Tip Tuesday – What’s for Lunch?

Lunches are tricky for me.

There are a few staple breakfast foods that I feel can be recycled every day – cereal, waffles, pancakes, Raisin Bran, French toast, eggs, cereal with milk, oatmeal, cheerios, grits, shredded wheat, cereal, muffins, and oh – did I mention cereal?

Dinner is wide open, with choices ranging from family favorites to international cuisine (although we all know Indian food is best).

Lunch eludes me. Lunch I cannot get a handle on.

What makes a good sack lunch besides leftovers or a sandwich with carrot sticks?

If you’re dining in, what do you make for kids of all ages and for yourself? How do you present it?

Right now Laylee will only eat one food per day willingly. This item is decided at breakfast time and will be requested for all snacks and meals throughout the day. Even as she is “eating” her actual meal, she continues to ask for the chosen item. I usually give her what she wants once per day. What she wants are waffles, cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and pizza. All fruits and vegetables must be forced or concealed.

I have a dream that one day she will eat like a normal person, Dan and I will actually start packing him a lunch, and I will gain the willpower to stop eating large amounts of pasta every single day for lunch. When that day comes, I will go back to this post and use your suggestions.

Just yesterday morning, a friend told me she was making soup to eat for the rest of the week every day for lunch. She said she was fed up and unable to come up with creative things to make for the mid-day meal.

I figure that if each of us gives at least one original suggestion, we’ll all have a lot to work with.

I like my mom’s idea of choosing a color for the entire meal. I remember orange days where we ate Mac&Cheese, carrots, oranges, and drank OJ. Very fun.

For sack lunches, it’s fun to do a bunch of snack foods – cheese cubes, hummus, veggies, crackers, ham cubes and a cup of yogurt.

For me, I may steal the soup idea, making one of my favorite low-fat soups and eating some each day for the week.

What have you got for me? What’s for lunch at your place?