Aug 28, 2013
Energize your kids for the school day with simple and nutritious lunches.
By Stacey Stein
Come September, parents of school-aged children everywhere will be trying to figure out what to pack in their kids’ lunchboxes for the next 10 months.
While it may be tempting to resort to quick and easy meals consisting of things like processed deli meats and packaged snacks, registered dietitian Shannon Crocker cautions parents against this.
“Kids need healthy foods to nourish their minds and bodies,” she says, adding that unhealthy lunch choices and sugar-laden snacks can impede learning and negatively impact a child’s behaviour at school. “A well-nourished mind is a mind that’s ready to learn.”
The good news is that packing healthy lunches and including wholesome snacks for your children doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming.
“As soon as the kids are in bed I prepare as much as I can, if not the entire lunch, for the next day,” says Marni Herskovits, a mom of two. “It takes me maybe 10 minutes tops.”
A typical lunch for her 5½-year-old daughter Leia includes a main dish along with two sides and two snacks.
Leftovers from dinner are a lunchbox staple. Chicken for dinner? Herskovits will chop up the leftovers and throw them in a sandwich with a bit of mayo. Leftover pasta also makes for a great lunch and can be heated the next day and kept warm in a thermos.
Side dishes can be anything from a hard-boiled egg to a cheese string, while snacks are typically fruit – anything from blueberries and strawberries to grapes, apricots, apples or cherries. Herskovits washes the fruit and packs it the night before so it’s ready to go.
Mom of two Anika Juzda has her daughter’s lunches down to a science. “I aim for two parts fruit and veg, one part protein, one part complex carbs and one bottle of water,” she says.
So what does a typical lunch for Amaya, who turns five in October, look like? It could be anything from a hard-boiled egg, salad, rice crackers and watermelon to tuna salad, dried fruit and sunflower seeds, tortilla chips and veggies. Another favourite is sushi, tomato and cucumber salad and dried fruit.
Juzda’s go-to snack is a homemade trail mix that consists of dried cranberries, raisins, sunflower seeds, and a dry organic rice cereal.
For parents looking for new ideas, Crocker suggests the “snack-style” lunch, which ensures kids are getting a wide variety of foods at mealtime. Preparing one is easy – use small reusable containers and pack them with things like cheese cubes, mini whole grain crackers, cucumber slices, baby carrots and different types of fruit.
Simple homemade dips such as cottage cheese blended with either honey or a little bit of garlic can help encourage kids to eat all their fruits and veggies.
Crocker also urges parents to ditch high-sugar packaged snacks and make their own treats instead, as Juzda does. Healthy options include homemade granola bars, mini banana or carrot muffins, or homemade oatmeal, pumpkin or apple cookies.
“You can whip up a batch of oatmeal cookies or homemade granola bars or mini muffins on the weekend,” says Crocker, who recommends making extra and freezing leftovers. “It’s better for your kids and they’re still going to feel like they got a treat.”
In need of some healthy lunch and snack ideas? Here are a few to try:
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