Healthy Lunches Your Kids Will Love
By Sara Barton | Leave A Comment
By Sara Barton | Leave A Comment
It’s that time of year – the kids are heading back to school. My daughter is 5 and is so excited to start
school, she can hardly stand it. Of course, in addition to gearing up for the inevitable cry when I take her
to school for the first time, I’m also preparing a list of things I can pack for her lunches. If your kids are
anything like mine, they have very definite preferences in terms of what they do and don’t like to find in
their lunch boxes.
Fear not—I have compiled a list of lunch ideas that will get your kids through the day and keep them full
and happy. Make sure to add some veggies and a fruit, plus milk, and you have a winning combination.
Chicken and Fruit Salad—Add a fruit your child likes, such as grapes, pineapple, or mandarin oranges, to
chicken salad and stuff into a pita.
Chicken Fingers—Roll chicken tenders in panko and seasonings and oven-bake. Make sure to pack some
barbecue or honey mustard sauce for dipping.
Chicken Noodle Soup—Pack this comfort food in a thermos, and don’t forget the crackers!
Cold Plate—Pack individual bags in your child’s lunch containing items such as crackers, meat, and
cheese and let him build his own lunch.
Ham and Cheese Pocket—Give the classic sandwich an upgrade by spreading a Dijon-mayo mixture on a
pita and stuff with ham and cheese.
Ham Sticks—Spread herbed cream cheese on a bread stick and roll a slice of ham around it.
Hummus—If your child likes hummus, put a scoop or two into a container, along with some pieces of
flatbread and veggie sticks for dipping.
PB&J Roll-Ups—Spread peanut butter and jelly on a tortilla and roll up. Cut into 4 or 5 slices.
Pinwheels—Spread cream cheese on a tortilla and top with your child’s favorite meat and thinly sliced
veggies. Cut into 8 slices.
Pizza Roll-Ups—Spread tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and your child’s favorite pizza toppings onto a
tortilla and roll up. Cut into 4 or 5 slices.
Pocket Tacos—If your child is a fan of tacos, stuff a pita with taco sauce, seasoned meat (use ground
turkey to reduce the fat), lettuce, tomato, and cheese. Include a small container of sour cream.
Potato Soup—Top soup with cheddar cheese and bacon for a hearty lunch on cold days.
Strawberry Sandwich—Build a sandwich by spreading a hazelnut spread on 2 whole grain waffles. Top
with strawberry slices. Tip: Use a waffle that is slightly firm – softer waffles will turn squishy, while very firm waffles will be tough.
Sweet Drumsticks—Bake chicken drumsticks in a glaze of orange marmalade and barbecue sauce.
Turkey Pockets—Spread a pita with honey mustard or a Dijon-mayo spread and then stuff the pocket
with turkey, cheddar, and apple slices.
Turkey Roll-Ups—Spread low-fat mayo on a tortilla and then layer turkey, tomato slices, and spinach
leaves. Roll tightly and then cut into 4 or 5 slices.
Veggie Wraps—Spread cream cheese onto a tortilla and top with your child’s favorite veggies, such as
tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc. Roll tightly and cut into slices. For an extra nutritional punch, try
using spinach or red pepper tortillas, instead of flour tortillas.
Yogurt—Pack a container of yogurt, along with a small bag of granola and some fruit.
If you plan to send cold food items for lunch, remember that most schools don’t provide refrigerators
for students’ lunches. Make sure to include a lunchbox insert that will help keep foods cold. Also,
leftovers from the previous night’s dinner make excellent lunches. Packing leftovers in a thermos will
help keep them warm.
Photo Credit: Hub Pages
ABOUT Sara Barton
I am mom to a gorgeous 5 year old and step-mom to an active 12 year old. I have been married to Hubs{read more}
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The kids have been back in school for three days & I’m already panicking about the next 177 lunches to pack. Thanks for all of the great ideas! Two ideas that we have tried; pita chips & baby carrots with hummus; breadsticks with cheese with spaghetti sauce for dipping & grapes.
Hi Jenna,
Thanks for the comment. My daughter starts kindergarten in about a week, so I’m gearing up to make all of those lunches, too! BTW, I like the idea of a cheese breadstick with marinara – sounds really good!
For inspiration, be sure to check out Fed up With Lunch: the School Lunch Project http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/. It’s a blog that’s written by a teacher who ate school lunch everyday for a year and blogged about it. It’s pretty shocking to see how unhealthy many school lunches can be. For example, my daughter’s school serves breakfast for lunch once every couple of weeks and that particular lunch is packed with sugar and saturated fat (pity the teacher who has 20+ 5 and 6 year olds who are hopped up on sugar!).
Thank you! Another website with a wealth of lunch inspiration is laptop lunches – cute little reusable bento boxes. I am not affiliated in any way – my kids have used them for years. Good luck on kindergarten – it is so much fun to see them excited & learning.
Hi Sara,
Great article! Good luck on the first day of school…it’s one of those bittersweet moments of parenting
I remember how excited my daughter was for kindergarten…I thought it would fade but she’s already counting down the days until she starts grade 2!
Kia
Thanks, you guys! Just found this on the Ladies home Journal site – it’s a section about school lunches. This article is a collection of guidelines: http://www.lhj.com/recipes/easy/cooking-for-kids/healthy-lunch-tips/?sssdmh=dm17.466692&esrc=nwlr&email=2122949758
Also, a friend told me that because her kids go to latchkey and have to bring their own snacks, she sends them with a small insulated backpack. Does anyone know where to find one?
Hi,
I’ve been packing my kid’s lunches for 8 years. School lunches are better and much cheaper than school lunches.
Sara wanted me to post what I do for lunches:
-PB&J: Make 20 over the weekend (I have 3 kids) and freeze them. Then the kids can just pull them out, put it in a tupperware container and put it in their bags. The containers that lunch meat now comes in works great if you cut the sandwiches in half. Perfect size
-Pudding cups: Store brand is under $1 for a 4 pack but name brands usually go on sale for $1 and I stock up. Your kids will be the most popular in school if they show up with these.
-Fruit: plums and apples hold up well and are good. Canned fruit is great in the winter, just make sure that the container is liquid tight or it will leak all over the place and ruin everything. Hold and shake it upside down over the sink to make sure. Pineapple is my kids hands down favorite
-Yogurt: Let the kids pick out what they want and put one in
-Cheese and crackers: Just slice up some cheese. Way cheaper than cheese sticks and they hold up better too. Summer sausage is good for a treat.
-Juice boxes: Freeze them. Good ice packs
-Lunch Boxes: Really look at them to see if they will hold everything. The cute ones are fine for little kids with small appetites but won’t even come close for 2nd grade and up.
That’s pretty much my kid’s lunches. I TRY to have everything available and they make their lunches the night before so they can grab them and go.