Sure, you could stick to the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your kid’s school lunch—or you could up your game this year. We have tips and recipes to make healthy packed lunchesyour kid is sure to love.
Get the Right “Tools”
There’s never been a better time to shop for the ideal mechanism to house your lunch masterpiece. Yes, we’re talking about lunch boxes. With the rise in popularity of bento boxes, you can easily pack lunches with many components without the wasteful plastic bags.
Make sure you include your child in this decision so they feel they’re a part of the process and have a sense of pride every time they break out their lunch at the school table.
Let Them Feel Like a Chef
Just like at home, kids like to feel in control of what they eat. At your Inspirada home, you can invite your child to help you with cooking dinner. At the school cafeteria, you can make them feel like a master chef by packing a “deconstructed” lunch. This way, they can add whatever ingredients they want in the amount they desire to their meal.
Add an Element of Surprise and Delight
Does your child have a favorite gummy snack or dessert? Surprise them with something small to make their lunch extra special every now and again. You can also hide a note of encouragement.
Other ways to make your child’s lunch more fun:
- A Dose of Sunshine: Pack a lunch with yellow and orange foods like carrots, cheese, and orange slices.
- Taste of ____: Include a meal typical for students in other countries, like a “taste of Japan” lunch with rice balls, edamame, veggie gyoza, and some fun facts about the country. Have them “travel” the world by packing lunches from different countries throughout the year.
- Cut items like sandwiches, cheese, fruit, and veggies into fun shapes.
Simple Classics
When you’re short on time and looking for some easy and healthy ingredients to add to your child’s packed lunch, don’t forget about the classics:
- Sliced apples with peanut butter
- Beef jerky
- Nuts (as with peanut butter, be considerate of possible allergies)
- Crackers with meat and cheese
- Fruits like oranges, grapes, and berries
- Dried-seaweed-wrapped rice balls
- Veggies with ranch
- Dehydrated fruit
- A bite-sized dark chocolate treat
Healthy Lunch Box Ideasfor Kids
Do you want to take the time to make your kid’s lunch extra special? Try a new recipe. These healthy school lunch ideas are sure to appease even picky eaters:
- Chicken Meatballs and Charred Broccoli: These meatballs are healthier than normal meatball recipes since they are made with chicken. Plus, they are cooked in the oven so you don’t have to tend to them on a skillet. Finish the meal off by pairing the meatballs with oven-broiled broccoli and rice and top with sauce.
- Breakfast for Lunch Bento: This bento box features waffle sandwiches with apples and peanut butter, hard-boiled eggs, grapefruit segments, cottage cheese topped with cinnamon, and cherry tomatoes.
- Vegan Greek Pita: A pita shell stuffed with ingredients like hummus, onion, bell pepper, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and olives.
- Picnic Bento Lunch: This bento lunch features mini skewers (with peach slices, mozzarella balls, and prosciutto), nibbles like cherries and sunflower seeds, and a cheese tortellini pasta salad.
We hope these packed lunch ideas and tips help you to serve up a lunch your kid will love. Discover more about the schools near Inspirada by visiting this section of our blog.