Lunch Ideas??? - Carpentersville,IL

We homeschool... so we have lunch at home almost every day. We go out to lunch once every 2 weeks, and picnic at the park in good weather. I love to cook, but get seriously tired of it (hmmm does that make sense?), so I do "easy button" as much as possible.

I'm a big fan of dinner leftovers for lunch the next day (works killer for preschool, as well, because you know they'll eat it). We also freeze soup portions whenever I make a big soup... so right now we have 6 or 7 kinds of soup in the freezer. Soup and sandwiches are a very common lunch for us. As is "brunch for lunch". We also have a panini press I couldn't live without... we do baguette grilled cheese all the time (it's super easy to grown-up-ify with that one, he can have mozzarella every day if he really wants, but I can throw in some blue cheese and pear, or cillantro/ jalepenos/ ham, or arugula roast beef, or tomato/basil/mozzarella, or or or). We also do a lot of asian bento. Whatever it is though, lunch has to be E.A.S.Y. Hence why lunch usually springs from altered leftovers or the freezer.

chicken nuggets, corn, fruit
Mac n cheese, fruit
hot dogs, carrot sticks, veggie sticks
turkey roll ups, fresh fruit, potato chips
french toast, sausage, fresh fruit
pasta and meatballs
PB&J sandwiches, bananas or apples
pizza, salad
bagels with cream cheese, melon
cheese quesadillas, tomato soup
fish sticks, egg noodles, edamame/fruit
tortollini or gnocci with pesto and spinach
Hope this helps!

I'm chinese american and I love to cook. I do all kinds of foods, but what I found easy is making fried rice. Since we eat rice alot, we always have leftovers and I use it for lunch the next day. You can just take one cup of cooked steamed white rice, two slices of deli ham (shredded) and one egg and that would be plenty for a 3-5 year old. First use a bit of olive oil in fry pan, add ham for about 1 min, then put in the rice, add salt and pepper to taste and maybe a tsp or very little soy sauce and then stir fry for about 2 minutes, make a hole in the pile of rice in the middle of pan, break egg there and cook egg like you would a scramble egg, moving it around. Once its not too wet, mix everything together. Done.

ok this is a lesson i have learned this year. as much as it pains me my son is perfectly happy eating pb and j every day for lunch he is 6, and i was struggling to come up with new stuff just because i was bored but he loves it.

Now that it's getting to be summer, you could make fruit be a main component of lunch.

Mine love the ham and cheese roll ups. They get to make it their selves which helps a lot. They love things they are able to make. I buy cutters in different shapes. I have on that is an big Easter egg. We use it to cut the bread and they use what everything like to make it into a bug sandwich. There are some great children cook books out there if you look. I wish you all the best. M.

For him/her to take to preschool/daycare or for you to make at home? Either way for my kids I always give them a cold lunch , so a sandwich with cheese , or turkey or ham , sometimes philli or Jam. Some fruit such as grapes , strawberries , banana , a small (child sized) handful of chips (I buy the cheetos natural puffs) , a yogurt , maybe some cheese , cuccumber slices.

They usually have the same most days , I just change the sandwich filling and the bits that go with it , if were not home I will sometimes treat them to McDonalds , but as my daughter finishes preschool at 12 then 9/10 we are at home.

Hands down, my kids favorite is a whole wheat hot dog bun, spread with peanut butter and a whole banana in it.

Right now my son is digging the FlatOut Flatbreads with chicken, lettuce, shredded carrots, etc.
Also, egg salad, tuna salad, hardboiled eggs, veggies & ranch, fruit salad, cheese & crackers with olives and pickles are healthier alternatives to the normal kid fare.
Soups are always good too.

deli meat wrapped around a cheese stick

I will take a tortilla and put turkey, cheese and a little dab of ranch in it, roll it up... my toddler loves it. Also, I will make a fruit tray and throw in some turkey and cheese. So, it is like a deli plate at a cafe. Strawberries, canteloupe, bananas, kiwi, then string or cubed cheese & turkey!
Pasta salad is a good one. You can do different variations with this and the roll up. Hope this helps - good luck! I TRY to make sure he has a different green vegetable every day, avocados, green beans, peas, edame...

I think 90% of moms are in the same boat! Every few months, I hit the wall on what to feed the kids. Tacos are always fun. Soup is easy and good in winter. Homemade pizza (whether it be on a bagel, tortilla or you can make your own dough). Give him/her a light breakfast and then have sausage and eggs for lunch.

My twins just turned 4. They love turkey & ham sandwiches w/ mustard. They love pasta...wagon wheels or egg noodles (they call squiggly pasta) with just butter & parmasan cheese. Turkey roll-ups....a tortilla spread with cream cheese, then deli shaved turkey, rolled up around a pickle slice, then rolled up and cut into pinwheel slices. Mine also love PB&J. Occasionally grilled cheese. Sometimes I make them little homemade pizzas on tortillas. Or peanut butter & apples on wheat toast. Most of the time they just want one single thing for lunch, but if I can squeeze in other stuff, I give them yogurt, apple sauce, apples cut up, pineapple, baby carrots & ranch, etc.

My daughter gets really tired of sandwiches, and leftovers are hard to take to school, since heating stuff up isn't an option. What she does love is what she calls a 'snacky' lunch. Basically bits and pieces of whatever is around - cracker sandwiches with blocks of cheese, cut up deli meat, and crackers. She also loves carrot and cucumber sticks, yogurt, granola bars, etc. Also, she loves a banana spread with peanut butter.

Another favorite is to take a tortilla and spread cream cheese on it, then top it with cinnamon, raisins/dried fruit, nuts and a drizzle of honey - then roll it up and slice into bite-sized pieces. Some people have luck cutting sandwiches into shapes. Anything to make food look silly is fun too.