Quick, Easy, Fun! – School Lunch Ideas

Now that breakfast is done, it’s time to send them on their way to school.
Here are some tips to help you pack a healthy lunch that your kids will look forward to eating…

The Lunch Box: Easy and Healthy School Lunch Ideas for Parents

Actual time for eating lunch at most schools only lasts for 15 to 20 minutes and is filled with distractions. Make sure the lunch foods you pack are easy to eat, packed in easily opened packages, and don't require peeling or special tools. Small children may not eat very much at one sitting. Think about packing appetizers instead of a large sandwich and whole banana. You can also include more choices if the quantity of each is smaller. Fill a mini muffin tin with small amounts of foods, wrap with foil, and pack into t Small foods are not only easier for children to handle, but they are more fun to eat. Cut sandwiches into smaller pieces, use tiny tortillas for wraps and small sandwich buns, serve baby carrots and peel and cut fruit into smaller pieces to interest your child in the foods you pack.

Think about different types of bread for sandwiches and dippers. Try crackers, mini waffles, rice cakes, mini croissants, pita bread, mini muffins, small bagels, tortillas, raisin or cinnamon bread. If your child wants the same thing day after day, go ahead and pack it, as long as the overall meal is nutritious and you are sure your child eats it. Kids don't like a lot of change in what they eat. Did you know that it takes 10 to 12 introductions to a new food before a child is usually willing to even taste it?

Take some time to look at the prepackaged lunches in your grocer's refrigerated section. These appeal to kids, but aren't very nutritious. You can pack the same types of snack foods, but use healthier choices for more kid appeal.
A healthy lunch should include choices from each food group - protein, grains, fruit, vegetables, and dairy products. Using the New "My Pyramid" let your child help to make choices and plan lunch menus in advance.

The Main Course....
A sandwich is by far the most common main attraction inside a lunch box. In a kid's lunchbox, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread is the perennial favorite. According to "The Great Food Almanac", the average American student will have consumed approximately 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by graduation from high school. The pleasing combination helps provide the nutrition a child needs for a school day afternoon. Bread fills them up and supplies carbohydrates for energy. Peanut butter supplies protein for brain power, while the jelly makes it taste good. For a change from the usual peanut butter and jelly sandwich, try peanut butter and sliced bananas on raisin bread or peanut butter with apple slices on wheat bread.

Try a variety of fillings and bread alternatives. Fill a pita pocket with egg salad, chicken salad or tuna salad. Make mini-subs on a ranch roll or on a hot dog roll. Make tortilla roll-ups with tortillas and cheese spread or with sliced cheese and deli ham or turkey. Use left-over chicken or ham to make sandwich spread these tasty spreads are great on thin party bread slices. When you make dinner, think leftovers. Make sandwiches from sliced home-baked ham, roast beef or turkey breast instead of processed luncheon meats. Make an extra large roaster and slice half of the breast for chicken sandwiches. Make two meatloaves and save one to slice for cold meatloaf sandwiches. Cut sandwiches in quarters, in strips, or use cookie cutters to make them more appealing and easier for little ones to handle.

For Sandwich boredom....
Lunch doesn't have to include a sandwich every day. Fruit and yogurt, cottage cheese with fruit, simple meat & cheese roll-ups, are just a few alternatives. Make pasta salads using colorful pasta in fun shapes. Make a cold Veggie Pizza When lunch doesn't include a sandwich, add a slice of homemade quick bread, a muffin or mini muffins, breadsticks, mini bagels with jam or low-fat cream cheese, breadsticks, peanut butter or cheese on whole wheat crackers, nachos and salsa, or graham crackers.

For finicky eaters who need daily encouragement to eat enough to get the nutrition they need from meals at home, getting them to eat enough at school can be a real challenge. Picky eaters need a variety of foods in sizes they'll be comfortable with. A whole sandwich might look like too much food to a little girl without a big appetite, so pack only half a sandwich. To help make sure she's getting the nourishment she needs, include a thermos of milk each day. Make it strawberry or chocolate if that means she'll be sure to drink it. Add healthy extras like string cheese, peanut butter-stuffed celery, a hard-boiled egg or pudding.

Add Fruit or Veggies....
Put fruit or veggies such as grapes, cherries, strawberries, tangerine slices, orange slices, fresh pineapple wedges, and chunks of melon, grape tomatoes, and baby carrots in a zipper sandwich bag or a small plastic container. Plums, peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, and other whole fruit should be washed thoroughly and wrapped in a paper towel. To minimize waste, look for fresh fruit that's kid-sized. When fresh fruit isn't available, pack dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, apricots and peaches or canned fruit.

What's for Dessert?
Unless a child must stick to a low-fat or sugar-restricted diet for weight control or other health reasons, adding a sweet treat shouldn't be a problem as long as the rest of the lunch is well-balanced. For little cookie monsters who really look forward to their favorite goodies, add a few small cookies occasionally, store-bought or homemade.

And finally-Keep it cold....Keep it safe...
Start with a clean lunch box and cold food. Place sandwiches and any other foods that would normally be refrigerated, next to a small blue ice pack or a frozen water bottle. You can also freeze a juice drink box and use it instead of an ice pack, but I think most kids should be encouraged to drink milk with their lunch. Small cartons make sure your child understands that any leftover parts of sandwiches, chicken, dairy products, and other perishables not eaten at lunchtime, must be placed in a trash can in the lunch room, not saved for after school milk can be purchased at school or include a thermos of milk.

Sweet & Spicy Tuna Wraps
Ingredients:
1 pouch Star-Kist Sweet & Spicy Tuna
3 Fresh Basil leaves, cut into strips (optional)
2 Flour tortillas
1/2 cup Tomato, small, diced
1/2 cup Carrots, shredded
3 Tbsp. Creamy Italian dressing
1 cup Lettuce, shredded
4 ounces Mozzarella cheese, shredded
In a small bowl, mix together tuna, carrots, basil, and 2 Tbsp. Italian dressing. On the center of each tortilla, place: 1/2 cup lettuce, 1/4 cup tomatoes, 1/2 Tbsp. Italian dressing, 1/2 tuna mixture and 2-oz. Mozzarella cheese. Fold end of tortilla over the above ingredients and roll tightly. Cut in half, diagonally, and serve.

Lunch on a stick:
For a Meat Kabob:
For the turkey and cheese kebab:
cooked turkey, chopped
sliced cheese
cucumber, chopped
cherry tomatoes

For the fruit kebab:
strawberries, halved
peach or nectarine, chopped
kiwi, chopped
apple, chopped
dried apricot, chopped
Thread your chosen foods onto a skewer until full, leaving just enough room at each end to hold it

Posted by Joyce Tompkins at PolkVoice.com – your news, words and photos
For more Nutrition Information contact Joyce Tompkins @ Polk County Extension Service (863)519-8677 x114 or j6256@ufl.edu

A couple more resources to keep those delicious lunch ideas coming!

School Lunch Tips
and Tricks from Amazing Moms

Family Fun A+ Lunches and Snacks including backpack snacks
fuel for the entire day