Winter School Lunch Ideas

I pack lunches for my elementary school kids every single school day.  They love it and I love packing food that they will enjoy.  They make requests for their lunch boxes and I try to do a healthy mix of lots of different things.  I pack their lunches the night before as I'm cleaning up dinner.  That way I can close down the kitchen for the night and not leave this task until late at night.  Leo keeps telling me - When I go to school, you pack my lunches!  I'll take that as a compliment that he's excited to get mom lunches.

For reference, these lunches are for my 2nd and 5th grader and they still seem to be the perfect size in the Yumbox Original.  They do eat a snack midday.

Here are some favorite lunches from November.

About once a week I like to add in a homemade treat - Monster Cookies & Pumpkin Pie this week.  We also love these Wheat Crackers, DOTS pretzels and Pretzel chips.

Half a favorite sandwich and favorite chex - cheese for one kid and bold and spicy for the other kid.  Christmas candy is a hit, too.  I also try to include their favorite fruits - Granny smith apples for one kid and Honey Crisp for the other.  Winter fruit isn't delicious, but apples seem to be a good option year round.

M&M Cookies and Halloween candy with a mix of pineapple and grapes this time of year.  Carrots and cucumbers are also a lunch box staple in the winter.

Favorite chips - Salt and Vinegar, Halloween candy and apple slices.

Peanut butter and crackers, raspberries or any berries when I can find them, pistachios and all their other favorites.

Snap peas are a hit if I split them in a half.  Along with Nutragrain bars and Butterfingers.  I've been doing a mix of salty snacks or sometimes two different salty snacks to keep their lunches extra interesting.

I know that the kids love a lunch from home and that it feels like a big HUG FROM HOME in the middle of their school days.  Most of the time their lunch boxes come home empty.  I try to only include one new food or one surprise food so that the majority of items are things that I know they will enjoy.

What are you kid's favorite lunch box foods?