healthy sack lunch for kids--any ideas?

My pre-K son's new school doesn't provide lunch, so I've got to start packing lunches now.  They've also got some requirements for food, which I'm okay with, but now I'm having to think about a whole different kind of lunch than I remember taking to school.

They do have a microwave, so I can possibly send things that need to be heated, but I'm thinking it might be easier if he can eat it all right out of his lunchbox.  Here are their rules:

• no sugary stuff or "empty calorie" foods (cookies, candy, etc.)
• no peanut butter or nut products
• must be nutritionally balanced to include servings of protein, fruit/veggie, whole grain, and dairy

They don't outright say this, but I get the impression that most prepackaged stuff (like the Nabisco 100 calorie packs, or Nutrigrain bars) would be looked at as being in the "empty calories" category.

This would be a whole lot easier for me if they didn't have the peanut butter ban!  Any ideas beyond the typical sandwich-carrots-milk-apple combo?  What do your kids like to take in their lunches? 

- yogurt + banana

- yogurt + fruit

- yogurt + granola bar

- cottage cheese + fruit + vanilla extract (not sure if kids will eat CC!)

- cheese & crackers + fruit

- granola bar + banana

- baby carrots, tuna, whole wheat pita.

- pasta salad with veggies (doesn't necessarily have to be heated)



Have you looked into soy butter? Apparently it tastes just like PB but has no nuts. http://www.soynutbutter.com/

I send any combination of the following: 

yogurt

snak pak pudding (no, I don't think these are junk food, as they do have a decent amount of milk in them)

Any kind of fruit - my boys like bananas, apple slices, the del monte fruit cups w/ juice, flavored applesauce, mandarin oranges, grapes, raspberries, and strawberries.

A yoplait smoothie

Chicken or tuna salad in a pita or whole wheat tortilla

Cheese cut up into squares with some triscuits or town house crackers

String cheese

carrots, celery, red/green pepper strips and a small container of ranch dressing

Graham crackers (fine line I suppose, but I don't know how a school could consider these junk food).

The other day sending some cut up french toast was a hit (apparently the boys don't mind if this is just room temp.)

Invest in a quality soup thermos so they can take homemade soups, stews, chili, spaghetti, mac n cheese, etc.

I had no idea there were requirements out there like this for lunches!  Is it a private or public school?  Anyway, it is really a good idea to teach young children to eat so healthy.  Is the peanut thing because of other kids having peanut allergies?

String cheese, Ham or turkey and cheese sandwiches, nutrigrain bars, granola bars, goldfish crackers, any kind of fruit (They make those lite fruit cups now I think)... I can't really think of much else.

I think the PPs had good ideas....

 My vote would be for:

string cheese (what kid doesn't love it?) and crackers
turkey & cheese sandwich
fruit/veggies

Original Post by danilk:

I had no idea there were requirements out there like this for lunches!  Is it a private or public school? 

My kids go to public school and they have these same requirements for their lunches.  The peanut ban is because of the allergy thing, and the "no junk food" thing, in our district anyway, is actually mandated by the school board because of a "healthy kids" initiative to address childhood health, nutrition, and obesity.

wow never heard of this before but this school board is smart this is a great idea imo

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I'm good with healthy dinner stuff, but still breaking out of the "sack lunch = sandwich and chips" mindset, so all this is really helpful.

This happens to be a private Pre-K, but many other public and private schools do have similar guidelines.

The "no nuts" thing is due to some kids having nut allergies, yes.

It's a far sight from the PB&J, Doritos, milk and cookies lunches I remember packing in elementary school, but even farther from the MoonPie and a Coke lunches I remember some of my friends having! And I'm sure that's a good thing!

My kids love almond butter instead of PB. 2% string chees, sliced turkey & chicken, healthy chips... 

Also, veggies with different dips, and big varitey of fruits - get different things each week, pomegranets are really good, cherries (might have to cut up and de-seed for your Pre-K'er) berries, ect

What about other nuts and seeds?