I may need to post this in the grocery forum, but I thought I would start here. School lunches have gone up to $2.75 here for middle & elem school. As a cost saving measure, we are all brown bagging it a bit more. What are your best lunch box strategies? I buy the big bag of chips and break them up into individual size bags for the kids to pick from. I have tried making my own lunchables (healthier versions), and we are trying to shop smart. I just don't want them to be totally bored day in and day out. Milk is 60 cents a pop- amazing. I did find single serve milk at GFS for half that price.

We're brown bagging it here too. I like hearing/seeing lunch ideas.
What is GFS?

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My oldest (high school) takes her lunch. She says the line is too long and she'd rather take her lunch so she can eat versus stand in line so long. Youngest (middle school) eats hot lunch at school. Both schools are $2.00 for lunch.

We keeps salmon & tuna packets. I think they're .92 each at WalMart and very healthy, needs no refrigeration. I buy the 24 packs of single serve lite fruit at Sams, we keep single serve chips. I used to buy the bags and let them put it into baggies, but their serving sizes gradually got too big, so I go ahead and buy the single serve chips. We keep Little Debbie snacks - if it's a twin pack, they have to open it and just take one and wrap the other for tomorrow. They don't need 2 treats. Oldest takes cheese & crackers a lot or a pb sandwich. I also keep boxes of granola bars and those snack crackers - pb, cheese, etc.

Whenever I try to offer other ideas, so doesn't want to mess with it. Very rarely we'll have something leftover from dinner that appeals to her, but she doesn't like to bring stuff back home. She likes to brown bag & throw it away. So, I've started saving plastic tubs that I normally wouldn't re-use - ie: frosting tubs, margarine tubs - and if she wants something like that she can use one of those tubs and pitch it at school.

Lisa

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My kids brown bag it (well lunch box it) 3 out of 5 days a week or more (our lunch including milk are $1.75 each)

I bought 6 Alladin small thermoses on Amazon for $4.99 each plus got 2 free with promo end of school year. We love those. They don't leak and fit in the lunch boxes.

The kids get a sandwich, soup or easy mac as their "main course". I buy the big bags of chips and break them down. They get an applesauce cup or fruit cup (purchased either in bulk or on sale). That is usually all they have time to eat. They get milk or chai to drink or a juice box (bought in bulk) or on a cold day, hot cocoa. My kids are just simple. I could pack the same lunch every day and they would be fine. They don't like me to try to get creative. I will throw a dessert in there once a week...maybe twice. I bought some tough plastic sliverware at 75% off at Target a couple of years back and they take that to school if needed and bring it home to wash.

Ask them what they would want. I thought my kids would be bored but they were very happy with the same lunch. My kids also like dried fruit, fresh veggies with dip and salad. Sometimes my DD just wants cheese and crackers

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They raised our lunches to $2.60 this year and with my youngest going full day, $5.20 a day for lunches is too much! So they are going to be packing most of the time.

I'm curious, does the mac & cheese and soup stay warm enough in the thermos? Kelsey is only 6 and she would not be able to heat anything at school.

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I can count on my hands the number of times that my oldest DS, now a college student, ate school lunch. He preferred Mom's lunch bag to the cafeteria offerings. He also found that if he had to wait in line, he didn't end up with enogh time to eat at the pace that he wanted.

DS2 has a couple of school lunch items that he loves, so he used to eat school lunch 2-3 times a month. The cost at our public schools is $2.75. He started high school (private) this week and I have no idea how much it is DS1 never bought at the HS but said it was very expensive. DS2 ate school lunch yesterday (provided) and said he wouldn't be eating there very often because he didn't think it was very healthy.

As far as what to pack, both of my guys were fine with sandwiches. I think I was the one that got bored making the smae thing for their lunches... They both like tuna fish, and that was always their favorite, but I mixed it up with various lunch meats and differnt breads/rolls and occasionally PB&J. We tried wide-mouth thermos lunches, but they always came back to sandwiches. I buy individually wrapped snacks because we eat too much if we have a big open bag. Every lunch includes fresh fruit, a fruit cup, or applesauce. They don't get a dessert item every day.


cj/

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What is GFS?[/color][/quote]

GFS- Gordon Food Service Welcome to the World of Gordon Food Service

They are new here in Tennessee, but I like what I have bought so far. It is sort of like a Sam's aimed at food service. No membership fees, great program for school fundraising, etc. Some things are a better price than others, but the quality is overall, pretty good.

