Let's face it, school lunches are out of control. The cost is exorbitant, the food is substandard, and the nutritional level is a joke. With the addition of a la cart, and soda machines, our children are being left to develop poor eating habits through the assistance of our public education system.

We as parents have the ability to make a stand and keep our kids healthy by developing their palettes to like healthy food. If we make bag lunches not only for our kids, but for ourselves, we will be setting the example that we believe in what we are doing.

If you've made a trip to the grocery store lately, I am sure you've found that just about everything comes in single serve packages. This is very convenient, but very expensive and defeats the purpose of what we are trying to accomplish. But never rule it out, prepackages are handy when you are working on a deadline.

Let's start with our main course. We all grew up on peanut butter and jelly, and this American tradition still holds up today, for all ages. PB&J grows old after a meal of two, so lets get creative.

Take a look in your fridge, there is a smorgasbord of idea's. Leftovers are delightful when dressed up. That chicken, ham, eggs, or turkey can be made into sandwiches, and if you cut it up and throw in a little mayo, you've got a salad sandwich for lunch. Scrambled eggs also make excellent sandwiches.

If you have a child that isn't such a big sandwich eater, surprise them with a personal pizza. Take an English muffin, cut it in half, add some pizza, or spaghetti sauce, top with their favorites like peperoni's, Canadian bacon, sliced ham, etc.. and top with cheese. Apply wax paper to the top and set it into a baggy.

In colder weather, take a thermos and add some homemade soup. You can also add chili, or some delightful hot cocoa.

Now lets get our fruits and vegetables in that bag. While a cut up orange is nutritious, it is more likely to be eaten if it is also peeled (don't forget the wet napkin in a baggy). Banana's are the easiest fruit to put into a brown bag, but remember, they bruise easy so wrap it up in a napkin to protect it from harms way.

Vegetables may not be your child's favorite food group, so spice it up. Put some peanut butter on a celery stalk (add some raisins on top for ants on a boat) and you have a conversation starter as well as some roughage. Vegetables by themselves can be bland to a child, so add some Ranch dressing in a small container to go along with those

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