Could some of you (Charles, Valerie) put some of the things you pack for your kid's lunches. I am having no problem with dinner stuff, but somehow just blanking on this one.

I did come up with celery and nut butter, nuts, LC tortilla w. nutbutter and SF or Waldenfarms jelly.

String cheese, lettuce wraps with non-processed turkey, ham, roast beef (or whatever they like for meat) and cheese, beef hot dogs, berries of any kind as well as cantaloupe and honeydew, ChocoPerfection ... I don't have kids, but I'm sure that'll get 'em started.

Hilary, not Charles or Valerie but...this is what I packed for her today:

1/2 ham w/colby, mayo, must wrapped in a lc tortilla
cantaloupe chunks
pistachios
broccoli w/dip
small bottle of water

(they both have these cool little bentos that have compartments for everything, I love it)

for Mark:

Turkey, ham, chicken w/swiss, mayo, must wrapped in a lc tortilla
whole orange, sliced
handful of almonds
broccoli, cauliflower w/dip
bottle of water w/walmart to go pack thing (not sure if he'll use that or not)

Tomorrow is going to look like this:

Her:

1/2 grilled chicken breast w/ranch dip
sliced strawberries
yogurt
???? not sure what to put in this container yet

Him:

tuna salad, lettuce, sf relish in lc wrap
tomato/cucumber salad w/ranch
sliced strawberries
boiled egg
water

I would love some feedback on those lunches too. I think I did pretty well with them.

Boo:

Those were outstanding.

My children's lunches today:

L/C Tortilla with turkey, cheese mayonaise and mustard
Cheese stick
Slim Jim
Chocolate Pudding (w Splenda)
Flavored Splenda Water

I had:

Two 80/20 ground round burgers with greenleaf lettuce w/ cheese

None of us are hungry!

Charles

Boo - if you are not charles or valerie..then.. Just jokin' You are doing great and those lunches look really yummy!

Charles - thanks for the ideas and the O.K. to Boo's ideas.

Jimmy - you always have the best ideas.

Boo, I agree your menus looked great...although I would have skipped the orange. Not a biggie, though.

I missed the orange, but with kids, I wouldn't get too excited about fresh fruit either as long as there is plenty of fat and protein with it. Valerie is right that our kids can definitely metabolize more good carbohydrate than we can.

I'm glad the orange is OK for now. I still have 2 in the fridge and 1 apple from last week. After those are gone I won't buy anymore.

I have an orange tree in the backyard and I was going to take the oranges this year and make jelly using splenda. Using a tbs or two at a time shouldn't be too bad right?

I think the *most* important things I've done for my kids (all of them, since birth) is not giving them a taste for junk and helping them become acquainted with a variety of veggies. (They've never had white carbs at home and very, very rarely away from home)

The change that we've made since I started with LC is that we've made our family meals more meat-centric and more generous in fat. We were of the belief, previously, that meals should be mostly "healthy" starch (potatoes, brown rice, whole grain pasta) with veggies and a little bit of meat.

We've flipped that ratio for them. Where before we'd have a large helping of brown rice, a medium portion of steamed broccoli and a little piece of fish, we now fill an extra large pan (most of my pots and pans are extra large; some are from a restaurant supplier) with fish, dump on two bags of frozen broccoli, and add a generous layer of grated cheese. Bake until done. Serve with a salad. (This is really delicious; it's my 12 yo daughter's "specialty." She makes it once a week.)

Lunches--I don't have to pack lunches 'cause we homeschool, so we do lots of leftovers for lunch. (Believe it or not, there are leftovers. When we cook, we make more than we expect will be eaten.) With 11 dc, I have to keep costs down, so it's often stuff like cold chicken legs or thighs or eggs (omelets, boiled eggs, leftover scrambled eggs).

LC wraps are great. All but one of my dc love the FlatOut wraps that Wal-Mart has (in our area) for $2/package.

The rest of the family still eats whole grain bread, but not as much as before. We still grind our own grain for it. I had read years ago that some diabetics can tolerate bread better if the grain is freshly ground. Don't quote me on that though. It seems to me that it was anecdotal, and I can't even remember where I read it.

The level of carbs that the rest of my family gets is a *lot* less than in the standard American diet, but I'm sure it's more than most of us here could tolerate. (We are still learning so in a couple more years I might have something different to say.)

