Better Than a Brown Bag Lunch

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Bring your child’s teacher a really good lunch the first week of school! In fact, this is a great little sirsee for a teacher’s birthday, teacher appreciation week, standardized testing week, or any random day. As mentioned in the Teacher Emergency Kit post, teachers are trapped in the school building all day.  Unless a planning period aligns with the moon on a Tuesday in January, they are not getting out of that building to go pick up a lunch. Most teachers (read: me) hastily pack a half of a peanut butter sandwich along with their kids’ lunches as they are racing out the door in the morning. What a treat it would to receive a good lunch one day.

The Bag: I sewed the bag in the picture above modifying a pattern I had for an art bag. I would not recommend sewing your own lunch tote. After 7 hours at the sewing machine, I decided I do not like my children’s teachers THAT much. Pick up a lunch bag at any store where you purchase school supplies or even your local grocery store.  A cute disposable gift bag would work well too. I really like the neoprene lunch totes if you want to upgrade the gift. Almost all teachers have access to refrigerators, so you should not need an insulated lunch bag.

The Food: I made a really good pesto chicken salad and put it on a squishy roll with arugula. I included pretzel crisps, raw veggies, and a small container of cashews, almonds, and dried fruit. I added a bottle of water too. Teachers usually have a microwave available, so you could send something yummy in a tupperware with re-heating instructions instead of a sandwich.

You can click on Fancy Sandwiches for the pesto chicken salad recipe and a few others. I realized after I decided to post these recipes, they probably have a bad breath factor to them. No problem– include a mint with the lunch OR make sure your child’s teacher has the Emergency Kit, so he/she has a toothbrush.

The Extras: Do not forget to add a paper plate, napkin, and any plasticware that is needed.

14 thoughts on “Better Than a Brown Bag Lunch”

  1. My own experiences as a teacher aside (and what teacher doesn’t know the feeling of school building walls closing in on them a la Indiana Jones?), I love–absolutely love–the idea of teachers getting even a tiny portion of the love that’s due to them. Thanks for sharing this inspiring post–it added a lovely note to my day!

    Reply

      • Oh, my favorites are always the small things that aren’t planned when they’re acting completely spontaneously–especially the pictures that these kids come up with! If you only had those to go on, you’d think I was some sort of mash-up princess/superstar/superhuman/humanitarian instead of a very plain, average young instructor. I think that’s the most I could ask for or want, you know? I’d love to hear about your favorite gifts as well! They must be lovely.

      • My favorite was the year I had a Barbie thing going on in a 6th grade classroom (long story). My room moms gave me a plastic hot pink pitcher, cups, bowl (stuff for an outdoor party) all wrapped up in pink tulle. It wasn’t really the gift; it was the fact that they paid attention to things that had gone on in the classroom that year. I thought it was very thoughtful. 🙂

  2. Wow! How lucky are your kids’ teachers? it reminds us all to be appreciative of the work that others do, everyday. Thanks!

    Reply

    • I know what would be helpful for me as a teacher, and I try to remember for my kids’ teachers! They don’t always get all of the things I think up. I have to save some of my ideas for future teachers in case I run out of steam!

      Reply

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