Lunches here went up to $2.60 and an extra milk is .60. Too much for us. Plus my girls won't eat much of what they serve at school.
We do sandwiches, PB(no jelly), turkey, ham, roast beef. My girsl also like lunch meat on tortillas for a change.
My oldest loves salads. I send the croutons and bacon bits in separate baggies so they don't get soggy. My dd likes the bac-os or whatever they are...I call them fake bacon bits, LOL. They're crunchy and tend to get soggy if left on the salad. I put the dressing in a small container for her to put on herself. I also buy the tuna that's in a small can and has a pack of mayo and relish and a pack of crackers. She loves those. She likes mayo but not relish so she makes it herself and loves that. I think those are a little under $2 for a 2 pack.
We also have the thermos(stainless steel type, not the plastic ones)for spaghetti O's, soups and things like that. I boil water and put in the thermos in the mornings, heat the food up, dump out the hot water and put in the hot food. Their lunches are still steaming at lunch time.
I buy the individual bags of chips. I know they're more expensive than 1 large bag broken down but like Lisa mentioned, the portions are controlled, no baggies to buy and more variety. For my kids that's important so that's what we go with.
They also like pepperoni and cheese or salami and cheese.
I also send veggies with ranch dressing, granola bars, popcorn, fruit snacks, small pieces of candy occasionally(like a couple of starburst). OF course, not all of this at once, LOL!
For my kids, they like variety. They get tired of sandwiches so I try to mix it up some.
I will say that I probably spend close to the same amount on their lunches as I would if they bought at school. But the lunches they take from home are more nutritious and they actually eat them because they like them. My oldest dd seems to end up sick almost everytime she eats lunch at school. And both usually come home very hungry when they buy at school and not so much when they take their lunches. My youngest does eat at 10:30 so she's still in need of a snack when she gets in but she's not ravenous like she is when she buys!!

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Oh okay. We do have CostCo and Smart and Final here and it sounds similar. Thanks bobswife!

WHOA! Seriously? It's still hot?
I'm going to have to try that!

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What I do is fill the thermos with hot water before filling them with soup or mac. Let them heat up for 5-10 min then dump the water and put in the hot stuff. I put together the lunches around 8 AM and they eat between 11 and 12. They say it's still oht but maybe it's the thermos I use?

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Thanks, I am going to have to try that

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Our lunches here are $2.75 at the elementary school because it is charter. My daughter buys maybe 1 or 2 times a month. She takes everything from Pb&J(unless she wants to sit with one of her friends who is allergic), pita sandwiches stuffed with veggies(she is 7 and obsessed with healthy foods--rarely ever asks for treats) or just turkey rolled around string cheese and skewered with pretty plastic toothpicks. She takes enough in her lunch so that she has something left for snack time(she hates Teacher snack). She usually always takes carrots or celery. We have done the individual fruit cups, cottage cheese(which she loves), a yogurt every day(yoplait light not the kid stuff) and a Juicy juice. I have been getting the juice boxes for close to free and the little chiquita snack packs of apples or carrots have been free with my coupons. Occasionally she will ask for a cereal bar or a fiber one bar. Now my son was and still is a different story. He bought his lunch only 1 time in his 6 years of elementary school. He hit Jr high this year and buys daily(because he said it isn't cool to take your lunch in Jr high). He eats crap!!!! I am just thankful he has PE everyday and works out with his Dad every other day and I make sure he eats good breakfast and dinners.

DS will not take home lunch, I wish he would, but he thinks only the dorks bring lunch. Gotta love those teenage years, huh??? Also, they sell Chik fil A at school.

How about ritz with some peanut butter on them, pop corn, carrot sticks.

The sandwiches are more difficult because if you make lunch meat or anything with mayo on it, you need to keep it cold.

- cheese and tomatoe with a little mayo on rye
- a cold BLT
- jelly and cream cheese (it's actually pretty good)

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Our school lunches are not as expensive as some of yours (thank goodness), we're $1.90 for 1 main & 2 sides, one of which can be milk, otherwise it's extra.

My DD hates sandwiches so we have those storage containers with four divided compartments (little square cups). She usually takes 1 protein (usually cheese or kosher salami), 1 fruit (apple slices, grapes, etc), 1 vegetable (usually carrot sticks) and 1 carb (crackers, goldfish, cubes of raisin bread), plus a juice box.

My DS takes PB sandwiches with fresh sliced grapes or strawberries on them (he hates jelly), we buy large packages of crackers (like Cheezits or Ritz Bits) and put them in the small tupperware containers and then he takes chocolate milk singles. We've been buying the Horizon milk singles, they're organic, and shelf-stable (don't have to be refrigerated) with really long expiration dates (I have some now that don't expire until next year). However, they are horribly expensive (about .90 each). I wish I could find something similar for less.

Renee

you can pack a hot dog or two in hot water in a thermos, and pack a bun and individual mustard separate. the thermos idea is a good one, plus you wont be throwing away a container every day

It really is. I've been up there to eat lunch with my kids and I see the steam come out when they take the lid off. I've always bought the Thermos brand, they're wide mouth, kind of short. This year I bought one at Target, their brand I think.....it's pretty good but probably will not last as long as the Thermos brand. The Thermos brand is around $15 but lasts normally 3 years.

