I just asked my wife and our younger son(28) what they remember, and it seems egg salad, sliced ham,turkey and chicken, liverwurst (he still calls it liver at its worst), all with lettuce and mayo, sometimes tomato.  My wife made the sandwiches the evening before and made certain they were cold straight from the ice box when they went out the door to prevent spoilage before lunch time.  

I usually do a sandwich (often PB&J but sometimes deli meat and cheese), a cheese stick, a baggie with fruit and/or veges in it (baby carrots, grapes, celery) or a whole fruit (apple, nectarine) sometimes. That's usually it. I don't pack drinks for lunch. They can buy a milk there or have water in the fountain. I think the little drinks are a rip-off. They also have little one-serving Ranch dips for vege's.

Little ones really don't eat that much. It's not like packing for yourself or your husband.

Occasionally I'll pack "chips" or pretzels or a baggie of cheese and crackers. Even if it's some item like, "Hey, you can't have THAT. That's not lunch food," I'd just let them... if it's totally unhealthy... it's still better than them not eating at all and maybe it'll give them comfort while they're away from home. Just make a healthy dinner that night.

I'm revisiting this concept currently. I have one super picky eater and one who is easy going.

First off, I bought a set of like 8 of the small round gladware containers. (I make sure the kids understand that they are to bring the containers back home and not throw them away.) I use them for a lot of things. I can pack applesauce for less than the individual portioned variety. I also bought several ice packs for the lunchboxes.

Some things one or both have taken in lunches:

tortilla chips with bean and cheese dip (my picky eater loves this and it's a good way to get protein -- I make him take applesauce with it for balance.)

leftover chicken and rice and peas (learned that I need to overcook the rice so it isn't crunchy when it's cold) doesn't sound wonderful to me, but picky eater loved it.

chicken breast and green salad with some ranch dressing on the side (this was leftover, too)

pizza pockets made on the sandwich maker (put down bread then canned spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, cheese and any other toppings they like then the other piece of bread) the boys both love this one. I came across it by accident when I was thinking about how I like cold pizza. The nice thing is that with wheat bread and using smart balance butter on the bread and a reasonable amount of cheese and pepperoni this is way healthier than a store bought pizza pocket.

I haven't done this one yet, but it's on the agenda. Leftover mac-n-cheese and peas. Another one to try is leftover shake-n-bake chicken fingers with some ranch or bbq sauce for dipping.

Pretty much whatever they'll eat at home that doesn't sound totally gross cold. I made the mistake of letting my oldest have pbj's almost everyday, because he liked them so much. Well, now he doesn't like them much anymore. :P Anyway, variety is a really good thing.

Getting their drinks at school is much less expensive than buying the drinks from the grocery.
My kids can warm up food at their school but I know that not all schools allow that. Being able to heat food adds to the bring from home menu.

I keep meaning to try using my sandwich maker for that. It sounds yummy.

Sandwich maker? Can you describe it, please?

The term also refers to something that looks a bit like a waffle iron. You put bread on both halves, put a filling in, then close it and it cooks it. You can make grilled cheese sandwiches that way, for instance.

Here's another sandwich maker pic... this one can make 4 at a time... mine only makes 2.

http://www.peasandcornco.com/sandwich-maker.asp