heartiest and healthiest of the cocktail breads and they are the perfect size for a egg cut in half. I also add a slice of tomato or cuke tp add a veggie to my morning.
For afternoon snack I add a 1 ounce piece of cheese from the 8 or 16 ounce brick, a couple of crackers or pretzels and a piece of fruit, usually a clementine or sliced apples…something not to messy to eat at my desk.
I eat lunch out and prepare something light like cereal or eggs for dinner.
I have a question or maybe even two… I have a 7y/o daughter and it is very hard to pack a lunch for her but it is also hard for her to eat a school lunch. She is really not picky. She likes chicken, steak, hot dogs, corn, green beans, macaroni salad, mac n' cheese, cheese, ham and etc. However, she is not like a "normal" little kid, she does not like pb&j sandwiches, infact she doesn't like pb at all. She doesn't like bread…so sandwiches are kind of useless, she just tries to eat the meat because she really doesn't like cheese with meat on bread. I have bought lunchables some, but I can't buy the meat, cheese and cracker ones…again she doesn't eat the crackers or cheese. She was eating some of the pizza, nachos and tacos…but she tired of that after a while…it was costly, but if she ate it…it wasn't so bad. I have prepared grilled chicken and steak for her, but I can't do it everyday and you can only prepare so much of it at a time or it will waste. Does anyone have any lunch time ideas??? thanks