Public school cafeterias have never been known for making the highest quality food for young children. If your child has grown tired of eating the lunches made at school or if your child has specific food allergies, making a healthful, delicious meal at home is your best option. Over time, certain recipes for kids' lunch boxes have grown in popularity, and many others have fallen out of favor as new, more exciting lunch and snack foods have come on the market. A proper lunch box meal should contain enough food to ensure your child does not go hungry throughout the course of a school day, as well as healthy snack options to keep your kid in good shape.
Sandwiches
The cornerstone of every lunch box meal is a quality sandwich. To keep things healthy, try making your child's favorite with whole grain or wheat bread. If your child is resistant to the change, try explaining the health advantages of whole grain bread versus plain white bread. If this is still unsuccessful, it is okay to make the move back to white bread, but you should make an attempt to throw in an extra serving of fruits or vegetables to make up for the lost nutrition.
Make a sandwich your child enjoys. A turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with mustard and lettuce is low in fat and calories and high in protein. Of course, there's nothing wrong with the occasional ham and cheese or roast beef sandwich either. While it is true that these sandwiches have a significantly higher levels of fat and sodium, they are fine in moderation as long as the overall meal is nutritionally balanced. You may want to consider introducing your child to various kinds of lunch meats before the school year begins in an effort to gauge his interest in the product. Don't be surprised if your child balks at some of the more adventurous lunch meats like liverwurst or olive loaf. When it comes to kids, it's usually best to stick with common sandwich meats such as turkey, bologna, roast beef, ham and salami.
Fruits and Vegetables
While it's usually no easy task to get a child to eat vegetables, most kids are far more receptive to fresh fruits. The manner in which the fruit is prepared is often the key to ensuring its consumption. If you notice that your child is not eating whole fresh fruits such as apples or peaches, you may want to consider cutting the fruit into pieces at home. Cut fruit is often easier for a child to eat, and food that is easier to eat gets eaten more often. Fresh fruit salads can be prepared at home, several days in advance. Go with whatever fruits are in season, just make sure that you store all of the cut fruit in the refrigerator to avoid spoilage. For an added treat, try macerating the fruit in a couple of teaspoons of sugar in a large bowl while stored in the refrigerator. The sugar will mix with the fresh juices of the fruit to create a rich syrup. A macerated fruit salad is a healthy dessert substitute with a fraction of the refined sugars of cookies or a candy bar. If your child is resistant to fresh vegetables and fruit, try some mildly processed fruit products such as applesauce.
Snacks
Snacks are typically the portion of a lunch that kids look forward to the most. Occasionally it is a good idea to pack healthy snacks for your child such as a granola bar or baked vegetable chips. Regular snacks such as cookies or chips are fine too as long as they are given in moderation, and the portion size is not too large.
If you don't feel comfortable packing a lunch box with cookies and chips, nuts such as almonds or cashews can make a great snack. Smoked almonds are high in nutritional value as well as flavor. As long as the other parts of the meal fall in line with normal dietary guidelines, parents should not be too concerned about the health value of the snacks their children are eating during lunch. The health value of the other components of the meal should be reinforced, however, to teach children the importance of a balanced diet.
Additional Ideas
If you are having a tough time getting your child to eat sandwiches, consider some of these alternatives for his or her lunch box. Healthy soups and stews can be kept warm in Thermos containers and can provide that extra boost of comfort on a cold winter day. Leftovers can make a good lunch as long as they are easy to eat and do not require refrigeration.
For meats such as chicken or beef, make sure you cut the pieces small enough prior to packing the lunch, as knives are typically not allowed on school campuses. If you are lucky enough to have a child who eats salad, feel free to pack salad components in his or her lunch box. Salad dressing should be kept in a separate container however, as it will oversaturate the lettuce if it is left on for too long.
Benefits
In addition to the obvious health benefits of packing your child's lunch, foods prepared at home can be significantly less expensive than purchasing a cafeteria prepared hot lunch. Parents should expect to save at least 30 percent in food costs when switching from school lunch to home packed lunch boxes. Children who bring lunch boxes to school also have significantly more time to eat their lunches due to the fact that they are not forced to stand in any cafeteria lines.
Warning
Making lunches at home can be time consuming. Mornings are often a very hectic time in many households and adding another preparation step could prove to be a very stressful addition to a morning routine. Pack a lunch box the evening before so there is no added stress during the morning. Packing in the evening will give parents more time to think about what it is they are putting in their child's lunch box, which will help regulate the portions and health value of the lunch.
Tags: your child, health value, lunch boxes, child lunch, child resistant, cookies chips, fresh fruits