Kids school lunch ideas

"I don't know why this is so difficult", I said about a million times as I stared at Mya's lunch pail just days before she started Kindergarten back in September.

I had everything else as prepared as I could have, but the lunch situation was stressing me out. Seriously. I don't know why it felt so difficult, but it did. And I realize now that the problem was that there were WAY too many options. Too many containers to choose from. Too many lunch pails to pick from. Too many types of Tupperware, too many fancy high-tech lunch systems, Bento Boxes...too much of just about everything.

So after finally giving up after standing in Walmart staring at literally a WALL of lunch container options and discussing with a stranger mom about why she loved or didn't love each and every one of them...I walked to the cash register with a couple simple small tupperware containers in my hands--and questioned myself the whole way there. Why is this so complicated?? 

BUT, the good news is that after a few months of school now, I can officially say that I love what we're using. It's simple. It was cheap. Mya can manage her whole lunch independently without needing to ask for help from a teacher and, well it's not rocket science. I don't know why I thought that it was.

We bought her two fabric lunch pails (just in case one gets left at school or needs a good cleaning), several small Tupperware containers that she can open and close herself, a few ziplock sandwich bags and a cute ice pack. That's it. Voila. Simple.

But, what's happening now is that I'm running out of ideas. It's not about the millions of container choices, the Bento Boxes or the fancy lunch system options anymore...it's about the food. We were on a roll for the first couple of months, switching up lunch ideas, adding new food items or recipes to her lunch each day. But it feels like I'm coming to a standstill...needing new ideas to spice things up a bit, and keep lunch (and food choices) interesting so she'll actually eat it.

So, I figured what's better than me sharing my lunch ideas, and you sharing yours. But first of all...here is our lunch system that we decided on. Just simple. A few small tupperware containers...

a cute little icepack...

and a standard lunch pail, that you can buy anywhere. 

And the food? Well, here are some of the staples that she gets in her lunch each day.

Homemade muffins (thanks to my wonderful mother who is the queen of muffins with hidden veggies and other healthy stuff in them). *As a side note, this recipe that I posted a while ago is a great muffin recipe that is delicious and has hidden veggies in it, but it also has peanut butter in it--so great for an after school snack or breakfast option.

Anyways, each day Mya's lunch pail will be full of things like cheese slices...

turkey bites, hummus and veggies...

dried apricots, apples or bananas...

mini wraps filled with cream cheese, chicken or turkey...

sometimes I'll make little sandwiches out of these mini pitas too.

A variety of fruit is always a staple... 

 and she loves yogurt and apple sauce for lunch too.

I'll put together a little mixture of dried cranberries and sunflower seeds and throw them in a container...

    and she usually gets some kind of crackers or mini rice cakes tucked into her lunch pail too.

What do you pack in your kids lunches?? I need to steal some new ideas...so please share! :)

Erica xo