Sending your child off to school with a healthy lunch that he or she will actually eat can be a challenge. The time it takes to plan, cook and pack it, wondering if it’s healthy enough and worrying that he is getting enough to eat — it’s a lot for busy parents to manage. If this is you, a little guidance paired with some creative lunch and after school snack ideas will have you and your children ready for the new school year!
START WITH SOME BASICS
It’s recommended that at least half of each meal or snack be made up of fruits, vegetables and other plant foods, like beans and whole grains. For guidance, you can find free meal-planning tools for all ages at www.choosemyplate.gov.
LUNCHTIME FUN TIPS
- Use a tortilla or pita instead of your usual sliced bread. Roll up the sandwich in a tortilla and slice into pinwheels or cut the sandwich into a fun shape.
- Make veggies and fruits into a rainbow. Try red tomatoes, orange carrots, yellow bell peppers, green cucumbers, blueberries, and purple grapes.
- Add a love note, joke or riddle so your child feels close no matter how his day is going.
- Crispy snacks other than chips include chickpeas, carrots sticks, kale chips or seaweed snacks.
- For the juice-lover, help your kiddo to drink more water by adding a bit of 100% juice to their water bottle and slowly increase the water to juice ratio.
- Replace regular jam with a homemade chia jam or sliced strawberries, apples or other fruit, for a twist on the classic PB & J.
- Make dessert healthy and delicious with a treat like our healthy rolled balls.
LET YOUR KID BE THE CHEF
Gather the following ingredients and let your child create their own masterpiece:
Taco Bar: Mini whole grain tortillas, protein (meat, beans, lentils), cheese, brown rice, veggie toppings, guacamole or avocado, pico de gallo, salsa or diced tomatoes.
Pizza Bar: Whole grain pita or English muffins, tomato sauce, cheese, and veggie toppings.
CHARACTER, SEASONAL OR HOLIDAY THEMED LUNCHES
Pack your child’s lunch with a fun theme in mind. Choose a movie, show or book she likes and include a sweet note with a positive message from the story or a challenge question asking her to guess how each food relates to the movie, show, or storybook. Here are some ideas to get your wheels turning:
“Frozen” Characters:
- Frozen grapes
- Coconut covered bliss balls for Olaf
- Sven’s carrots (or Olaf’s nose)
- Whole grain angel hair pasta for Elsa’s hair
Moana Tropical Adventure:
- Tropical fruit salad (bananas, mango, melon, etc.)
- Coconut LARA bar
- Tortilla sandwich spirals for the heart of TeFiti
- Goldfish
Peter Rabbit’s Lunch (Spring):
- Bunny-shaped sandwiches
- Carrots sticks with hummus
- Broccoli “trees”
- Lots of berries
- Salad with side of dressing
Afterschool Snacks
Have a few of these ready and waiting after school for your hungry students:
1. Apple cookies: Slices apples with nut butter with the option of mini chocolate chips, cinnamon, cacao powder or even melted and drizzled chocolate.
2. Fruit skewers: Soak wooden skewers for a half-hour or use stainless steel and spear with various fruits 3. Fruit salsa with toasted pita bread chips sprinkled with cinnamon.
3. Ants on a log: Two to three-inch pieces of celery with nut butter with raisins sprinkled on top.
4. Smoothie pops: Blend together her favorite sweet smoothie then fill and freeze popsicle molds.