Tips for Packing Healthy School Lunches

Packing a healthy lunch isn’t always easy. When you are at the grocery store, and then standing at the kitchen counter packing lunches, keep these rules in mind:

Keep it simple: Think Protein, Carbs and Healthy fats.

Main food should be centered on protein rather than starchy carbs.

Sandwiches:

Serve sliced ham, chicken, tuna or egg salad sandwiches. Some kids love mustard and mayo but some kids may actually like sliced avocado on it (more potassium). Similarly, some kids don’t like peanut butter but will enjoy cashew or almond butter as a spread.

Serve sliced meat rolled up into tubes and offer the bread separate (some kids just aren’t into sandwiches).

Rather than buying deli meat or lunch meat, take some time and roast a turkey or a chicken for the week of lunches to come. It’s more cost effective and doesn’t have all the fillers such as sodium nitrate (which are known carcinogens and can cause skin irritations and respiratory issues)

Similarly, tuna salad can be offered with crackers. Remember, bread doesn’t have to be sliced bread; offer sandwich thins or tortillas. Even just plain sticky rice or beans may be a hit too!

Avocado mixed with tuna, meat rollups, pb & banana - great options for gluten free kids (corn tortillas)

Dips are fun for kids:

Greek yogurt mixed with French onion dip packet or ranch packet and dipped with veggies. Greek yogurt mixed with salsa can make for a healthy spicy salsa dip, and you can cut and bake corn tortillas into chips.

Hummus is good protein and tasty to dip both baked pita chips and veggies in.

Cottage cheese with frozen fruit/berries or Plain Greek Yogurt sweetened with stevia or pure Maple syrup (rich in Manganese which helps with calcium absorption from greek yogurt!) - add blueberries to that, or nuts or peanut butter swirled in, or pieces of dark chocolate.

Finger foods to have alongside:

Veggies, real fruit instead of fruit cups, real apples instead of applesauce cups, homemade baked corn tortilla chips rather than store bought chips (again cheaper and fun to let the kids cut them into fun shapes with cookie cutters and bake them) They may not usually grab for the orange, but if you have it peeled in the box, you may be surprised that they want more.

Special Treat:

homemade cookies/brownies made with REAL ingredients and love: Rather than purchasing store bought cookies which kids get nothing out of, make a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and let the kids help you mix up the batter and be a part of it, then include those in their lunch - not only will they be excited about something they helped make, but it will be a taste of you and your home and be baked with love - the best of ingredients - and if made with wholesome ingredients such as sweetened with real maple syrup and oats, the kids actually get nutrients with them.

Other good snacks:

Nuts, seeds, packets of peanut butter to go with the apple, mini babybel cheese wheels, or cubed chunks of cheese, pieces of dark chocolate for good antioxidants.

Beverages:

Nothing beats pure water! Especially in this heat, kids needs more water and to stay well hydrated. Juice boxes contain too much excess sugar, and that can actually lead to dehydration. Choose pure water, organic milk boxes, or try coconut water which closely related to the water electrolyte content of the human body so it hydrates really well!