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FREE GIVEAWAY Laptop Lunchbox
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It's a good time for a giveaway, and with school in full swing, we know parents everywhere are looking for ideas on what to pack
in their kids' lunchboxes. Please share your favorite portable
lunchbox meal by commenting on our blog, and you will automatically be
entered into a drawing to win this Laptop Lunchbox, popular with kids and adults alike. No purchase necessary -- just click here to share your favorite portable lunch idea on our blog.
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SCHOOL LUNCH IDEAS FOR YOUNG KIDS
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Parents
often ask us for pointers on what to pack in children's lunchboxes.
Assembling nutritious lunches is easier than you might think. To make
this daily routine stress-free, we offer the following pointers:
- Pack the night before.
This is the single best way to reduce the morning chaos of trying to
get everyone out the door in time. Leave only last-minute necessary
prep for the morning, such as warming up food for the thermos, if
serving a warm lunch.
- Keep things simple.
Young kids tend to like simple foods, and it's also less messy to stick
to foods without a lot of fancy sauces or layers. If you want to get
fancy, cut foods into fun shapes. Or make deli meat & cheese
roll-ups instead of always sandwiching them between bread.
- Try foods multiple times.
Kids' tastes change, so before you give up on a food that you'd like
for your child to eat, try offering it several times, perhaps in
different forms. For example, if she doesn't like carrot sticks, try
carrot coins. Or perhaps he doesn't like steamed broccoli, but crunchy
raw broccoli suits him better. The best way to get kids to eat well is
to model it at home, so incorporate healthy vegetables, legumes, and
whole grains into family dinners.
Cooking instructor Amy Fothergill
recommends including the following 4 elements in your child's lunchbox
to create a balanced meal: protein, carbohydrate, vegetable, and
fruit. Sample menus are shown below. Most of the menus can be served
cold, but when it's cold or rainy out, a warm lunch is comforting. A
couple of warm lunches are suggested below, and many more can be found
in our cookbooks, Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's (2008)
and The Trader Joe's Companion (2009) . Heat up warm lunches in the morning, and send them in Thermos containers, which keep foods warm for 5 hours.
| PROTEIN |
CARBOHYDRATE |
VEGETABLE |
FRUIT |
| Turkey & cheese slices |
Whole grain tortilla |
Baby carrots |
Grapes |
Hummus / falafel
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Pita bread triangles |
Cherry tomatoes or cucumber
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Peaches |
Edamame beans or tofu
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Sesame noodles |
Cauliflower florets |
Pineapple chunks |
Boiled egg or egg salad
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Whole grain crackers |
Avocado |
Berries |
| Black beans & shredded cheese |
Brown rice
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Steamed broccoli
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Apples |
Turkey chili
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Cornbread |
Sugar snap peas |
Mango |
For healthy snacks, consider these options:
- Yogurt topped with granola or fruit
- Cheese sticks and pretzels or crackers
- Nuts and dried fruit
- Peanut butter with carrot sticks, celery sticks, or banana slices
- Peanut-butter filled pretzels, or yogurt-covered pretzels
- Granola bars
- Bran muffins
- Fresh fruit, freeze-dried fruit, or fruit leather
- Hummus or edamame hummus with veggie dippers
- Rice cakes with nut butter
Packing
nutritious lunches can take some planning and forethought. But once
you have the system down, it won't take as much effort as you feared.
And the effort you invest in planning nutritious lunches will pay off
as you see your child develop healthy eating habits that will last them
a lifetime.
Here's to healthy lunches!
Deana Gunn & Wona Miniati
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Watch Wona make this dessert on TV
