When my teen graduated eighth grade, she made it clear that she would be buying lunch in high school. She heard they had delicious lunches and she was excited for the variety she lacked in grade school. Initially, she was enjoying the lunches. But by her sophomore year, she grew tired of what they offered. She seemed to only like a few certain items. Of course during the time she was buying lunch, I donated or recycled many lunch containers. So imagine my surprise when my daughter came to me and asked for a Vera Bradley lunchbox. She wanted to make her own lunch. Knowing how much I’ve been putting into her cafeteria account over the last year and a half, I gladly purchased the lunchbox and a few new containers. She has consistently been making her lunch now for a few months. She enjoys the variety and I thought my readers would enjoy seeing her lunch ideas.
Monday
Packing this on a Sunday night, I must admit we haven’t gone food shopping in over a week. For Monday’s lunch, my daughter packed pretzel crisps, classic hummus, a Mandarin, sliced red bell peppers, a kinder happy hippo biscuit, and a galaxy vibe Celsius.
Tuesday
We finally went food shopping Monday night so my daughter was prepared with some fresh items for Tuesday. She packed a Mandarin, some strawberries, a Celsius cosmic vibe, honey barbecue puffed cauliflower, three vegetable eggrolls, and her own recipe for dipping sauce. This dipping sauce recipe includes a mixture of a Japanese barbecue sauce, chili oil, and soy sauce.
Wednesday
Because it’s been so rainy and gloomy lately, fruit was definitely in order today. For her Wednesday lunch, she packed a Celsius in the fruit punch flavor, a chocolate chip muffin, strawberries, watermelon, honey nut Chex mix, and for a sweet treat the kinder hippo chocolate.
Thursday
I have to say for being early in the season the watermelon we got this week was delicious. So, it made another appearance in my daughter’s lunch. Along with the watermelon, she brought pretzel crisps, hummus, strawberries, a mandarin, and a Celsius Astro vibe.
Friday
I have to say this is probably the seventh or eighth day of rain we’ve had in the northeast. While this Mandarin looks like a beautiful sun, we haven’t seen one of those in a long time. To accompany the Mandarin, she packed a chocolate chip muffin, strawberries, a Celsius Galaxy vibe and some late July thin and crispy tortilla chips. However, because my daughter loves spicy food, she sprinkled Tajin on the chips.
As you can see from the lunch ideas, my daughter prefers a more snack type meal. I guess that is considered a ‘girl meal’. She likes to have a variety and that variety changes from day-to-day. Overall, her packing lunch is definitely more cost-efficient than her buying lunch at the school. In addition to the cost, they often didn’t serve things that she would like. I have to say I’m very proud that she took it upon herself to plan and pack her lunch. Create the shopping list. Help me shop for it, and pack it herself every night. She researched some options for a more meal-like experience. However, my daughter is still looking for good recipes. If you enjoyed this post, check out my last post. I give three great lunch options when visiting Boston- including one approved by my daughter.