<p>The cooked cold TJ Asian dumplings are quite sturdy.
Meanwhile while at TJ’s:
Mini quiches
cold poached salmon and baggie of orange slices
sliced mozzarella with cherry tomatoes and cucumber
endless…</p>
<p>My kid ate the dehydrated fruit a lot too.</p>
<p>Frozen hot dogs (sans bun) are thawed by lunch.</p>
<p>Toasted sandwiches hold up better in our experience.</p>
<p>We did a lot of wraps - various tortilla choices, lo-fat cheese spread, left-over grilled veggies and meat inside. The standard for food borne illness seems to be a food above 40 for 2 hours…send stuff cold and forget it…
My D2 gobbled up the wraps and even asked for more… turns out I was feeding several cute boys - “Hey, try these good turkey cheese salsa wraps my mom makes…”</p>
<p>Def. no lunchboxes in h.s. here either. Tons of kids buy the school lunch. It costs $2.<br>
They rush to the cafeteria as fast as possible to get a good place in line for “the two dolla holla”
Our sch. has four lunch periods which last 30 minutes each.
There is a dedicated line just for seniors. </p>
<p>The sch. is very crowded…second largest h.s. in the state…so the cafeteria is always packed. It is a matter of pride among groups of upperclassmen to stake out their tables the first week. Underclassmen wouldn’t dream of sitting there,lol. </p>
<p>OT…is zero period like a study hall or just a period a student has no class?
We don’t have anything like that. Every student has to attend four classes per day.</p>
<p>zero period is before period 1. School starts normally at 8 am. The school offers a small number of classes that begin at 7 am. If you start at 7 you finish at 2 instead of 3.Most students don’t want a zero period.</p>
<p>I love some of these lunch suggestions! </p>
<p>I don’t think the majority of the kids at my son’s HS use insulated lunch bags either, but they work well and I tend to get my plastic wear back. We never really discussed whether it’s common or not - I pack, they take. How do the kids bring back the tuperware/rubbermaid if they don’t have a bag to carry it?</p>
<p>
When I packed fragile items like strawberries that DD loved in her lunches, I used the ziplock sandwich bags and blew a little air into the bag to make an air cushion before zipping it closed. Everything survived.</p>
<p>Ditto on frozen water bottle to keep everything cold; ditto on wraps; as to reusable lunch bag we have a few - one folds fairly flat after using - there are a few styles that might fit ok in backpack if used without plastic containers inside. I always send fresh fruit, sandwich type thing and some “snack” food(very small serving). This was for summer CIT lunches. Now back to school, thankfully, there is a good hot lunch at school.</p>
<p>There is something upsetting to me about it being dorky to eat a healthy lunch. Fortunately this was not the case in my son’s middle or high schools. Or maybe he was just ok with being considered a dork.</p>
<p>Trade goods. phone # of past and future BF/GF.</p>
<p>Am I the only person who feels that a high schooler is mature enough to pack their own lunch? I’m happy to purchase whatever the kids request but they are responsible for getting it into their backpacks and consuming it. (They’re home by 2:15 so even if they choose not to eat at school it’s not a big deal…)</p>
<p>I’m definitely not suggesting I think it’s dorky or that it is the right thing to not eat a decent lunch. Just trying to give a picture of the kids around here. Mom60 LOL on your DH with the lunchbox. Remember when we all got the lunchbox with the cool TV show on it? Charlie’s Angels lunchbox anyone?</p>
<p>“I know that at this age many kids do not like to be seen with a lunch from home. Or at least not with the tupperware type of container.”</p>
<p>Not if the school-bought lunch sucks. No one laughed at D’s tuperware as she devoured home-made sandwiches, salads or soups. Lunch brought from home was almost a “status symbol” at D’s school :)</p>
<p>
So true. Learned DD traded and shared a lot so we made sure we had extras for those items. DD did pack her own most of the time unless running late.</p>
<p>Yogurt can be frozen and then is just the right consistency and temp at lunch time. You have always been able to do this, but now they are marketing a yogurt just for this. </p>
<p>They sell individual humus packs now with extended shelf life, so they last in a lunch. Humus with pita in quarters if she likes it. There are also lots of granola/fiber/protein bars that my D’s used to love. A zip lock baggie of loose granola or other eat out of the box cereal with yogurt is good. I had tuna lovers, the the tuna packs with tuna in a pouch or small can, along with the packet of mayo, pickles and crackers were great. My D’s loved the oatnut and 12-grains breads with all sorts of spreads. They were pricey, but I would use them for lunches to get them to eat the lunches. We also would buy drinks in plastic and freeze them to stick in the lunch to keep things cool. Finally, they also sell ranch “dip” and peanut butter in individual containers. They go well with crackers, celery, carrots, just about anything. You peel them open, dip or whatnot, and discard. Finally, I got a little more fresh fruit eaten when it was sent with caramel (packaged in the same individual dip servings) or peanut butter. I would slice an apple with an apple slicer, squeeze just a few drops of lemon juice, and seal. They stays fresh and crisp, and were more likely eaten than when sent whole. Finally, nuts. Lots of nuts. We liked nuts and they travel well.</p>
<p>stradmom- she is not asking for her lunch to be packed. As the Mom who has to pick up the cranky kid at the end of the school day I prefer her to have eaten something. I am also trying to be realistic and provide her with something she will eat. I also don’t want to waste time or money packing a well rounded lunch and have it sit uneaten in the bottom of the back pack where it will remain until it smells.
