3 Simple Ideas for School Lunches

Do you stress – even a little – about what you are going to put in your kids lunch for the day?  Last year I was telling a friend of mine that my daughter kept leaving her lunch that I made her and was ringing up quite the tab at the school cafeteria.  When I would ask my daughter about this she said she didn’t like what I had made her.  Hmmm.  My friend recommended that I have her help me in the mornings pack her lunch.  That way, she couldn’t complain that she didn’t like her lunch – because she helped make it!  I have also been having her help out at the grocery store and ask her to pick out healthy choices for her school lunch. This has also helped a ton.

But coming up with lunch ideas is a whole other ballgame.  She has been on a health kick of late because a friend of hers said that she didn’t eat healthy.  Normally, this would have upset me, but since I can’t control her grabbing prepackaged pancakes or sugary cereals from the cafeteria when I am not there – this comment put her on the road to eating better.  Funny, how it took one comment from a friend to put her on a more conscious health track. And I’ve been trying for years friends!  Peer pressure – it’s real.  In this case, it had a positive impact.

Some ideas that I have found work for us include:

Cut shapes out of their sandwiches.  She tends to gravitate towards ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly (good ‘ole PB&J to the rescue) but I find that if I cut out some funny characters she tends to eat all of it.  Not sure of the dynamics here – but it works for us.

Let them mix and match:  She does love to get the Lunchables pre-made lunches from the store and I think I have figured out why.  She (like her mother) enjoys the process likes to put together her lunch.  Whether it be ham, cheese on top of crackers or trail mix mixed in with fruit and Stonyfield yogurt, she likes to put the lunch together.  It is so funny how your kids take after you in even the smallest ways.  So now that I figured this out about her – we no longer buy Lunchables and just make our own mix and match tray for her.

This Do-It-Yourself Parfait includes:

Stonyfield Organic YoKids yogurt

Trail Mix

Dark chocolate and nut mix

Fruit of your choice

Have them use the bowl the fruit is in and mix it all around for a super easy, delicious and healthy lunch.

Add lots of color: Though I have my Masters in Nutrition I try to refrain from talking about what she is eating all the time, but there are a few things I talk to her about such as having her read the label on a product she wants me to buy.  If the label has a ton of ingredients with words we can’t pronounce – it is probably overly processed.

We try to add lots of color to her lunch with fresh fruit (goes well with the yogurt and honey), baby carrots or broccoli trees.  These would be great in little containers filled with yummy hummus or yogurt dip. Kids get bored with their food just like we do.  I have found that if I put a little more effort in the presentation and variety, she tends to eat better.  Eat better = healthier kid = happy mom.

Note: We are part of the Stonyfield YoGetters Blogger Program and provided with products and/or compensation but this does not affect our opinion in any way.

You can find more yummy recipes on their website here.

What is your child’s favorite school lunch?