Alternatives to Brown Bag Lunches at School

What qualifies as a brown bag lunch? Well, it is carried from home to school or work or wherever you intend to go. But, brown bag lunches don’t have to contain a sandwich, drink, and a snack to be official. Here are some alternatives to lunch meat and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your brown bag lunch.

Kids like sandwiches but they also like variety. That variety comes in the form of a new main dish every now and then. The same goes for adults. Some people love to eat the same thing every day for lunch each day of the year, but most would like to tantalize all their taste buds.

Younger kids do well with small things. Food cut up into pieces is more manageable and can be eaten within the time frame of the lunch period in many schools. Kids get thirty to forty minutes to eat but that doesn’t include getting to the cafeteria and finding a seat or socializing.

Choose crackers instead of bread. Crackers resist the sogginess that so often plagues a regular loaf bread sandwich. So that there is less mess and more eating, use a cracker to shape the cheese and the lunchmeat into the same size and shape as the cracker. The pieces can be placed in separate sections of a lunch tray or different sandwich bags, but this way makes for quick creation of the stacked crackers.

In chillier weather, sandwiches and crackers may not bring as much comfort as something a bit warmer. Fill a thermos with warm soup. Chicken noodle, tomato soup, vegetable beef, and creamy soups are all good at lunchtime on a cool day. The soup will stay tepid until the child can pour it out and eat it around midday. You can even find a type of thermos that allows your child to drink their soup right from the container, avoiding any mess that might ensue from pouring.

Dinner in my house leaves very little leftovers, however many families find just the opposite is the case in their home. Cooked food left in the refrigerator for three or four days is money down the drain. Use those leftover meals as lunch the next day. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes is a tasty treat for the next day. For a child, a meatloaf sandwich without the potatoes could be better still.

Keep in mind that time for lunch is limited at school so anything that can be eaten cold or at room temperature without using a microwave are favorable choices. Mix a couple of dishes together. If you had spaghetti one night, mix the sauce with macaroni for lunch. Think of some alternatives to sandwiches and jazz up lunch this week.

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