It is also interesting as to how lunch is done in different parts of the country. At our hs everyone has lunch at the same time. Lunch is 30 minutes. Jr and Seniors usually race off campus to get something to eat. Freshman and Soph have to stay on campus and I think for many lunch is a bag of chips. We also don’t have lockers so lunch and any containers stay with you all day unless you are old enough to drive and have a car to stash the items. Students also eat outside-not on tables but standing around and under the eaves if it is raining.
Ebeeee and I live 45 minutes apart. Our high schools are similar.
I have gotten some new ideas. I will try the air in the ziplock bag trick.
Regarding making the lunch. My Stepdad packed my lunch and all of my siblings lunch plus my Mom’s lunch everyday till I graduated from high school. We are all pretty self sufficient out in the world. He passed away about 5 yrs ago but I still remember fondly those lunches.</p>
<p>Sunnyinflorida- I did not know that about the yogurt. She likes yogurt with grapenuts. I looked for the shelf-life hummus when they went backpacking but I could not find it. Do you happen to know the brand?</p>
<p>I see where you are coming from mom60, our HS is semi-rural and a closed campus. It’s not close enough to anything that kids could get to someplace and be back within the 40 minute lunch period so everyone eats in the cafeteria. I think the food selection is very good - salad bar and pizza offered every day plus standard cafeteria food, but it’s pretty expensive. I think the meal is close to $4. If I don’t have time to pack a lunch or we run out of bread, I’ll give my son $5. His favorite school food is pierogies but the overwhelming favorite for the school district is chicken turn-overs. </p>
<p>I think I must have given the wrong impression when I said lunch box on my first post. Although I really like the old-school lunch boxes, my kids have never had them. I meant the insulated lunch bags. This is one similar to what my daughter used last year as a teacher [Built</a> NY® Gourmet Getaway, Style Series - ReusableBags.com review at Kaboodle](<a href=“http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/built-ny-gourmet-getaway-style-series--reusablebags.com]Built”>http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/built-ny-gourmet-getaway-style-series--reusablebags.com) My son’s bag from Costco has an optional divided place so the sandwich or chips won’t get squished.</p>
<p>I have lots of small re-useable plastic ware that holds salad with a separate place for dressing, containers just right for hummus and sandwich squares with the built in gel cooly thing. I tease my son about how boring it is to pack his lunches since he likes the same thing every day, but it’s actually much easier and I like knowing that he will eat it.</p>
<p>Many foods will not go bad in a soft lunch pack which has a couple of really cold items inside (frozen juice pack or yougurt container). My D loved turkey sandwiches, and that’s what she had for lunch on her “sandwich days” - they never went bad. For salads, I packed the dressing on the side, that way the salads stayed fresh. Since I had to pack H’s lunches (don’t ask!) and mine, it was not a problem for me to pack D’s lunches as well on most mornings. D’s lunches always had a “main course” (salad, sandwich or soup in an insulated container), a calcium item (yogurt, yougurt smoothie, pudding cup), a “carb” item (granola bar, etc.), a “fun” item (small chocolate bar, fruit snacks), a fruit item (apple, satsuma, tupperware container of berries) and a drink (which can be frozen and serve as a cold pack). D was a huge fan of rice cakes and Pirate’s Booty snacks, so I often bought those for her lunches.</p>
<p>Yep, anything you can freeze to help other things stay cold is great - what also works are the small single serving applesauce. </p>
<p>My kids are big bagel eaters. Plain, with cream cheese or sometimes with turkey. </p>
<p>My HS son takes his lunch almost everyday - the line and selection at the HS cafeteria apparently stinks. I usually make time in the morning to pack his main thing - like a sandwich - and then he fills in with drink, fruit, chips, etc. to finish off what he wants.<br>
For him, he will not bring anything in a container that has to be returned - so if it can’t go in a ziploc, it doesn’t go.</p>