Back To School (or Home) Lunches
Although this year school may look a little different - whether your kids are learning in the classroom, at home, or a hybrid of both - they still need a nutrient packed lunch to promote growth and development and to help keep them focused. Here are our top tips for packing lunches for the school year plus a few lunch ideas.
Top tips for packing lunches:
Pack lunch the night before. Even if your kids are staying home, this will make lunch time less hectic. You can also prepare breakfast the night before so mornings are less of a scramble.
Get kids involved. Getting your kids involved in planning school or at home lunches will ensure that lunch gets eaten and enjoyed. Be prepared to set some limits about what constitutes a healthy lunch. If your kids are going to the grocery store with you or helping you make a grocery list, turn it into a game with clear instructions. For example, challenge your kids to pick a fun vegetable or fruit that they would like to see in their lunch box. You would be surprised what kids will eat when they pick it out!
Get creative. Kids eat with their eyes first. Keep lunches colorful and exciting and they will keep eating. Try using cookie cutters, rolling foods up, stacking food, using chopsticks, wooden skewers or toothpicks (if age appropriate), anything to make it interesting! This is something that kids have fun doing the night before that gets them involved.
Invest in a jazzy lunch box. Whether your kids are at home or at school learning, pack lunch in a fun new way. Brown bagging it is fine, but compartmentalized lunch boxes make it easy, fun, and exciting to pack a well-rounded school lunch. Bento box style lunch boxes are small compartments just waiting to be filled with berries, baby carrot sticks, hummus to dip, and turkey and cheese pinwheel roll ups.
If your kids get school lunch, know what they’re eating. Check the school breakfast and lunch offerings are by looking at the weekly menu and logging on to see what your kids are ordering if your school participates in this.
Compromise. If your kid is going to school, don’t feel you have to choose between a school lunch and a lunch from home. If you only like part of the school lunch menu, send your child with side foods from home to round out the offering.
Always include protein. Some great lunch box options include Greek yogurt, lunch meat roll-ups, cheese sticks, hummus, and nuts/seeds and their butters. Note if your kids are going to school keep in mind some schools are nut free - you can use sunflower seed butter (Sunbutter) instead.
Include foods from at least 3 out of the 5 food groups: starches, fruits, vegetables, proteins, and dairy/dairy alternatives.
Keep it as real as you can. Try opting for a whole piece of fresh fruit over a fruit cup in syrup and fresh lunch meat over a Lunchable. We understand that sometimes convenience wins but for the most part choose foods as close to their original form as possible.
Get individualized recommendations. If you’re struggling to figure out lunches this school year we’re here to help.With tele-health visits, meeting with one of our dietitians is easy and convenient, plus your child’s health insurance likely covers it.
Lunch Ideas:
Bento Box
Melon
Cucumbers
Hard boiled egg
Cheese stick
Milk
Roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes
Pita Pizza
Build and cook ahead the night before and serve cold if going to school or wait to cook if at home
Apple
Spinach
Tomato sauce
Cheese
Milk
Whole grain pita or tortilla
Sunbutter/Nut Butter Banana Sandwich
Use a fun sandwich cut out or cookie cutter
Banana
Cucumbers
Carrots
Nut butter or Sunbutter
Milk
Whole grain bread
Make-Your-Own Pasta Salad
Toss with Italian dressing, ranch dressing, or olive oil
Blueberries
Chopped broccoli, carrots, celery, etc.
Low sodium deli turkey, chopped
Chopped cheese
Milk
Whole grain pasta
Yogurt Parfait with Hummus and Veggies
Berries
Baby carrots
Hummus
Greek yogurt
Cereal like Cheerios or Life