Packed Lunches

Malcolm starts attending school full day this week, so that means that he has to take a packed lunch the 3 days he goes to school.  The school has a no nuts policy which rules out a lot for him.  Malcolm isn't a fan of most meat and beans, but he does eat a lot of nuts.  We'll just have to make nuts a snack time food and find other things for lunch.  My bigger problem is that he is the type of kid who, if he has the same thing twice in one week, won't want to eat it again for a month or more; even if he likes it.  This makes leftovers difficult and Dorothy and I will be the ones left to eat up anything special I purchase to make his lunch. 

Anyway, I need to have a list of ideas to pull from so that I can keep things rotating.  I'll toss in a cheese or ham and cheese sandwich now and then, and there will almost always be fruit.  We always have other small snack things to fill in with, and I hope I can get away with some leftovers once in a while.  I hope to add to this list as the weeks go on, so that by Fall, I will have a nice long list of ideas.  By then, he will be up to five days a week, and I can't just let him eat junk that often.  Here are the rest of my ideas thus far:

Main Dishes:

• yogurt with granola
• hummus with olives on a tortilla, rolled & cut into pinwheels
• antipasto salad
• crackers with pepperoni and cheese
• Caesar salad
• spinach salad with mandarin oranges, blueberries, & strawberries with poppy seed dressing
• bagel with cream cheese
• smoothie
• tomato, basil, mozzarella salad
• cold white pizza with spinach & tomato
• sandwich with cream cheese and raisins
• mac & cheese in an insulated container
• cucumber sandwich
• turkey on pumpernickle with sage cream cheese and cranberry jelly

Side Dishes:

• muffins (freeze to use later)
• carrots, broccoli, radish, and peppers with dip
• cucumber lime salsa with chips or pita
• roasted red pepper and goat cheese dip with pita and/or veggies

Desserts:

• Jello made in small containers