Packing your child’s lunch is the best way to ensure their health, happiness and ability to focus and succeed in class. But what does a healthy school lunch look like? It’s easy to pack your child’s lunch bag with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some chips and a juice box, but that has all the same issues as cafeteria food. Don’t stress. It’s surprisingly straightforward to pack a healthy lunch.
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According to the Cleveland Clinic, a healthy school lunch comprises six sections.
Protein comes from many foods, chiefly from meats and nuts. Don’t overload the meal with protein; include just enough to be satisfying but not enough that your child can only eat the protein and skip the rest. Some examples of healthy proteins are:
Grilled chicken
Hard-boiled eggs
Unsalted mixed seeds and nuts
Hummus
Cheese cubes or string cheese
Grains are typically included as something to eat the other sections of the meal with. Think crackers that go with cheese and pita bread for hummus. As with proteins, grains should be limited; you want them to run out of crackers and pita before they run out of cheese and hummus.
Think of the fruit section as the meal's dessert; just like dessert (and grains and proteins), don’t go too crazy here. It doesn’t hurt to put in some extra occasionally as a treat. Don’t forget about dried fruits, either. They go especially well with nuts.
The vegetable section is the only section where it doesn’t hurt if you include a little extra. But don’t be that parent that only includes raw vegetables. Lightly roasting veggies, such as bell peppers and broccoli, makes them taste much better and doesn’t strip them of any nutrients.
Kids can be ravenous creatures, especially when taxing their minds to the limit. They will get hungry before and after lunch, so it’s always wise to include a healthy snack.
Some examples of healthy snacks are:
Popcorn — it can be lightly buttered and salted, but don’t go crazy.
Trail mix without candy
Granola without sugar
Sweet potato chips
The best drink is always water. But water is boring for adults and especially for kids, so packing the odd low-fat milk bottle or small juice box once or twice a week is acceptable.
Eating the same lunch daily gets boring quickly, so it’s a good idea to have a few recipes to keep things exciting for your kids. Once you figure out what foods they like, you can create fun, healthy meals that’ll keep them satisfied throughout the school day.
Here are some healthy school lunch ideas to pack for kids:
Pasta salad with vinaigrette
Egg salad with wheat crackers, apple slices and bell peppers
Turkey and cheese pinwheels with popcorn and blueberries
Cobb salad with hard-boiled eggs and diced avocados
Bento-style lunch with cheese, blueberries, apple slices, wheat crackers and raw green peas
Fruit kabobs
Tuna salad sandwich with raw carrots
Turkey, apple and cheddar sandwich
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This is the best budget lunch bag thanks to its roomy, insulated interior holding up to 16 12-ounce soda cans. It also has large, comfortable handles, a zippered front pocket for utensils and comes in five colors.
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Bentgo Kids Bento-Style Lunch Box
This is not only the best budget lunch box but also the best way to carefully portion out the foods you pack. It’s also leakproof, dishwasher-safe and has a two-year warranty. It also comes in six bright colors.
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Stanley Classic Wide-Mouth Bottle
This is the thermos you need if it’s a cold day and you want to ensure your child has hot food for lunch. It keeps liquids hot or cold for 24 hours and the lid doubles as a serving cup.
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The brand that created the term “thermos” is also among the most affordable. It has a built-in straw protected by the flipping lid, and it keeps foods at a temperature for up to 12 hours.
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Solid foods and chunky soups need special thermoses with wide mouths to make eating easier, and this is among the best. It keeps food hot or cold for up to 12 hours and comes with a foldable spoon in the lid.
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This two-pack of 4-ounce reusable bags is perfect for saving money and lessening your environmental impact while ensuring your child has a healthy, nutritious and safely stored sandwich ready to go.
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Qinline Reusable Food Storage Bags
If you have several children or just like to keep foods individually packaged, then grab this 10-pack of bags. You can grab five sandwich bags and five snack bags or four sandwich bags, four snack bags and two gallon-size bags.
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Rubbermaid 60-Piece Food Storage Containers
Never worry about what to pack your children’s food in again with this massive set that includes six half-cup, six 1.25-cup, six 2-cup, five 3-cup, four 5-cup, two 7-cup and one 9-cup containers with matching vented lids.
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Promoze 50-Pack Meal Prep Food Containers
This set of 28-ounce containers is an excellent budget purchase as they hold just about any type of food, have leakproof lids and are reusable and dishwasher-safe. They’re also recyclable if you prefer not to wash them.
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Jordan C. Woika writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
