I’ve really been enjoying being able to choose what my daughter has for lunch at school. It’s been a bit of a challenge to my creativity, especially when I didn’t think about it the night before to ensure that basic ingredients would be ready.
Those are the days I resort to chicken soup in a thermos. It works well enough if not ideal.
The simplest way to make providing a healthy lunch easy has been to send leftovers in the thermos or to have something precooked, like pasta, and add veggies and a sauce to it. Very quick and simple pasta salads go over quite well.
I’m definitely not a fan of Lunchables and similar. I know a lot of people like them well enough but they really aren’t to my taste, mostly for nutritional reasons. I’d rather pick better quality meats and cheeses and make something like a Lunchable on my own for far less.
I always include one or two kinds of fresh fruit. Since my daughter is in kindergarten she gets both a snack and lunch. If the fruit is small, two kinds can keep things a little more interesting.
Fresh vegetables work really well for us too. Most common are carrot sticks or slices, but leftover salad, cauliflower and broccoli have gone over quite well on a regular basis. Then again my kids have what I understand to be a rare love of raw vegetables.
On occasion I do include something that is more of a treat, aside from the fruit. The school forbids candy, but we have sent shortcake with berries on top for a really fun dessert.
One of my best purchases was a container that could be split into several small sections. These are available in many forms, but I like the overall function of the Laptop Lunches bag from ReusableBags.com best. It has a lot more room than the little box I have right now, and once my daughter needs something a bit bigger, that’s what I’m getting.
Having a lunchbox that has compartments really does make packing healthy, interesting lunches easier. With my current little box I can pack a sandwich by cutting it in half and stacking it, then using the little compartments for veggies, sliced fruit, crackers or whatever. Or I can put pasta salad or other foods in place of the sandwich. I just love the flexibility.
Things I don’t pack include fruit snacks or rollups, the aforementioned Lunchables or anything else with too much sugar or overly processed. I’ve put a lot of effort in avoiding those at home, so I don’t want to suddenly add them just because my daughter eats lunch at school.
Do any of you have favorite school lunch recipes or ideas?
Technorati Tags: school lunch, lunch ideas, kid lunches, lunch, laptop lunches, healthy food
Yes, lunchables sure are expensive. Overpriced.
Have you tried making your own fruit roll up? It can be made if you have a dehydrator. And you control what’s in it.
Please check out the link I included, I hope you like it.
Fruit rollups are on the to-do list. When my grandmother died about a month and a half ago, one of the things I asked for was her dehydrator. Haven’t gotten around to testing it to be sure it still works yet, but I’m hopeful.
And thanks for the comments on my sites! I really appreciate it.