With school starting soon, I want to continue feeding my boys the same way at school as I do at home. I did have to make some adjustments since they don’t have use of a microwave and I want to give them lunches that they can easily open and eat quickly.
When I make lunch for the boys I tend to make a lot of sandwiches whether it’s on a bagel, thin rice cake, whole grain bread or soft whole wheat tortilla. Since we do eat sandwiches almost daily I buy some sort of Whole Grain sprouted bread or I make my bread. There is less sugar, preservatives, and NO High Fructose Corn Syrup. Yes…most breads have that so READ labels!
MAIN LUNCH IDEAS
- PBJ using organic fresh Peanut Butter with a natural preserve such as Apple or Pumpkin Butter. Use can also use Honey too.
- Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese on a Bagel or toast bread
- No Preservative Turkey with Cheese, instead of using the traditional American switch it up and use Havarti, Munster, Swiss, Fontaina or Gouda. Much less salt and much more flavor
- Make your own Veggie Cream Cheese and spread that on a bagel, torialla, pita or even whole grain bread
- Pizza Bagels using mini whole wheat bagels, all natural or homemade pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake the morning of or the night before. We all LOVE room temperature pizza.
- Tuna Salad or Chicken Salad, you can make it into a sandwich or even serve it with crackers.
- Hummus with Pita chips or crackers
- Cheese and Crackers
- Pancakes or French Toast with Honey/Maple Syrup dipping sauce
- Energy Bar or Granola Bar that is either homemade or made with whole grains, no preservatives.
- Cubed Chicken with your child’s favorite dipping sauce
- Pasta Salad
SIDE DISHES
We can always throw in an apple, banana or orange into our child’s lunch box. Depending on the amount of time they have to eat lunch and their ability to peel fruit, it might be best to try these ideas. Not only are they fun and more eye appealing but easy to pop into their mouth.
- Fruit Kabobs
- Sliced apples with peanut butter/honey dipping sauce
- Sliced fruit with yogurt dipping sauce
- Fruit Leather
- Dried Fruit, seeds and nuts mixed together
- Veggies with a dipping sauce such as ranch or hummus
- Dried Veggies such as green beans or pea pods and call them “Green Fries”
SNACKS
- Stonyfield yogurt squeezers or even regular yogurt. There are so many flavors and types of yogurt out there to make everyone happy.
- Cheese Sticks
- Apple/Carrot Squeezable’s I find mine at Trader Joe’s
- Happy Family Tot Plus - you may think these are for babies but you are all wrong. They don’t need to be refrigerated and they come in amazing flavors.
- Cubed cheese with grapes
- Yogurt covered raisins
- Muffins or bread (try adding some grated zucchini and carrots to the mixture, adds a little texture and extra nutritional value
DRINKS
I cannot stress this enough….WATER! WATER! WATER!!!!! use a reusable BPA free water bottle and fill it with ice water so it stays cold. You can even place it in the freezer the night before and double it as a cold pack too.
Now I told you what my favorite school lunches are, I’d love to hear what ideas you have!!
Originally posted on O'Boy Organic. Reposted with permission from the author.
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