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My kids pack nearly everyday. We have a couple of those funtainers for hot foods. Ds loved taking his lunch because he got to choose what he ate. Some of things he took in his thermos was:
Left over taco meat. I would make sure it was good and hot, then we would pack a couple tortillas, a container filled with sour cream and one with shredded cheese. This way he could make his own tacos. If he didn't feel like tacos, we would pack tortilla chips and he would mix everything together and dip his chips in for a nacho type thing.
Left over sloppy joes. We would pack a couple of hamburger buns(he HAD to have 2 sandwiches..lol) and a couple slices of cheese. He would put his sandwiches together at lunch time.
Different kinds of soup. This way he had a variety.
Ramen, this didn't work too well. He said it got kind of gooey by lunch time.
Left over roast with the potatoes and carrots.
Most days his friends who bought their lunch was trying to get him to trade lunches with them*lol*. Now that he's in jr high, he buys his lunch everyday.
Dd still packs but she's so picky we end up packing the same thing nearly everyday.

Also, a great way to help keep food cold is to put go-gurts in the freezer the night before. By the time lunch rolls around they are thawed enough to eat but still nice and cold.

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you can freeze capri suns too

Are the lunch prices daily or weekly? Last year our prices were 3.75 for the week.

DD is in junior high and brings her lunch because she says the line is too long and she doesn't want to wait, plus you don't get much time to eat after you wait in line. Most days she hates the food anyway. She brings stuff like:

Turkey & cheese sandwiches (I put a freezer pack in when it's something that needs to be kept cold) (the turkey is very close to free with coupons)
yogurt (individual servings free with coupons)
grapes or applesauce
peanut butter sandwiches (peanut butter free with coupons)
cheetos or pretzels ( $1.28 for large bag at Walmart)
peanut butter crackers
spaghettios
beefaroni
tomato soup & crackers
beef stew
water or Capri Sun to drink

Those are the staples, then just anything else I get free or cheap with coupons. Like right now I am getting the Easy Mac individuals free with coupons, so those will be going in the thermos for lunches soon, also getting lots of plain pasta for free with coupons, so I can see lots of pasta type dishes (in the form of leftovers) becoming lunches. Like tonight we had spaghetti for dinner, that is DD's favorite, so the leftover will go in her thermos for lunch tomorrow. I already have a bunch of items I got free/cheap before school started like Rice Krispie Treats, Yogo Fruit rollers, cookies, Pop Tarts, things I do not normally buy, but if they are close to free then I will get them as a treat, plus it gives a little variety. I know the lunches are not totally healthy, but my worst lunches are probably better than the school lunches.

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Both of my kids take there lunch but they both have microwaves at there schools so leftovers are no problems but my DS takes the same thing each day. PB and honey, cheetos and a gatorade. He is not a big eater (not picky) so I know he will eat that so that is what I send.

I think our lunches went up to $2 this year. I let my kids buy one day a week-they would love to buy every day, but it's just too pricey. I do keep a lot of convenience foods on hand just to make it easy on myself so I can just throw the lunches together quick. They usually get a sandwich, a bag of chips, one yogurt, fruit or veggie, one snack, and a juice box or water bottle. For my son in h.s., he usually grabs a water bottle and a few snacks on his way out the door and then eats like a horse when he comes home around 2pm.

Thanks so much for your firsthand account. Also, I appreciate your tip regarding the Thermos brand metal thermos. I'll get out this weekend and see if I can pick up a couple (hope they are cheaper though. )
You've been so helpful. Thanks!!!

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The tip about warming up the thermos with hot water before adding the hot food is a very good tip.
When I'm in the cafeteria I notice lots of kids that either bring or buy a bottle of Gatorade. Could someone please explain why? I've seen this since DD was in 5th grade. If the kids were in athletics PE, I might understand. But to drink Gatorade like it was water, I just don't understand. The amount of sugar and sodium in Gatorade is too much IMHO to drink it as a casual drink.
My kids fill a water bottle half full, freeze it and top it off the next morning.

Go to Target April. They have them there and have all sorts of thermoses.

I hate sending the typical sandwich and chips to school, and my kids don't like wraps.

I like to send warm taco meat in a thermos w/ grated cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips on the side.

I like making pizza rolls and sending those.
Pancakes and syrup.
Popcorn instead of chips.
Their latest favorite are the cookies my mom used to make for me when I was little - graham crackers spread w/ leftover cake frosting and made into mini sandwiches.
My son likes canned chicken shredded & mixed w/ ranch dressing and crackers to spread it on.
I send in hot dogs w/ the buns in a separate bag for them to put together.
Sometimes I'll send in a bento box too.
They LOOOOVE salads and baked potatoes in their lunch. I use their bento thermoses to keep them warm.

They LOVE having such "cool" lunches and I (yes, I'm conceited) love hearing about how their friends get jealous, lol.

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