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Super School Luncboxes Without the Guilt

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August 24, 2010
	Phyllis McCarthy : Head Mommy Ego

School lunch is an excellent opportunity to pack some nutrients into your little people.  Having likely been several hours without food they will no doubt be hungry and more open to eating what is available in their lunchbox.  I’ve learned (the hard way) that the best way to keep us all happy is to keep it simple.  I find using an eco-friendly lunchbox  very helpful in that it has 3-4 sections to fill and we’ve been using the same one for going into our forth year of school.  It also helps me know what’s getting consumed and not so much while they are at school because they just close it up and bring it home instead of dumping it.

My basic formula is to pick and pack a vegetable and fruit every day.  Kids typically don’t get enough of these on a daily basis so I don’t let the opportunity go by.  This keeps it simple for them too as they get old enough to help pack their own lunches, they always know to pick a fruit and a vegetable and I let them choose what they want.  Overall, I try to vary it by color but if they get one of each every day even if it’s the same thing (because they want it or you know they will eat it) I don’t fight that battle.

Next I pick a protein and/or a whole grain to give them staying power to get through the rest of the day. My oldest often wants a typical sandwich so we use whole grain, flatbread or tortilla to wrap the meat and cheese with lettuce.  Other protein favorites are leftover dinner meat (chicken drum, strips or steak packs well) edamame, or good quality pasta will often serve as a protein and grain here.  One of my younger daughter’s favorite is plain quinoa which is packed with protein and fiber and while it seems a grain it’s actually so full of nutrients I’d be happy if this was the only thing she ate.  Popcorn also seems to be a hit in the grain category.

Every once in a while I’ll include a cheese stick or yogurt and even more occasionally a treat of some kind like a granola bar, chocolate brain pudding, banana bread or healthy rice crispy treat . 

For a drink I try to vary it with juice, water and occasionally organic chocolate milk so they don’t covet the artificially colored /flavored version the school serves.

As with everything the better the ingredients the more nutritious the overall meal and even more important don’t forget the love.  Leave out the perfection, just packing your lunch most of the time gives you a much better idea of what they are eating.  Below is an example of a few of our favorites.  Feel free to substitute your favorite healthy things.