My older two kids love Lunchables and I am just too cheap to buy them for school lunches. I have nothing against them and I think the convenience can’t be beat, but I refuse to pay $2 each for 2 kids for everyday. Not going to happen. So I made them myself at home and they turned out great! (And the kids are young enough that they do not care that it is not in the actual box!)
Here is how I did it.
I bought generic Ritz crackers, which taste great and are much cheaper than the real thing, bologna and generic American cheese.
Using a cookie cutter, preferably one in a cracker shape (you can also use the lids from a tomato paste can), cut out the cheese and bologna.
Put 4 crackers, 2 pieces of bologna, and 2 pieces of cheese is a zip-top bag. (This is enough makings for 2 of those) If your child is a big eater, you can add more to the bag. I found that I can get 2 rounds out of a slice of cheese and 3 rounds out of a piece of bologna. (and the youngest loves to eat the scraps while I am making them) YMMV.
The key is to make up a bunch in advance so that cold lunch prep is really fast and the kids don’t eat all the crackers before it gets made!
With these made up ahead of time and stored in the fridge, filling lunch boxes is FAST and EASY, which is great for early in the morning!
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Susan Bischer on 
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Awesome….why didn’t I think of that!! LOL! My kids love lunchables! Gonna definately try this one. Thanks again!
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I, too, never thought to do this, thanks for the idea!
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Great idea. I won’t buy them either.
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my daughter rejected my homemade lunchables last year but this year I scored with these healthy faux lunchables : http://traceesioux.blogspot.com/2008/08/peer-pressure-faux-lunchables.html
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Wow! What a great idea. I’m inspired and going to give it a try.
In Swank County, school lunch is $7, if you can believe it.
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You know my kids don’t even really like the lunchables anyway once they start eating them. They just get excited looking at them in the store because they have some silly treat in them. I agree, homeade is much more worth it!
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That is a great idea! My 6 year old takes her lunch to school everyday and would love this!
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NICE!
Great idea!
I agree that I like the convenience of Lunchables but the cost makes it ‘just for school field trips’ kind of thing.
You’ve just made my children very happy!
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I like this idea. I can choose the type of lunch meat so that there’s no preservatives this way I can make her lunches healthier. Save time and money too!
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brilliant!
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Oh I love this! My kids love lunchables also… and I am also too cheap to buy them all the time.
Thanks!
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