I am asking this question for a friend. I am sorry to be repetitive because there are so many "back to school lunch" questions. But lately I have not seen a question tailored to high school boys. My friend has homeschooled her kids their whole lives. But now one is in middle school and the other in high school. Ya know they gotta have images to maintain and so mommy packing them something lame hopefully won't be an issue. If she packs them a hard boiled egg or tuna sandwich, don't want them to be labeled the stinky lunch kid! Oh and not only is this school thing new, but they also are the new kids in town. My friend (the mom) is talking about all the sandwiches she will be making (two teens, husband, plus lunch for herself and her homeschooled daughter).
So my question - what to serve hungry teenage boys in their lunch? Any advice on make-ahead prep? Thanks everyone!
I would ask the boys what they wanted me to get at the grocery store, and they'd be packing their own lunches! I packed my own lunch in high school. That way I got what I wanted and I knew every single day what I was about to pull out of the bag.
honestly, have them buy their lunches for the 1st week....& let them check out what the other kids are bringing. In my school, pretty much anything goes....
& as a head's up: both of those boys are old enough to fix their own lunches! Let them help with the shopping, too!
I have a 16 year old Junior this year. He mostly eats the cafeteria lunch. Rather he picks at it - he eats the fruits, starches and milk. They have horrible food at his school.
Anyhoo, when he packs a lunch he goes with Peanut Butter and jelly, ham, or turkey and a few snacks. He will not do pudding cups, or fruit cups in his lunch because they are not "cool" - though he will them at home. He will do animal crackers, chips, string cheese. Never a hot lunch - thermos' are so not cool. LOL Bottled water only.
He does not carry a lunch box or lunch bag. He is content to toss his lunch in a plastic grocery bag and jam it into his backpack.
Tell your friend to let her boys observe what the other kids bring, and what they pack it in. High school doesn't seem as vicious as middle school was - at least not here.
If it were my kid in High School I would hand them some money and have them eat school lunch LOL
I think she will be safe with sandwiches, a bag of sun chips, an apple, a salad or maybe a granola bar for dessert.
Then she should step into the 21st century and have her husband make his own darn sandwich ;)
wow i guess my mom was an evil witch lol. i never got school lunches- not even in high school, although by then i had some spending money to buy it occasionally if i wanted to spend my money that way, or get dessert or snacks a la carte. i kinda equate it to being a frivolous waste of money- and being cool isn't one of my top priorities. i guess by the time mine gets to hs i might feel differently....but honestly i grew up this way and the friends i had (who, admittedly, weren't the "coolest" crowd) were amazing people that i am still true blue friends with to this day. they didn't judge me by my lunch lol. that just seems silly...?
long story short, just like at home - you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. it's sustenance, it's energy for your body. it's not a fashion statement.
lunch money to buy 'ala carte'
chips, cookies, drink
turkey and cheese
ham and swiss
no tuna
no hard boiled egg
no chicken salad
no salads
I think if a high school boy shows up carrying his lunch, he will be laughed
out the door, sorry to say. High school kids buy lunch.
I say let them make their own lunches, or at least pick out what they want. After the first week, they'll probably have some ideas of what is going to get them slack from their table mates and what will not. I recall my brother wanted a lunch in HS that he could completely throw away - paper sack, throw away drink. He didn't want to have to think about remembering to bring anything home.
I can't speak to the boy thing, but my daughter brings a lunch everyday to HS (she's gluten free so it's just easier). She brings a peanut butter and jelly, egg salad, or turkey sandwich. Carrots or celery with peanut butter, craisens, fruit snacks or chips if we have (very rarely). She carries a water bottle (the non disposable kind). She a sophomore this year and decided she doesn't want to carry a lunch bag she wants a brown bag she can throw away . . . so I had to buy the peanut butter single serve which is cheaper than her throwing away my tupperware :-)
When I was in high school I packed my own lunch. Ask them what kinds of food they want and keep a variety available in the fridge and pantry. A lot of the time I would eat off-campus at nearby fast food restaurants. My mom gave me a set amount of money for school lunches. I could ration it out however I wanted, but if I ran out, then I had to make my own lunch.
My son always took his lunch from the time he entered school. In high school, the kids were envious because his mom always fixed him a lunch. They always inquired what he had and if he wanted to trade...no, of course not. He always had a sandwich or home cooked hamburger patty on a bun, apple, chips, cookie and a drink in a brown paper bag.
Now my daughter would eat at school occasionally in grade school, but took her lunch most of the time. In middle school she tried eating from the snack bar but most if the time it took too long to get so she brought a lunch from home. In high school, she was given a lunch allowance each week so she ate from the salad or baked potato bar, until she figured out if she brought her lunch from home, she had extra money. The girls would bring their lunches in cute little lunch purses or those colored gift bags. After her freshman year of lunch in the loud cafeteria, she and a friend would eat their lunch in one of the teacher's classroom...the teacher has been a family friend since our wedding and you could do that in this East Texas town. My grandaughter takes her lunch each day, though she does like to eat on Italian spaghetti day (once a month) and hot dog bar day (once a week) and, of course, when she is brought lunch by me. :)
The mother needs to get a life and let them and her husband start taking care of themselves. I would take them to the store and let my kids pick out what they wanted in their lunches or write a check for lunches, but they had to fix their own. They like it better, are happier with it, learn some skills (gratefulness being the biggest) and grow up more well adjusted then kids that have a helicopter mom still hovering in high school trying to please everyone. They are going to hopefully be off to college in four years and she is supposed to be preparing them for independent living. If she keeps this up I feel sorry for who they marry. Instead of worrying about what they want for lunch tell her to start thinking of what it is that she always wanted to do and pursue that or just go play tennis or something.
Our SR high school is grades 11-12 and most everyone leaves campus for lunch. Some people purchase from the cafeteria, specially on special days when healthy restaurants bring in favorites.
In High School ( grades 9-10). It's mostly cafeteria purchases or some quickie they can keep in their locker.
Visit the school and get a feel for the "norm" at that school.
Both my boys (both college students now) preferred to buy lunch in high school.
My daughter, a sophomore, is still hangin' tight to her salami sandwich on wheat, carrot sticks, water bottle, and a dollar. Dunno what she does with the dollar but I'd imagine she buys something from the machines.
:)
