7 Back to School Lunches That Your Kids Will Actually Eat (& You can prep the night before)

Want To Pack A Lunch Your Kid Will Actually Eat? These Back To School Lunch Ideas Are Perfect For Picky Eaters of all ages (and are healthy at the same time) and will mean no more half eaten lunches returning home too!.

One of the things that really ticks me off is when my kids bring home food in their lunches and then proceed to tell me how hungry they are after school! It drives me crazy! I spend time and effort putting together Amazing (yes! Amazing) school lunches every single morning, only to have them come back half eaten!!!

So now we have a new rule in the house: No more food after school until you finish your lunch! Sound tough? Well it is! According to a study done by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the average American family wastes $2,200 on food a year. $2,200!! A Year! And those half eaten lunches are a big contributor!

Then I got to thinking …. what if my kids were wiley? And I think a couple of them are. They might just be tossing their half eaten lunch to our little Kune kune pigs as they walk down our very long driveway from the bus. I would never know. And they would never tell me either. Agh the torment!

So we had a little school lunch planning session. Apparently only two out of four actually like sandwiches in their lunch. Three like apples. Two Like carrots. All of them like muffins. And the overwhelming lunchbox favourite is… wait for it …. dinner leftovers! All four of the kids (including the two picky ones and the husband) voted that leftovers were by far the food they loved to find in their lunch. Huh.

This suits me fine. It makes lunch planning a breeze because I just pop leftovers into lunchboxes the night before and I gift myself a spare 10 minutes in the morning. Woo hoo! Hot coffee!

So, here are 9 School Lunchbox Recipes that Your Kids will actually eat (and will save you time in the morning too).

1. Perfect Fried Rice