[miranda]

Leasmom-
Here are some ideas I use for packing my daughter and husband's lunches.
Make "cup" meals by spreading bread or biscuit dough in the bottom and up the sides of greased muffin tins. Then fill with whatever sounds good. We make Pizza... pepperoni or hamburger, seasoning, tomato paste, and cheese. I have done chicken, ham, broccoli etc. using up whatever I had that sounded good together. Then bake at 350 for about 15 min. Cool and freeze. I then put one in a sandwich bag when packing her lunch. It thaws by lunch time.
We make homemade pudding and put in the plastic (1/2 cup) Gladware cups. One batch lasts several days. Add sprinkles, cookie crumbs, jam, etc. for variety. Or layer two kinds of pudding. You can also mix in 1/4 cup peanut butter into chocolate or vanilla pudding while cooking it for a new flavor!
Use pudding as a dipping sauce for graham crackers or apples. We also dip graham crackers in applesauce and fruit slices in homemade yogurt.
Try making mini Kabobs by putting grapes and cheese chunks on a toothpick. I make up a big container of these and keep in the fridge for easy snacking.
Snack mixes are easy too. We usually use an off brand Chex cereal or cheerios and mix with pretzels, nuts, or cheese crackers.
I find cutting a pound of carrots or several apples at once and then storing in the fridge makes it easier to pack and go. Try putting apples in pineapple juice and they won't brown. A bit of water in a container of carrots keeps them nice and crisp. Be sure to add the water to your compost soup when the carrots are gone. Sorry this is so long. Hope it gives you ideas. If you need more just let me know.