Lunchbox Help for the New Year
Well, the hustle and bustle of the holidays has come to an end, and we are now back to the reality of LIFE! With that comes planning meals, chauffeuring kids, and packing lunches. I’m here to help you with the latter.
Whether your kids are off to school, homeschooled, or home from school for any reason, lunch is on the menu. We all want to provide healthy options for our kids, but that proves to be challenging when it comes to lunch. How many lunchboxes come home half eaten?
Here are my five favorite tips and tricks to making healthy school lunches your kids will want to eat!
Getting your kids involved in planning and making school lunches is a great way to help them build their own healthy eating habits. Bonus is that if they help make it, they’ll be more likely to eat it!
- On the weekend, plan out weekday lunches with your kids. Include veggies, fruits, protein foods, and whole grains where possible.
- Get a head start. Cut up extra veggies and fruit or make hard-boiled eggs for easy grab-and-go snacks.
- Cook extra food – dinner leftovers make a quick and easy lunch.
- Keep it simple – create a snack bin every few weeks to keep in the kitchen for easy snacks. I like to include unsweetened applesauce, nuts and seeds, crackers, and granola bars in mine.
- Prep as much as you can the night before. Then simply pack a lunchbag in the morning and off they go.
Lunch ideas your kids will love
Keep your kitchen stocked with these healthy foods so you can whip up a quick, healthy lunch in no time!
- Whole grain wrap or pita pockets + chicken or hummus + veggies
- Layers of fruit + yogurt + whole grain cereal
- Vegetable soup + whole grain crackers or bread + milk
- Cheese cubes + whole grain crackers + veggie sticks
- Whole grain pasta and sauce + veggies + yogurt dip
- Cheese + whole grain English muffin + apple slices
When it comes to healthy eating, a little planning goes a long way!
Jenn Giurgevich is the founder of Spark Nutrition & Health, a virtual nutrition consulting business.
Visit www.sparknutritionandhealth.ca for more information.
