How to Prepare Healthy Lunches This School Year
As parents, you know that every day it is so important that your kids have healthy food to eat. When your kids are in school and learning good nutrition is vital. It is essential for brain function, their ability to concentrate, and their capacity to retain the information they are learning. You may be wondering how to prepare healthy lunches this school year for your kids. Here are some healthy lunch ideas to help your children learn and gain, as much as they can from their education.
#1. Freeze a yogurt pack to add to their lunchbox.
Yogurt is a great healthy snack that kids love. It has calcium and vitamins that are essential to bone growth and brain development. If you freeze the yogurt pack it will help keep the other items in the lunch box cold and it will thaw by lunch time.
#2. Pack your kids favorite fruits and veggies.
When it comes to packing a nourishing lunch for your kids try to add something healthy from each of the five food groups. Good fruits to pack include apples, grapes, quartered oranges, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon chunks, fruit cocktail, peaches, or applesauce cups made without added sugar. Some good veggies to pack include baby carrots, salad with spinach and tomatoes, and sliced cucumbers. Don’t forget to add salad dressing that your child likes.
#3. Make sandwiches with whole grain bread or pita bread or pasta salad with whole grain pasta.
Sandwiches and pasta salads are easy to make and easy to eat staple to include in a lunchbox. The bread you use can really make a difference in the nutritional value of your child’s sandwich. Make sandwiches using whole grain bread or pita bread. Using a bread product or pasta that is less processed helps your child stay fuller longer. It is also full of vitamins and minerals.
#4. Make sandwiches with tuna salad, egg salad, and peanut butter without added sugar.
There are so many different healthy sandwich alternatives. You can make your kids sandwich or pita bread with tuna salad, egg salad, and peanut butter without added sugar. These are great ways to switch up the usual lunch meat and cheese sandwich. Using lunch meat and cheese made with healthy ingredients and without all the added chemicals is a good healthy sandwich, as well.
When it comes to packing a healthy school lunch keep in mind what your child likes to eat. Make healthy lunches that are easy to eat and include something from each of the food groups (grain, dairy, meat, fruits, and vegetables). Switch up the meal choices so your kids don’t get tired of eating the same thing every day, and you will be sure your kids are eating healthy and nutritious lunches at school.
Great tips! I too freeze the yogurt in my kids lunches they always come out perfect and ready to eat.
Fab tips! I’ll have to try the yoghurt trick for sure.
These are great tips. Healthy lunches are a must!
These really are some very good tips–not only for packing school lunches but also for packing lunches to go to work.
I love being creative when it comes to my kids lunch! I think creativity in food encourage our kids to eat more.
Adding a frozen yogurt pack to my kid’s lunches is definitely a plus! They love yogurt and it really does store well in their lunch box until they devour it!
My kids alway had healthy lunches to take to school and as a PTSA mom, we made sure the school cafe offered healthy choices too. Good selections above!
I haven’t packed lunch in ages. When my oldest was younger I did one summer for camp and nothing was refrigerated so everything got gross.
I am not sending my little guy to public school this year, but I do see how these lunch ideas could improve our day at home. I think he’s growing tired of pb&j.