Healthy School Lunch Ideas

School has started, we are starting to get back into a routine, and I am back to blogging! I took the summer off to focus on my boys. We had moved in May, my husband got a new job this summer, and with all of the transition, I needed to focus on my family. But with a new school year comes more time to focus on work, and also the need to plan our meals! People ask me often on instagram about lunch ideas for kids, so when WBTV asked me to do a news segment with some healthy school lunch ideas, I thought it would be great to do a blog post as well! I was on the news this morning, and will try to link to that segment if they put it on their website.

I could really get on my soapbox in discussing healthy food for children, and how it is just as important for them to eat for wellness as it is for adults. As a society, we give our kids highly processed, sugary foods full of food dyes and things that are simply not healthy. Food matters, and not just for adults. So it’s important to me to give my kids food that is good for them, but also very child-friendly. My advice is to simply focus on real food when packing their lunches. We can still make school lunches fun, appealing for kids, and healthy at the same time.

School Lunch Tips

• Try to have a balanced meal – protein, carbs, fat, fruits, and veggies. Don’t stress about getting exactly correct portions of each, just aim for variety.
• If your kids like just one veggie, start with that. Then slowly introduce other options. Davis, my oldest, doesn’t love baby carrots. But he really likes the carrot “chips” that we find from Harris Teeter. Still carrots, just cut into a more fun shape. And the carrot thing is brand new. For a long time, he would only eat 2 vegetables.
• Kids do not need candy, or gatorade, or chocolate milk for lunch. I know I’m stepping on some toes with that one. But really, those things do not have any nutritional value, and the excess sugar may affect their behavior after lunch. It also may cause them to have an afternoon slump, like adults get around 2 pm.
• If you have a goal to make your kids’ lunches healthier, but feel like it’s overwhelming, then start small. Instead of packing them a cookie, try a fruit. Then later switch out the Doritos for healthier crackers with a dip. Then maybe change the crackers to a crunchy veggie.

 

School Lunch Ideas

Here are the meal ideas. Let me preface this by saying that this looks like a lot of work. School lunches do not need to be fancy or look this composed! I just wanted to show plenty of ideas.

• Dinner for Lunch

This idea uses leftovers from dinner the night before in your child’s lunchbox. My ideas include organic chicken nuggets, chicken sausage, green beans, broccoli, and ranch dressing. I also made some lentil pasta, let it cool, tossed it in a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and mozzarella cheese. Sliced apples were soaked in water and lemon juice so they wouldn’t brown, and I added in a snickerdoodle. (The snickerdoodle is very allergy-friendly and found at Trader Joe’s).

• Deli Lunch

The deli lunch is more of a typical school lunch, and one that my boys have often. We either make them a sandwich with turkey and cheese, or a roll-up with ham or turkey, cheese, and mustard. Then we serve it with veggies and hummus, fruit, and other add-ins are some homemade trail mix or the letter cookies from Trader Joe’s. Yes, they are a treat, but they are lower in sugar. You could also do crackers or popcorn or pretzels in place of cookies.

• Pizza Lunch

Because every child loves pizza! I remember having toaster oven English muffin pizzas when I was little. These can be made ahead for the week, too! Another option is to make cheese and crackers with pepperoni for a pizza-like meal that is super simple. I used Simple Mills almond flour crackers. Blueberries are a great fruit for lunch boxes, because they aren’t messy, and they stay good in the fridge for longer than other berries. I bought some tiny dip cups with screw-on lids from Target for ranch dip. My boys’ lunch boxes have a compartment for dip that works well for hummus, but is too messy for ranch dressing. We use Tessemae’s avocado ranch.

• Vegetarian Quesadilla

If your child isn’t a big fan of meat, you can still give him or her a complete meal. I made a black bean and cheese quesadilla on an organic tortilla (from Costco). Costco also carries mini avocado cups. The avocado is mashed and mixed with lemon juice, salt and pepper, and is a great dip for the quesadillas, veggies, and the plantain chips. For fruit on this plate I did pineapple (that could be cut and prepped for the entire week), and a mandarin orange.

• Breakfast for Lunch

A lot of times if I make muffins or pancakes for the boys to have for breakfast, I will put the extras in their lunch boxes. These are vegan (very allergy-friendly) oat pancakes. Another option for a breakfast-for-lunch theme is yogurt, berries, and granola. That is very easy to prep, but still nutritious. Boiled eggs can be made a few days in advance, and my boys like them sprinkled with either Everything But the Bagel seasoning from TJ’s, or just salt and pepper. For an avocado, you can cut it in half, take the pit out, then put the pit back in. You could squeeze some lime juice and sprinkle with salt, then cover it tightly with saran wrap.

• Snack Ideas

We pack a snack for Davis’ school days as well. I wanted to share some of the ideas I had for those. These are more convenience foods, but still lean to the healthier side. You could do a banana or apple with a pack of Justin’s almond butter; a mandarin; a Lara bar; a bag of pretzels, popcorn, healthier crackers, or homemade trail mix; applesauce; or a packaged bag of healthier chips like Siete brand.

Davis wanted to show his thumbs up 🙂 See? Kid-approved! 

 

I hope these ideas were helpful! Happy start to the school year!