How to Prepare Healthy and Tasty School Lunches – A never ending Challenge!

Every mother knows the dreading feeling of coming up with a healthy and tasty school lunch kids actually enjoy to eat.

Are you going from turkey sandwich to tuna sandwich and ham and cheese? How can you possibly come up with new ideas for a tasty and imaginative lunch everyday?

A nutritious school lunch should include all the very important building blocks for your children to grow on.  Pack some kind of whole grains, lean protein, vegetables and fruits. Whole grains are vital for energy and slow sugar digestion. By supplying your kid’s lunch bag with 100% whole grains and not whole wheat or white flour you guarantee a slow rise in blood sugar and a longer satiety level. Children need to supply they brains with complex carbohydrates during the day, what you think is healthy for you, like a low carb diet, is not at all healthy for your growing kids.

What is a lean protein? A lean protein is a some kind of meat, fish, chicken or vegetarian option that doesn’t contain more than 8-12% fat.

Great lunch options for lean protein are:

• Eggs: Hot days are over and you could without a doubt pack a nice egg lunch. Try some deviled eggs with low fat mayo or hummus or avocado base. Egg salad wraps are a welcoming treat for any child.
• Dairy: I’m not a big fan of dairy, but children love cheese. If the cheese is natural and without any antibiotics and hormones – why not? You can include cheese once in a while in their lunch boxes without any worries.
• Fish: Tuna is not the best choice for children because of its high mercury content. Choose a fish lower on the food chain for its lower mercury content, the smaller the fish the lower it is on the food chain. Simply poach the fish, let it cool and prepare as fish salad, like you wood a tuna salad. Find some healthy and low mercury fish options here.
• Chicken: Natural grilled whole chickens are very healthy for children and they need the low fat protein to grow and play. Think of chicken wraps, chicken strips for dipping, chicken kebabs and chicken salads.
• Lean Meats: Lean natural deli meats are a little more expensive, but what’s more important then the health of your children? Depending on their age, you wont need more than 2-3 slices of deli meats. Choose turkey, ham and chicken. Sunday is a great day to hang out with family and talk about the next week. Plan the lunch menus together. Older children can also help in the kitchen with the preparations. Try a tasty home made chicken noodle soup for the colder days.  Canned soups are very low on nutrients and contain way to much sodium and too little lean protein and vegetables. Take the time to prepare your soups at home. Cook the noodle separately from the chicken soup to prevent it from going soggy. Let them add the cold noodles to the warm soup at lunch for a tasty and nutritious meal for any autumn day.
• Beans: Beans are a wonderful addition to any lunch box. Bean dips, bean soups or even mixed bean salads are tasty, colorful and fun for children all ages.

Vegetables are loaded with vitamins. Even better than any vegetables are raw vegetables for their high enzyme and high vitamin and mineral content.  Think of cucumber slices with bean dip or hummus. Tomato, cucumber, pepper slices in wraps and sandwiches. Instead of carrot sticks or baby carrots try carrots chips. Just cut carrots on an angle 2-3 mm thin. Children love to be surprised and it keeps them trying new foods.

Cater to the adventurous mind of your child. Keep them guessing – What did mom make me today? Once or twice a week pack them their favorite snack or make them a tasty and healthy oatmeal cookie from scratch. Show them how important they are. Show your children how important health is. They wont understand now, but they will appreciate it later in life.

Children love sweet foods. You wont have any problems convincing them to eat some ripe cut up fruits. Children love little bites, cut the apple in discs instead of slices for a change. Core the apple and slice in little discs. To keep the apple from turning brown, squeeze some orange or pineapple juice over them and serve it with fresh natural yogurt sweetened with some honey. Fruit kebabs are also to much fun to pass down. Stay away from fruit cups in syrup or jello. Always choose fresh fruit over canned and juice boxes.

Have a great school year and see school lunches as an adventure and challenge not a chore, even thou it can seem as a never ending task! Smile – and challenge yourself! What can you come up with next?

Do you have any tips or questions? I would love to hear from you!

Stay Healthy and have a great school year!

Monika Baechler

P.S. Explore new recipes with your children and let them make suggestions for lunch ideas.