Last Updated on July 14, 2025 by Deliciously Organic
The kids started school this week, so we’ve been brainstorming ideas for school lunches. Now that my girls are older, they typed up a list for me (very helpful!). Our rule is that they have to take at least one vegetable each day and we limit sweets to once or twice a week. They’re happy with this rule and it’s worked well for our family.
Here are some lunch items we will be packing this year:
To Serve Room Temperature:
Prosciutto Wrapped Mini Frittata Muffins via Nom Nom Paleo
Blueberry or Pumpkin Muffins
Homemade Sausage Patties with dipping sauce
Grilled Zucchini Rolls via Cookin Canuck
Lemon Chia Seed Muffins via Slim Palate
Wraps with meat, veg and raw cheese using these Grain-Free Coconut Wraps
Cold:
Whole Yogurt with Berries, Seeds and Nuts
Deviled Eggs via Simply Recipes
Oven-Fried Chicken Drumsticks via Nourished Kitchen
Chopped Waldorf Salad
Organic, Grass-Fed Hot Dogs
To Pack in an Insulated Thermos:
“Tortilla” Soup
Chicken and “Rice” Casserole
Cheesy Green Hummus via Weelicious (I like to serve these with seed crackers)
Coconut, Berry and Spinach Smoothie
Chicken Salad
Cream of Vegetable Soup via Cultured Food Life
Pumpkin Pie Shake
Lentil, Carrot and Kale Soup
For the Occasional Sweet:
Coconut Cake (I prepare this without the lemon curd or whipped cream for a great sweet and nutritious cake)
Grain-Free Graham Crackers
No-Bake Grain-Free Chocolate Cookies
Apple Pie Balls via Paleo Parents
Coconut Panna Cotta (Pour the warm liquid into portable containers so they are cold and ready to go in the morning.)
Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
For more ideas, check out my previous posts on Back-to-School Lunches.
And what about the containers, bottles and bags to put everything in? Here’s a list of my favorite eco-friendly lunch containers:
Stainless Steel Small Containers
Stainless Steel Insulated Thermos (this is the best for anything hot or cold!)
Lunchbot Stainless Steel Divided Container
Looks yummy. Can you use almond milk as a sub for coconut milk? Thanks.
Yes, but I would use a thick, homemade almond milk so that the pudding thickens properly.
Is there something I can substitute for the Arrowroot powder to make these GAPS friendly? Thank you 🙂
You could add an extra yolk or two to thicken up the pudding in place of the arrowroot. From my understanding, chocolate isn’t allowed on the Gaps diet, so that might be something to look into. 🙂
You’re right, thank you 🙂 We were cleared by our GAPS practitioner to have it in the form of raw cocoa powder very occasionally so I was going to see how this turned out by omitting the dark chocolate pieces. I saw below that you don’t the recipe will work out this way, so we’ll just patiently wait to have this treat down the road.
YUM! Do you have a recipe for dairy free Vanilla pudding or tapioca? Hubs favorites!
I haven’t developed one, but I would look at the pudding recipes over at http://www.CooksIllustrated.com. Substitute arrowroot for any cornstarch and coconut milk for all of the milk/cream and you should be good to go! 🙂
YUMMY! This looks wonderful! Thanks so much for the delicious ideas for healthy lunches! Blessings, Kelly
Can I use cocoa powder instead of chocolate?
The chocolate can’t be replaced for cocoa powder in this recipe.
This might sound like a stupid question but are the eggs cooked in the end? I have always wondered this when making pudding. Thanks!
Yes, the eggs are cooked. 🙂
Those lunches sound yummy for adults, too 🙂
My kids would be so excited to find that chocolate pudding in their lunches! And what a fantastic list of lunch ideas. Thanks so much for including my zucchini rolls, Carrie.
Is there a substitute for arrowroot powder? Not even sure what that is….
Most people use arrow root powder that cant eat corn (corn starch). Arrowroot is a thickener.. I use it for thickening soups, stews, gravies, sauces, etc.
My daughter cannot have eggs. Do you think an egg replacer would work instead of egg yolks? Or do you have another suggestion? Thank you!
I haven’t tested it, but I would try ground up chia seeds. I would make the entire recipe, (sans eggs) let it cool for about 15 minutes, and then stir in 2 tablespoons ground chia seeds. Chill in the fridge. I hope that helps!
Just curious if you could use a quality gelatin in place of the arrowroot powder? I have Great Lakes Gelatin. Thanks!
awesome lunch ideas! I don’t have kids, but will definitely be making these for me and my hubs in the near future.
I am definitely making this for school! I have seen some recipes that use gelatin and I was curious if it can be used in exchange for the arrowroot? I have gelatin from a grass fed source.
Thanks!
I think the gelatin would lend too gummy of a texture for this recipe. I love using gelatin, but I don’t think it’s the best fit for this recipe.
Love this Carrie! Your posts always make me smile. Can’t wait to try this pudding. Miss you~ xoxox
Thank you! Miss you too! 🙂
Instead of maple syrup or honey can a sugar free sweetener be used like a xylitol or stevia? Thanks
Not in regards to the chocolate pudding, which I have to make but for school lunches. I have 2 high school boyz and right now they are taking PB&J sandwiches. I’d like to make their lunches gluten free as I think one of them has a sensitivity but refuses to not eat it. Since they don’t take lunch boxes to school or thermoses, can you suggest something else for them? Also, they are mountain bikers. Can you recommend good carb type recipes? I’m having a hard time finding something for them before their races that doesn’t have gluten in it. Thanks so much. Are you still out at Edwards? I knew once you were.
I have made this twice now and both times the pudding ends up with a very runny texture. Is the texture supposed to that of pudding made with regular milk, etc? Any ideas what I could be doing wrong?
Carrie, what bothers me about the social share buttons on the side of blogs is that it blocks the blog. How do you collapse it?