If you can remember back to your elementary school days of recess and field trips, you can probably also recall those amazing lunches served in the cafeteria each day. Whether it was smiley fries or dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, everyone’s favorite meal was served at lunchtime. Here are some of the most memorable lunches from the early 2000s that all of us college students could have never survived elementary school without.
1. Pizza Dipper Day
Photo courtesy of apsva.nutrislice.com
The only thing better than getting to have a slice of pizza for lunch during the school day was when they’d whip out these bad boys instead. Everyone’s favorite – PIZZA DIPPERS. Still trying to figure out where I can find these to purchase in bulk and hide in my refrigerator here at school.
2. Breakfast for Lunch
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Next, we have another classic: French toast sticks and sausage. This was always a great day, except for when those mean lunch ladies would only give you one packet of syrup to go with your entire meal.
3. Chicken in every way, shape, and form
Photo courtesy of betterdcschoolfood.blogspot.com
No matter what it looked like, anything chicken-related for lunch was an instant crowd-pleaser. Chicken fillets, chicken tenders, and of course my personal favorite, popcorn chicken, were some of the best meals to grace elementary school cafeterias.
4. The Elusive Quesadilla
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These used to be a weekly food choice in my elementary school, but as I got older and went through junior high and high school, I rarely came across them. They were the best, and I have never found anything that comes close to tasting like these quesadillas. What I would do to time travel back to third grade to eat one of these things.
5. Ice Cream Day
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Remember that day when your mom would send you off to school with a few extra dollars in your pocket and you would have no idea why until you got to lunch and saw the coolers of ice cream lined up in the cafeteria? Talk about the best day ever. I vividly remember this day happening every other Wednesday at my school. I also still feel hatred for those little wooden things that were a sorry excuse for a spoon.
Hopefully these lovely lunches brought back happy childhood memories from your elementary days and maybe if we all work together, we can find where to purchase each of these foods to eat now as (young) adults.