Tag Archives: school lunches

20 Healthy School Lunch Ideas For Kids

20 Healthy School Lunch Ideas for Kids

School is starting today here, and that means I have to think about what my kids will eat for lunch at school again. They aren’t much on cafeteria lunches – unless it’s Friday, which is pizza day. Overall, however, I prefer that they bring lunch so I know they’re getting good food they like. Our school isn’t too bad on that front; they have a small salad bar in the cafeteria, but I like providing healthy options myself.

Not all these suggestions are entire lunches on their own. Think about what it takes to make a balanced lunch that your child will eat. There’s little point to pushing foods your kids won’t eat – it’s all too easy for children to throw out foods that don’t appeal to them or their friends. Also remember that some ingredients are healthier than others, such as whole grain versus white breads.

1. Homemade pizza

Homemade pizza can be about as healthy as you choose to make it. A tortilla makes a quick, thin crust, and from there it’s up to you to make it good.

2. Vegetables with hummus

Fresh vegetables with hummus can be very satisfying in a lunchbox. A little feta cheese is a nice addition if your kids like it.

3. Peanut butter apples or celery

Peanut butter with apples or celery is something of a classic. It makes a nice switch from your standard peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

4. Copycat Lunchables

Take a look at any Lunchables or similar that your child loves. Can you make something similar but a bit healthier? Do it well and your kids will love it.

5. Homemade soup

Homemade soup is wonderful when the weather cools off. Pick one your kids love and put it in a thermos. One of my kids loves homemade soups, but the other is demands the canned stuff.

6. Hard boiled egg

A hard boiled egg is a simple way to get protein into your child’s lunch.

7. Couscous salad

Combine cooked couscous with some vegetables, maybe some dried fruit or feta, and you have a nice couscous salad. You can use quinoa rather than couscous if you prefer.

8. Wraps

A wrap with a good quality lunch meat, some cheese, spinach or whatever else your child will enjoy makes a good lunch. Look for something better than the standard processed lunch meats.

9. Yogurt

Skip the yogurts aimed at kids, especially the ones in those plastic tubes. They usually have far too much sugar and artificial colorings. Look for Greek yogurt or other live culture yogurts with real fruit for flavoring. Make a parfait with some granola and fruit to make it more interesting.

10. Frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

For those mornings you’re running a little behind, you can always count on the classics. Pick a healthy bread if your kids will eat it. You may want to consider using a fruit spread rather than jelly to cut down on sugar too. But the real beauty of this is that you can make several ahead of time and freeze until you need them in a lunchbox.

11. Quinoa and black beans

An improvement, in my opinion, on rice and beans, but made much the same way.

12. Fresh fruit

Not a lunch in itself, but a wonderful addition to satisfy that urge to have something sweet at lunchtime.

13. Whole grain waffles

Give your kids a surprise with waffles for breakfast. A nut butter spread will help make it more filling, along with some jelly or a fruit topping.

14. Salad

You can have a salad be a side dish or bring it up to a main dish with some chicken or other protein. Watch how much salad dressing you include, as it’s easy to go overboard. Feta and dried cranberries go well in many salads.

15. Pita sandwiches

If your kids are bored with regular sandwiches, switch to pita bread. Many love pita bread, and you can make most of your regular sandwiches in it.

16. Nuts

You may have to check school rules on this one, as nut allergies have led some schools to ban certain nuts.

17. Sliced vegetables

What veggies do your kids like. My youngest has a big thing for bell pepper, and all my kids love carrots. Slice up your kids’ favorite vegetables for a great addition to their lunch.

18. Frittata

Use muffin pans to make these frittatas the right size for school lunches. Line your muffin pan if you want to make things simple, or use a cooking spray so these come out easily after cooking. Lightly saute whatever vegetables you want to add. Beat the eggs and add in the vegetables and maybe some cheese. Scoop into muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until done.

19. Burritos

Make burritos with beans and cheese, or add other ingredients to delight your children. A mild salsa can really bring out the flavor.

20. Leftovers

What did you have for dinner last night? Will it make a good lunch as is, or could it be made into sandwiches?

Are the New Rules for School Lunches Enough?

