Lunch Packing 101
By Courtney Driscoll, RD, LDN

It’s here! It’s time to start the school year again.  Kids are excited to see old friends again but probably are not looking forward to doing homework every night.  And parents are excited to have some kid-free time again but probably are not looking forward to the often harrowing task of packing lunch every morning.  Especially when it brings back memories of full lunch boxes coming home every afternoon accompanied by hungry children looking for sugary or salty snacks.  But when you stop to think about it – the same old ham and cheese or PB & J can get pretty boring after a while.  And with hectic morning routines of trying to get kids off to school and parents off to work, packing a lunch more elaborate than that probably seems out of the question. The major considerations are variety, portion sizes, cost and nutritional quality.  Small portions of a few different things are more appealing to kids to eat instead of one big sandwich and a bag of chips.

Here are 10 great tips to help make packing lunch more successful for you and your children:

1. Avoid buying pre-packaged kid-friendly meals. Borrow ideas from the experts, but make them more healthful by substituting low fat cheese or leftover meats. Make mini pizzas on English muffins, assemble turkey and whole grain crackers yourself.

2. Use small containers to hold salsa, mustard, hummus, bean dip, low-fat ranch dressing, yogurt, etc. Most kids love to dip so include some healthful dippers — baked corn chips, pretzel sticks, carrots, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes, grapes or apple wedges.

3. Variety, variety, variety. Include small offerings of several things, so they get more interesting flavors and a variety of colors. Fill small containers with mini portions of food such as Cheerios or mini-shredded wheats, and turkey squares instead of a sandwich.

4. Be creative. Roll food in an oat-bran tortilla rather than putting it on bread. Roll turkey and low-fat cheese together to make pinwheels. Cut a plain sandwich into 4 “fingers.” Put small portions of a salad or raw veggies in small plastic bag. Include a little packet of low-fat dressing.

5. Make your own healthful versions of trail mixes, and then put them in small baggies. Kids often love nut and cereal mixes, but skip the sugary, salty trail mixes. The same idea works with cookies. Select a healthful recipe, make them small and wrap and freeze in individual portions.

6. Give your kids healthy options instead of asking “what would you like for lunch?” Ask if they'd rather have grapes or strawberries, baked chips or pretzels, chicken or turkey. And enlist their help with packing lunches.  Have them put each food item in containers or bags the night before.  Then in the morning all that needs to be done is to pack the lunch box.  When kids are involved in meal preparation, they're more likely to eat the results.

7. Don't do all the work yourself. Chefs get paid a lot to make “deconstructed” food. Do the same thing by offering cheese, meat, crackers, etc., so your kids can assemble their own “sandwiches” at school.

8. Move beyond white bread. Try making sandwiches with 1 slice of white and one slice of whole grain bread. And don't forget pita, English muffins or crackers such as Kavli, AkMak or Ryvita. The earlier you start kids on the healthful versions of certain foods the easier it will be to make it a lifelong habit.

9. Prepare a balanced lunch. Aim for 2-3 ounces of meat, a minimum of two different vegetables or fruits (more is even better, or offer additional fruits/veggies for a snack when your child gets home), 1 cup of milk or 4 ounces of yogurt (cheese counts, too) and one to two servings of a whole grain. It can also be fun to include a little surprise occasionally as well, such as a note, cartoon, picture or gummy bear. We all love to know someone took the time to let us know we're special.

10. Keep your kids' lunchboxes as fresh as possible. When they come home, your children can throw away food wrappers and get individual containers soaking so their lunch containers aren't a pungent mess later. A child who is old enough to carry a lunch box is old enough to learn to take care of it. A bonus is you're teaching them to look after themselves.

 

Reference: www.mysanantonio.com