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20 Creative Ideas for Healthy School Lunches
Aviva Goldfarb, The Six O'Clock Scramble
Saturday, October 10, 2009
While some kids are perfectly content and maybe even comforted by eating the same lunch day after day, other children prefer more variety. Below is a list of some of our favorite healthy homemade school lunch ideas:
1. Turkey, ham or salami, Swiss cheese and lettuce on whole wheat bread.
2. Turkey or ham, red bell pepper strips, and Cheddar cheese wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla, with mayonnaise, spicy mustard or salsa.
3. Tuna, chicken or egg salad with whole grain crackers or on a bagel with cucumbers or lettuce.
4. Cheddar or Muenster cheese and sliced tomato sandwich (put the tomato between the slices of cheese so the bread doesn’t get soggy) with a little mayonnaise or mustard.
5. Peanut or other nut butter with jelly, sliced bananas, honey, raisins or apples.
6. Leftovers like pasta, tortellini with tomato sauce, pizza, chicken, turkey sausage or steak (kids don’t seem to mind eating them cold). Save little condiment packages from takeout food to use as dips.
7. Black beans and rice or other rice salad.
8. Healthy soup or chili in a thermos.
9. Whole grain bagel or rice cakes with natural peanut butter or cream cheese.
10. Trail mix made with raisins, peanuts, and chocolate chips (or your kids’ favorite healthy items).
11. Healthy dried cereals (milk is optional).
12. Baby carrots, celery, sliced cucumbers, red bell peppers and pita chips with hummus or other dip.
13. All varieties of fresh fruit (cut apples, mango, oranges and other hard to eat fruit, if needed).
14. Popcorn (a kid-friendly whole grain), alone or mixed with raisins and nuts.
15. Whole grain tortilla chips and salsa (look for a brand without added sugar) or black bean dip.
16. Low fat yogurt or cottage cheese with fresh fruit and granola or other cereal (keep them separate and let your child combine them at lunch).
17. Drinkable, spoon-able, or squeezable yogurt or kefir.
18. Cheese and whole grain crackers, or cheese and apple slices.
19. Proteins like cheese sticks or cubes, hard-boiled eggs, nuts and chickpeas or other beans.
20. Diced tofu drizzled with teriyaki sauce.
P.S. To reduce environmental waste, pack everything in reusable containers and wash all the used plastic utensils by hand, so they don't degrade and scratch in the dishwasher. We also love to use Lunch Skins, the reusable sandwich and snack wrappers from 3 Green Moms, bamboo flatware from Bambu, and the Japanese-style bento boxes for kids from Laptop Lunches.
Aviva Goldfarb is the author and founder of The Six O'Clock Scramble®, an online weekly menu planner and cookbook to help busy families put easy, healthy and delicious meals on the table each and every night.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of Healthy Child Healthy Child.
Posted by Caroline Miros on 11/05 at 12:16 PM
Just want to add another option for packing those healthy lunches in - its called PlanetBox - Lunch Transportation for the Green Generation. Made out of high quality stainless steel, its the safe, non-toxic alternative to plastic. Part bento box, part TV dinner tray, with hip magnet designs kids love. Its a custom-designed, all in one solution for packing healthy, well-balenced lunches. Check out www.PlanetBox.com for more info.
Posted by Stephanie on 11/05 at 12:29 PM
I agree, thanks so much for the wonderful information! I have taken part in many discussions lately on disappointment with school lunch programs. These ideas are the tools that some of us need to take control of our child’s nutrition. Thanks again! :)
Posted by Cynthia on 11/05 at 11:54 PM
Thanks for the great suggestions! Some more reusable lunch box containers are available at www.HealthyKitchenware.com
Posted by Kris on 11/08 at 11:42 PM
Thanks for the great ideas! Here are some other great ideas when you want to utilize left overs or tired of sandwiches http://kidskonserve.com/newsletter/february_2009.html
www.kidskonserve.com has some great reusable, waste-free lunch kits
Posted by Shane on 10/13 at 08:40 AM
Thanks so much for this information. I have two very picky eaters and some of these ideas are new to me and I will try them out. School lunches are so awful! I have spoken to our local schools and sent the following video to our head of food services and have gotten nowhere.
http://shaneshirleysmith.blogspot.com/2009/01/whats-in-our-kids-school-lunches.html
I just cannot believe that people do not understand that if you put bad food in, you get bad coming out…bad behavior, scores on tests etc.
Thanks for letting me vent!