The first big change to school lunch nutrition standards was released last week. The goal is to provide healthier lunches for children at school, a major meal for many school age children. The change means more fruits and vegetables in school lunches, and smaller portion sizes. But are these changes enough?

There’s a lot good to be said for the changes. Schools can get six more cents per meal, which doesn’t sound like much, but it’s the first real increase in 30 years, and is tied to the school’s performance in providing better meals. Training and assistance is available to help schools comply. There is a focus on limiting saturated fats, trans fats and sodium. More whole grains are to be served.

The news on school lunches isn’t entirely good. It rarely is when you’re talking about something that goes through so political a process.

Tomato sauce on pizza still allows it to be counted as a vegetable, and there aren’t limits on how often potatoes can be served. On the plus side, baked or roasted potato servings will be encouraged, rather than french fries.

I’m sure this will have more impact at some schools than others. My kids’ school, for example, already has a salad and fruit bar option for the kids daily, and they go for local produce when possible. It’s a pretty nice deal, and something I’d love to see more schools offer. The only problem is that you get that or the hot lunch, and the hot lunch is more of a typical school lunch most days. On the plus side, pizza days include the salad bar with the pizza, so that one is popular and probably balances out better than many other school lunches… depending on the kid picking the lunch, of course.

As a parent, I think they key here is to make sure that your school makes the most of these new standards. If your school isn’t offering sufficiently healthy lunches, speak up and encourage change. There’s still a ways to go, both in making school lunches healthier and in teaching kids to eat better. The schools can’t do it alone. We parents have to do our part to encourage children to eat healthier foods and to be more active. It will take time and effort to get it right.

How to Make School Lunches Your Child Will Eat

Many parents these days are concerned with the quality of lunches provided by public schools. To put it mildly, many schools offer extremely unhealthy foods for lunch. As parents who want their kids to eat better, how can you help them?

Packing a healthy lunch for your child is one of the simplest things you can do to help them eat better. The challenge is making a lunch they’re more likely to eat than to trade away to friends.

Pay Attention to Their Likes

The first thing to do is know what your child likes to eat. This may change from year to year and even in the middle of the school year. Keep talking to your kids about what they like to eat for lunch and find healthy ways to provide that.

School lunch packing is not the best time to experiment or challenge your child’s food preferences. It’s easy for them to trade away unliked foods, or even to just throw it away uneaten. Push their interests at home where you can see the results.

Leftovers

Sometimes leftovers are great for lunches. You may need to provide a thermos to keep the food warm, but other leftovers taste great cold.

If there’s a meal your kids really love, make extras that you can separate into easy lunches and freeze. You can save excess for dinners for the whole family as well, of course. Providing them with favorite home cooked meals to eat at school may increase the chances that your child will eat what you’ve given them.

Wraps

Don’t stick to the traditional sandwiches for every meal. Wraps are a great alternative, so long as you pick healthy whole grain tortillas, not just white flour tortillas.

Wraps are easy to make. You want to cover most of the tortilla, but leave a little distance from the edges to keep things neat. Lunch meats, vegetables and spreads work well. Mix them up and find out which your kids love the most. Do let your kids try hummus sometime, first at home, but if they like it, hummus is a great wrap ingredient.

Healthy Sides

Know what your kids love in terms of fruits and vegetables. Most will have a few favorites. Try to provide these in their school lunches.

My kids love bell peppers and cucumbers, for example. Put these in their lunch and they’ll usually be eaten.

Keep it Simple

Kids don’t need a feast at lunchtime. They need simple, filling foods and not a big selection. They’re usually as interested in chatting with their friends as they are in eating their food. Sometimes more interested in chatting with their friends. Give them too many choices and a lot of it will end up in the trash.

Dessert Doesn’t Have to Mean Sugar

Kids love getting a dessert item in their lunches. An occasional cookie or other treat isn’t going to ruin them either. But the dessert doesn’t have to be cookies or candy.

Berries work great. Granola bars usually have a lot of sugar, but have other healthy ingredients. Try to balance sweetness with good for your kids.

Variety May Not Be the Spice of Life

Don’t feel bad if you’re packing the same lunch over and over. Most kids like consistency. If they complain, that’s the time to mix things up.