It’s hard to believe that it’s almost time for school to start up again.   We’ve gone shopping for a few new clothes. My son has grown about two inches over the summer – thank goodness he can wear shorts to school for the first few weeks.  We also have a brand new shiny lunch box!

Now comes the hard part — filling that brand new shiny lunch box with yummy and mostly nutritious food that does not break the bank.  My son can kind of be a “boring” eater.  I think he could eat the same thing for lunch every day.  I’m going to try to mix it up a bit more this year, without going too crazy.

I went to Kroger on a mission to find some new lunch box items so we would be ready when School starts.

I put together a few options, some are fun, some are very healthy and some are both fun and healthy!  I have added the prices for most of the items to give you an idea of the cost for each lunch box option.    I usually don’t add a drink (we just go for water).  I always shop the sales and use my Kroger card.  It’s worth the time to stop by the Kroger Website and check the coupons before you go.

 1.  The Little Dipper

This option is full of fresh veggies with ranch dipping sauce,  a Kroger yogurt , mini bag of pretzels  and some grapes.

NOTE:  To make the cute little spoon I just used a glue gun to attach some alphabet beads.

Price Breakdown:  Dipping Sauce .88¢, Kroger Yogurt .40¢, bag of Kroger Mini Pretzels .28¢, carrots and celery approximately .50¢ – the zucchini, tomato and green peppers came from the garden.  The optional juice box was .38¢. 

The Kroger Variety Snack Pack was on sale for $5.49 – which includes twenty bags of a chips/ pretzels mix.

2.  Ham and Cheese Roll-Up

This is pretty basic, ham and cheese roll-up with lettuce, a granola bar, frozen blueberries and a bag of chips or a cheese stick.

Price Breakdown:  Kroger Flour Tortilla .21¢,  slice of  Kroger cheese .23¢, Kroger Honey Ham .59¢,  Kroger granola bar .35¢, string cheese .59¢, a bag of chips instead of the cheese stick would be .28¢.  The frozen blueberries came from our freezer – to add a clementine would be .50¢

3.  The Fruit and Veggie Shish Kabob Lunch

The lunch has cherry tomatoes, cheese, strawberries, kiwi, Kroger Yogurt and Goldfish Crackers.  It’s a fun lunch and pretty healthy too!

Price Breakdown:  Kroger Peach Yogurt .40¢,  2 slices of  Kroger cheese .46¢, Goldfish Crackers .57¢, Strawberries .33¢, Kiwi .50¢,  Cherry Tomatoes .50¢

4.  The Classic

This is a classic lunch that most kids would eat (I think anyway).    Ham and Cheese sandwich, cottage cheese,  strawberries, carrots and Goldfish crackers.

Price Breakdown:  Cottage Cheese  72¢,  slices of  Kroger cheese .23¢, Goldfish Crackers .57¢, Strawberries .20¢, Carrots .20¢,  Kroger Honey Ham .50¢, Kroger Sandwich Slim .23¢.

5.  Breakfast for Lunch

This is a fun one that we do 3-4 times a year.  I usually don’t buy the small boxes of cereal, I just fill a ziploc bag with cereal and send it along.  I just wanted you to get the idea.

Price Breakdown:  Mini box of cereal from multi pack .56¢, clementine .50¢, Kroger milk $1.09, Kroger whole wheat crackers .15¢

There are quite a few options that don’t really cost that much, most of these lunches ran about $2.50 give or take.  My requirements are that it has to be healthy (most days), inexpensive and quick to put together.

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