5 Easy Lunches for Back to School

Back to school time is rapidly approaching. As you gather your school supplies and snazzy new backpacks, don’t forget about school lunches. Kids need good fuel to do and feel their best during the school day. 

A good lunch should be balanced, colorful and most importantly delicious. Research shows that kids are more likely to eat meals when they take part in the planning and preparation. So get them involved. 

If they are eating a school provided lunch at all throughout the week, print out the menu and have them circle the meals they’d like to buy. Use this opportunity to talk about healthy options that will support their mental and physical well being during the day. Try to stay away from fried foods, sugary beverages and candy. Encourage colorful produce, yogurt, nuts (if safe) and lean proteins.

For packed lunches, I am a big fan of the Bentgo boxes. These containers have separate compartments that seal and are the perfect size for a standard lunchbox. No need for baggies or washing many containers every night. I assign a category for each compartment:

• Main dish (protein and carb)
• Fruit
• Vegetable
• Kids Choice
• Healthy Fat Nuts/seeds/trail mix/dip

Here are 5 ideas that fit this formula:

1. Breakfast for lunch:
   1. Main -> protein waffles (ex. Kodiak or Birchbenders)
   2. Fruit -> Strawberries
   3. Vegetables -> Cucumbers
   4. Kids Choice -> pure maple syrup
   5. Healthy fat -> honey almond granola (or nut free granola)
2. Make your own taco:
   1. Main>mini corn tortillas, shredded chicken (use rotisserie to save time), shredded organic cheese
   2. Vegetable -> salsa, shredded lettuce
   3. Healthy fat ->guacamole snack pack
   4. Fruit -> pineapple
   5. Kids Choice -> Mexican shortbread mini cookies (ex. Siete)
3. Classic turkey:
   1. Main->turkey wrap on whole grain tortilla, lettuce, cheese, tomato
   2. Vegetable -> baby carrots
   3. Healthy fat -> hummus
   4. Fruit -> clementine
   5. Kids choice -> bbq chips (ex. Boulder canyon)
4. Charcuterie for me:
   1. Main -> marys gone crackers, nitrate free turkey pepperoni, Babybell cheese round
   2. Vegetable -> pickle slices (ex. Cleveland Kraut)
   3. Fruit -> green apple slices
   4. Kids choice -> chocolate covered raisins
   5. Healthy fat -> cashew clusters 
5. Fake Out take out:
   1. Main and Vegetable -> veggie and chicken spring roll
   2. Fruit -> mango chunks
   3. Healthy fat -> almond butter (or sunbutter for nut free) + coconut aminos dipping sauce
   4. Kids choice -> fruit leather (ex. Bear)

If you enjoyed this article and would like more information and inspiration about school lunches, check out our previous post on the same topic here.