the dreaded-making lunches ritual....

i've talked to many of you moms who have the same 'thorn in your side' that i do. making lunches.
i hate it.
dread it.
despise it.
but....i do it. the monkeys must eat.
while packing away my Costco groceries last week,i turned around to see my over-flowing pantry,i actually had to laugh to myself.how silly it is that i complain about something that takes virtually VERY little effort. (you see, i'm a pre-packaged sort of gal...in more ways than one)seriously, how hard is it to walk over to my pantry, grab 5 or 6 items and throw them in a lunch box?? a standard lunch=chips, pudding, granola bar, fruit leather, cheese and crackers and they are ALL PRE-BAGGED.

oh, boo-hoo for poor me!!!

i buy pre-bagged mini carrots and I pre-measure out dip in disposable plastic containers. (thanks for the tip wendi!!)all i have to do is grab them from the fridge in the morning.
when i get my new box of chicken nuggets (FYI...Costco is no longer going to be carrying these. GASP!!! get them while you can!) i always pre-bag them. again,all i have to do is grab them from the freezer in the morning. one box gives me exactly 23 bags.(6 nuggets per bag, 15 bags per week=less than 2 weeks per box)$10.99 a box...you do the math. that's a rip off.
so, when these 2 boxes are gone...i'm (you all are going to help me with this!) going to come up with something cheaper and more creative!! rye and i were thinking of different ways that we can save money on the food bill every month. he didn't take the Costco food bill very well. :) in his defense, he's right. we are dutch. we're creative people. we can feed them cheaper. i admit it. it's true.
but here's the deal....
one likes peanut butter only, one likes only jam.
one prefers ham. on a bun, NOT bread!
one hates cool ranch Doritos, the other one LOVES them.
a few like bananas, the other one says they make him gag.
one boy always comes home with a nearly empty lunchbox, the other has only eaten the pudding.
one boy thinks i should pack TACOS, (hard shell ONLY) everyday. one wants prime rib! one wants more fruit, one took a bite out of his apple last week, put it back in his lunch claiming it's "SO NASTY". (ya, today, it's BACK in his lunch. i told him to 'suck it up, eat around the brown bite marks.it won't kill you'. there will be NO GOOD STUFF in there til THAT'S gone'. i'm such a mean mom.... hoping he won't need therapy for this someday!)

wow. that was quite a post....didn't realize i had so many pent up thoughts about this. blogging is so therapeutic! :)

soooo.....
that's where you come in...HELP!! i would love any ideas that you have. easy and healthy, realizing that i have 3 boys, all with different tastes. geez, really???