Lunch Ideas for the Homeschool Cafeteria

I'm assuming that I'm not the only one who has a lunch menu that has become a little repetitive. "Sandwiches again, Mom?" I personally greatly dislike sandwiches, but being the Kitchen Chief of Staff, felt that it was perfectly acceptable to require my boys to eat them on a regular basis.

But, I've repented and have come up with my revamped Lunch Menu...which hopefully will offer my boys a little more variety. These ideas have come from my past menus and a variety of other homeschool moms who face the same challenges.

Lunch Ideas

Rolled sandwich meat and cheese, sliced and served with toothpics. (Fancy ones go a long way.)
Chili Dogs
Baked Potatoes with all the fixin's
Cubes of meat, cheese and fruit served with toothpicks. Yogurt on the side.
Hard boiled eggs or deviled eggs and string cheese.
Pasta, pepperoni slices and pesto.
Stir fried macaroni with scrambled eggs. (brown macaroni before boiling. Add to eggs.)
Homemade lunchables: sliced cheese, sandwich meats, summer sausage, crackers.
Quesadillas: either cheese on a tortilla warmed on a griddle, or madewith cooked chicken & taco seasoning, sauteed onions and peppers with grated cheese. Serve with salsa, sour cream & guacamole.
Hummus on pita bread. Offer julienned carrots, cucumber chunks, sunflower seeds to add.
Tacos
Tuna Salad on Pita, croissants or as a wrap with green leaf lettuce on a tortilla
Bagels or English muffin personal pizzas
Spaghetti
Banana wrap in a tortilla with peanut butter and honey
Fruit salad (cut up apples, pineapple, melon, pecan pieces, whatever...) served with string cheese
Pigs in a blanket. (cocktail weenies in a biscuit)
Corn dogs
Wrap string cheese in a tortilla, warm until cheese is melted, serve with spaghetti sauce.
Kebabs: leftover grilled chicken, cubed ham, cheese cubes, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. on
skewers. Warm in oven if desired or serve cold.
Yogurt parfait: frozen or fresh fruit, dollop with plain or Greek yogurt, sprinkle with granola.
Our favorite is Cascadian Farms granola in the cereal aisle.
Waffles with peanut butter and honey or syrup
Pinwheel wraps: Use a tortilla and any of the following
Cream cheese, ham slices, green chili
hummus, slivers of cucumber, sunflower seeds
green leaf lettuce, tuna salad, sliced cheese
green leaf lettuce, warmed grilled chicken, diced bell peppers, onions, dressing like mayo, chipotle ranch or Italian dressing.
Salad Bar: Leftover grilled cubed chicken, bell peppers, sweet onions, cauliflower, broccoli,
shredded cheese, boiled eggs, dried cranberries or raisins, sunflower seeds, sliced cucumber, shredded carrots.
Egg Salad sandwiches or croissants.
Ramen noodles served with chopped.cooked chicken and sliced celery
Homemade pizza: With packaged mixes, leftover spaghetti or pizza sauce and toppings, takes 10 minutes to cook.
Chili in a biscuit: Grands biscuits pressed ove the bottem pan of a jumbo muffin pan, bake and fill with chili or beef stew (this makes the beef stew or chili go further too.)
BLT or bacon and peanutbutter sandwiches
Tortilla pinwheels: tortilla with mayo, ham or other lunch meat and some cheese, rolled up cut like pinwheel.
Chili mac: home made or canned chili with macaroni or boxed mac n' cheese
Meatball sandwiches: frozen meatballs mixed in a little tomato sauce with Italian seasoning and put on bread or sub rolls.
Philly Cheesesteak: Roast beef, provolone cheese, sauteed onions and peppers, salt and peppered. Lightly toast the hoagie buns in the oven and brush on some olive oil mixed with balsamic vinegar before loading on the meat and onions.
Fruit pizza: cream cheese base (on a lightly crisped tortilla or pita) and sliced fruit.
Taquitos with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

Best yet: Have children choose and take turns preparing one of these items for lunch while you take some time to look over their school work or take a much-needed break.

EDIT: Well alrighty, since I wrote this so very long ago with small boys, I'll update with a couple additions for my now grown, college attending young men:

Wraps: Spinach and herb tortilla wraps layered with green leaf lettuce, sliced turkey and cheese, with a little chipotle dressing rolled up and sealed with a little whipped cream cheese to hold the wrap together.
Salad with steak strips or roasted chicken: Especially tasty with diced cucumbers, vidalia onions and poppyseed dressing or with chipotle ranch and tortilla strips.
Chicken Salad with diced cooked chicken, halved green grapes and honey roasted peanuts served in a wrap or on a croissant.
Green Smoothie with spinach, chopped peeled apple, lemon, ginger and cucumber.