Real Food Ideas for Easy Kid Lunches

I was asked this question by a friend today, and I thought the answer might benefit you as well. We use (and LOVE) RealPlans for meal planning and grocery list and shopping prep.  So, I've entered in a "recipe" for Zane's school lunches that includes the typical things we send with him.  I take Zane shopping with me once a week after planning out our meals for the week, and that way we have everything we need when it comes to lunch time. Here's some of our typical lunch items that Zane will eat (11 years old):

• Sliced apples with cinnamon and lemon (organic apples only!)
• Sliced strawberries (must be organic!)
• Cloud bread peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (only organic peanut butter and jelly, with no added oils)
• Leftover steak or chicken skewers
• Sausage and eggs to go
• Deviled eggs (organic eggs, pastured is best, use avocado oil mayonnaise)
• Cheese cubes (raw cheese is best)
• Meat sticks or beef jerky (Organic Prairie Mighty Beef Jerky is great!)
• Coconut flour muffins
• Summer sausage slices (Organic Prairie grass-fed summer sausage)
• Mini chocolate chips (10 mini chips or so)
• Organic grass-fed yogurt (Strauss or Wallaby brand plain FULL FAT with raw honey and vanilla extract stirred in)

Here's a quick rundown on what I avoid/look for when purchasing pre-made foods:

• No soy, wheat
• Limited grains and starches (rice, corn, oats, arrowroot powder, corn starch, etc)
• No canola oil, soybean oil, "vegetable" oil, hydrogenated oils
• Lots of good fats (grass-fed butter, grass-fed cream, pastured lard, pastured tallow)
• Organic meats, grass-fed and pastured
• Organic fruits (limited amount)
• No artificial anything
• Low sugar (we are trying to keep below 75 grams of carbohydrates per day)

Our favorite lunch box, that we've had for over 9 years is the Planet Box.