I wanted to add ground turkey here; the cheap, full-fat kind with skin in it. My kids use it in omelets and cooked with veggies, but one of their favorites is to mix in salt, black pepper, and poultry seasoning and cook turkey sausage patties.

When it comes to kids, frugality definitely kicks in for me (LOL), so that's another thing that's quick and easy.

Hi, I just wanted to thank ya'll for sharing all of this.
I posed a question for Charles over on the pic board like a silly not realizing you were all here! =)
He gave me some fab ideas, but Valerie, I'd like to know your take as well.

I got to become a stay at home mama this past April after going back to work just 3 months...my sitter had a sudden triple bypass and there we were!! My son is the most precious thing in the world to us, he was a long time coming...so I don't want to waste any time giving him the best start possible.
That said, diabetes runs rampant is hubby and my families, I've been large my entire life....I don't want this for my child, first of all, but I also keep 4 two year olds to supplement income and I want to help them too. What is your advice on lunches for them? What about my son, he's 10 months and has his front upper and lower teeth, so he can chew--hubby and I have been feeding him what we're eating all week for dinner, grilled chicken, green beans, etc. Anyway, with my little "preschool" I have never given them juices or sweets for snacks. Their lunch is typically a protein or protein/starch (ravioli, chicken nugget), a veggie, a fruit, and I was doing milk but I was thinking I may replace that with cheese in their afternoon snack and possibly cut up another fruit with that? Or maybe some dipping veggies?

I guess I just need somewhere to jump off from, but their ages are important with this, I don't feed them nuts, etc.....Help!

I will put the few that I know and eventually others will put some as well..I am pretty new, so I only have a couple..

1. Deli Meat Roll ups w/ mayo and cheese
2. Full fat yougurt ( Greek has the less carbs from what I understand)
3. Cut up turkey or beef burgers w/ "dippy" (mayo or ranch..full fat)
4. Cut up cheese and meat in cubes and let them "play blocks" while they eat
5. Dreamfield's pasta w. SF tomato sauce
6. Celery and SF Peanut Butter..cut up in bite size pieces
7. Broccoli and Cauliflower w/ Ranch (full fat) "dippy"
8. LC Tortilla Wraps cut up in "bite size" rounds
9. LC Tortilla w. SF PB and SF Jelly
10. Berries and Melon fruil salad w. Cream cheese and splenda dip

Hope this helps..

I think this is working. Today I was making lunches and Chelsea came and asked me if I was using the LC bread we bought at the store (7 total carbs per slice). And I asked her why? She said because that (LC) bread fills her up better than the other bread. Then she started to tell me how one of her friend's mom puts those powder sugar doughnuts in her lunch. She said she would rather have cantaloupe. It is just as sweet and doesn't give her a headache.

Thanks Charles and others for helping me make the change for my family. I thought it would be much harder than it has been. Turns out, they feel better and like it.

You have a smart girl, Boo!

Those are really great ideas for the kids and me. thanks,

BTW, do you guys cook eggs every day for b.fast? What other ideas are there for b.fast for kids on the go?

My DD is starting to show signs of boredom eating. SHE'S ONLY 7!!! Not overweight at all, but I want desperately to prevent my problems from happening to her. We are working on being more active, but I really want to break the carb habit for snacks!!!

I know this is an older thread but I have a question about lunch. I make my son's lunch every day for school because the lunch at his school is very expensive and not nutritious.

I make a flat out wrap roll up with the Land O Frost canadian bacon from Wal Mart that is very low carb and shredded cheese, some little carrots because that is about the only finger vegetable he will eat and a string cheese. The only thing we are having trouble with is the little bag of mini oreos. He just doesn't want to give those up.

What is something I can replace that with so he feels like he gets a sweet treat, and fruit isn't the answer because he won't eat fruit.

Thanks
Terry

Terry, one of the things we have used as a dessert replacement is a piece of a Chocoperfection bar or 1/2 of an Atkins bar that has chocolate in it. She has also taken a likening to sf chocolate covered raisins and peanuts. The raisins are around 15g total carbs for 1/4 cup. 1/4 cup is a lot, she usually shares them with her friends at school so she actually eats about 1/2 if that much.

You may think this is mean, but as for it being hard for him to give up the oreos, just don't pack/buy them anymore. That is what I did. I just don't buy it anymore. Sugary desserts/chips etc. are just not on my list anymore.

Let us know how it goes! Good luck.