Homemade Lunchables

I have been in a MAJOR lunch funk with my kids lately.

My kids have eaten peanut butter and jelly almost every day for like two years. Really. Like every single day. Unless we're at Bojangles. {Praise God from whom all blessings flow.}

One day a few weeks ago, Max and I had a little conversation during lunch:

Max: Mom, what does it mean when you are sick of something?

Me: Well, it kind of means you've had enough of it and you don't want it anymore.

Max: I am sick of peanut butter and jelly.

And, with that, I freaked.

What on earth am I going to feed these kids? It had been so long since they'd had anything else for lunch at home. Really.

So, I turned to my friends via Facebook, and asked them for help: What do y'all feed your kids for lunch?

And, they came through. Like they always do.

Just a sampling of the ideas they shared:

Chicken nuggets.
Mac & Cheese.
Smoothies.
Hummus and crackers.
Grilled cheese.
Build your own wrap.
Baked potatoes in the crockpot. (High for 2 hours. Set out the fixin's. LOVE THIS!)
Chicken salad.
Egg salad.
String cheese.
Hot dogs.
Tortilla pizzas.

And, my favorite:

Homemade Lunchables.

Oh, how my boys beg for Lunchables. They've seen them at Target in the little refrigerated section by the cookie/popcorn/drink counter area. And, Jack has a friend who brings one every day to school. But for us, $2.50 for a few crackers, ham, and cheese? Um, no.

But, it had never occurred to me to make them at home.

So, every day this week, we've had Homemade Lunchables. And, my little buddies have LOVED it. I've stacked a few crackers, some cheese, ham, and salami on their plates, and let them stack.

And, stack. And, stack.

It's been so much fun for them.

And, my Mr. Max?

Happy as can be.

*If you have some kid-friendly lunch ideas to share, I'd love to hear them. We're not gonna get stuck on one thing around here, again - VARIETY is the name of the game from now on.