I’m starting to feel a little bad for my kids. My older one (7) is starting to ask me if he can have something different for lunch than a sandwich. I’ve been making him either a lunchmeat sandwich or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I don’t know any other options. He can’t heat anything up at school and I can put a cold pack in his lunch bag to keep it cold.
Just don’t make it free. 
You don’t really need a cold pack…
How about fruit?
Thats a good idea. I usually pack a banana or some type of fruit. I was thinking in terms of the entree.
What does austrian theory have to say about this?
Was rothbard a meat eater?
“What does austrian theory have to say about this?”
Well, the reason my son is put in this wierd situation where he has to go to a place 5 days a week, every week, and pack a lunch without being able to heat anything up or have any adult help out, is because government forces him to.
Government steals money from me; which in turn leaves me with no other options for schooling. I cannot afford to pay for government school and private school.
I’m just trying to make the best of a bad situation. I see where he is coming from. I’d get sick of eating a sandwich 5 days a week as well. The school lunch is super unhealthy fried fake food. Its really not an option for any parent who values their child’s health.
Ask him what he likes? Here are some links from websites I like, obviously you don’t have to do the fancy stuff:
http://everydaypaleo.com/2012/04/03/school-lunch-ideas/
http://primalkitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/lunchboxes
Chopped fruit and veggies with dipping sauce (yogurt, homemade mayo, almond butter, hummus, etc.), boiled eggs, lunch meat and cheese or cream cheese rollups, bacon-wrapped peppers or chicken, beef jerky, pickles, pepperoni slices, chicken or tuna salad, meatballs and spaghetti sauce, steak slices and guacamole, nuts and cheese, etc.
You can make a “meatza” with your kid and he can bring the leftovers to school the next day.
You can cook rice and have fun making it into shapes with your son: http://www.hellobee.com/2012/04/24/bento-box-technique-spotlight-rice-molds/
I don’t have any kids but I just looked at some food websites I like visiting. I wish someone would make lunches like this for me!
great ideas, Marissa! I love that lunchbox! Keeping stuff hot…I’m going to look into possibly getting that.
Things I’d advise (replace and use depending on what you know he likes):
-Honey buns
-Seaweed (on it’s own, surprisingly tasty)
-Joe Louie’s (the cake things)
-Carrots, celery, nuts, etc
-Snack mix, doritos, etc
I’m not sure if this is true anymore, but in Latin America school lunches used to be partly privatized. Teachers, students, and locals are allowed to sell food on school grounds during lunch. It worked pretty well and allowed a good degree of choice in food that wasn’t out-right dull or unhealthy.
As for what food to give your child, avoid any ‘fruit flavored’ candy and replace it with actual fruit. Perferably mix up what fruit you have so that they have a variety. Similarly replace any chips for salted crackers or cookies. From personal experience Doritos, generic ‘fruit’ candy, etc. etc. get dull very quickly for lunch.
Sandwiches themselves don’t have to be boring. I’m amazed at how many different jellies are available nowdays. Similarly there are all sorts of different types of sandwich meats, cheese and breads. The key is mixing the ingredients up so that you get a different flavor everyday.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with soups either! There are some neat canteens out there that preserve heat pretty well, so even if lunch isn’t till noon the soup itself will still be reasonably warm. Some types of soup can even be served cold and still taste well.
Where do you shop regularly? Any specific supermarket? Do you live near any ethnic neighborhoods that have speciality supermarkets?
P.S. Raisins are always a nice underappreciated treat.
Exclusions: bread, pasta, granola, any grain-derived product, candy, potato chips
your kid needs animal protein and fats. Some fruit will meet his desire for sugar and carbs. The easiest way to put it all in one package is salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad, or veggie salad with chunks of meat. A bag of berries ought to round it out. As for the drink, I drink distilled water. Whatever your kid has access to is probably nasty, so I would try to find some juice that he likes, of course you probably know that store-bought juice is mostly sugar and preservatives, so figure out if you want to compromise somehow or get a juicer. I eat greek yogurt and hard-boiled eggs because its healthy and doesnt require me to do much to prepare it. Yogurt has plenty of fat and sugar in it so if your kid can digest lactose then you might want to make that a staple.
animal protein and fat…Mmmmm…making me hungry.
I try to do more fresh fruit for my kids…and whatever veggies they’ll eat. And I do pack some stonyfield organic yogurt on occasion. Those are all good ideas. I can’t do doritos. I can’t give my kids msg, hydrogenated oils on purpose. My mother in law and mother can, but then again…they’re the grandparents.
I do give him bottled water. Actually, I want to buy a Big Berkey filter. I could pack him some good juices, I haven’t really done that…although that is a good idea. So far, there are alot of good ideas to start with here.
ohhh…good chocolate. good cocao is really healthy. even if it has some sugar in it. Maybe I can start packing some good quality darker chocolate for him.
I’m doing the paleolithic diet right now. It’s pretty good, you should take a look at Mark’s Daily Apple (thank you to the people who recommended that site to me in the Primal Diet/Lifestyle thread).
Totally forgot about dark chocolate, hahaha yah send him to school with a cold chicken breast, turkey salad with grass fed butter, a bag of blueberries and four ounces of 72% cocoa venezualan single bean from whole foods, he will be eating better than anyone else in the building, faculty included.
i also try to pack nuts for my kids whenever they’ll eat them. like cashews or whatever. or pumpkin seeds…but its not too often they’ll want to eat them.
the main entree dish is what I really want to change up.
I saw some roast with carrots…that’s a good idea…perhaps put that in a thermal container that keeps it warm.
Kerrygold also makes cheese. I dont know how you are on dairy, but you can make the sugar/snack part of the meal out of fruit and cheese. Then you just need protein and fat energy. Have you tried chobani brand yogurt?
Make him a salad!
I love salads.
You should really get your kid accostumed to eating some vegetables..
Maybe if you can melt some sugarless chocolate and flavor it with stevia?
Stevia, as far as I’ve experienced it, is really good because it (1) is relatively natural, (2) it doesn’t make you crave more stevia/food, and (3) its extremely efficient (only half a packet=very sweet). However, there is a certain bitter aftertaste but it lasts for a moment and it is nothing compared with the sweet flavor.
Good stuff.
“sugarless chocolate” sounds disgusting unless you mean cocoa liquor, unadulterated cocoa butter, or unadulterated cocoa solids. As for stevia, here: