Packing a Lunch: Healthy Food To Go

How to Help Kids Participate in Lunch Packing

As I see it, there are two philosophies in packing kids’ lunches:

1. Let kids help so that they have some agency, some choice in the process. That will encourage them to eat what has been packed, and Mom is more informed about what they like.
2. Pack kids’ lunches yourself. Then you are in charge not only of what is packed, but portion sizes. Sometimes this is important, but I would tend toward the first philosophy unless you have a strong reason to go with number 2.

Many parents find great success in making a list of foods with the child(ren), organizing it by category (main dish, vegetables, fruits, snacks, fun foods, etc) and allowing the child(ren) to choose an item from each list for the day’s lunch. If this is too complicated for you

Healthy, Packable Foods for School Lunches

(and others who eat away from home)

• Cut veggies with dip
  • Veggie ideas: cherry tomatoes, carrots, pea pods, cucumbers, cauliflower or broccoli spears, celery, fresh green beans, colored peppers,
  • Dip ideas: hummus, homemade yogurt dip or yogurt cheese dip, ranch dressing, even ketchup if it’ll get them to eat their veggies!
• Apples and natural peanut butter (kids love to dip!)
  UPDATE: please remember that peanut allergies are very, very serious. The peanut allergen goes airborne, so many who suffer from a peanut allergy cannot even be in the same room as a peanut product. There is a list of substitutes and peanut-free ideas in the comments. If someone in your child’s classroom has an allergy, be sure to protect their health by abstaining from peanuts at school.
• Frozen peas
• Homemade yogurt (with frozen fruit and/or granola in it)
  We eat yogurt every day with lunch, and it is packable! That’s one reason I love my glass storage containers in the 1-cup size.
• Fresh fruit, whole or cut depending on the child
  • Bananas, oranges, apples, pears, plums, melon, grapes, cherries, strawberries, peaches, nectarines…try to stick with what is more or less in season.
• Dried fruit
• Homemade whole grain muffins/quick breads
• Hard-boiled egg with salt and pepper (cut in half is easier to handle)
• Sandwiches (on 100% whole grain bread or homemade):
  • Natural peanut butter and raw honey
  • PB and jelly (I made honey-sweetened freezer jam this year; just be sure to watch the ingredients for high-fructose corn syrup if you buy it)
  • PB and banana
  • PB and pickle
  • Leftover roast chicken or turkey
  • Egg salad, chicken salad, or tuna salad (even try canned salmon like tuna if the kids like it)
    Be sure not to serve tuna more than once a week or so because of chemical build-up.
  • Cream cheese and jelly
  • PB and cream cheese
  • Son’s new favorite: cream cheese with strawberry slices and raw honey (peaches are good too!)
  • BLT (low- or no-nitrite bacon is best, regular stuff is a compromise food)
  • Bean spreads (search for recipes that used mashed beans as a sandwich spread – a great way to get protein in without breaking the bank or dealing with lunchmeat nitrites/nitrates)
  • Try making a wrap to switch it up, but watch the tortilla ingredients for trans fats.
  • Cold burrito or refried beans with guacamole or salsa on a tortilla.
• Cheese and whole grain crackers or homemade wheat thin crackers
• Cottage cheese with various mix-ins
• Homemade “lunchables” – stack crackers, cheese slices, and meat slices for the child to assemble with apple slices and cream cheese dip.
• Leftovers that can handle the “thermos” treatment:
  • Homemade soups
  • Homemade mac-n-cheese
  • Many casseroles
  • Spaghetti and other pasta dishes
  • Stir fry with brown rice
  • Of course, heat on the stove before packing in the thermos. Not that I would use the microwave anyway, but mic’d food just doesn’t hold the heat long enough, no matter what.
• Potato salad
• Cold grain salads (GNOWFGLINS has an example)
• Cold bean salad
• Leftover homemade whole wheat pizza
• Homemade granola bars
• Homemade applesauce or storebought natural (no sugar) applesauce. Add cinnamon for your kids to sweeten it up a little without adding a sweetener. My kids also like cinnamon-applesauce stirred into their yogurt.

Working Moms’ Acceptable Shortcuts (or, Compromise Foods for “Sometimes” Lunches)

• Natural applesauce single cups
• Goldfish crackers, only the “Made with Whole Grain” version (they’re very good!) UPDATE: I now know that those Goldfish have MSGs…so…make your own call on that.
• Pretzels, as long as there isn’t HFCS or trans fats in the ingredients
• Boxed cereal and milk
• Canned fruit cups (? Maybe ?)
• Store granola bars…but be wise about reading ingredients
• Plain yogurt with fruit in it or organic yogurt cups
• Pita bread and hummus
• Lunchmeat, as an occasional thing unless you get nitrate-free meats
• string cheese and real cheese slices (pre-sliced)
• There have to be more items for this list…help me out, busy mommies!

Unacceptable items (or, This Counts as Dessert if you Pack It!)

• Potato chips
• Lunchables
• HFCS-laden yogurt cups and Gogurts (sorry, I know kids love these, but they’re not worth it!)
• “Fruit Snacks” (this stuff is candy!!!)
• Fruit Roll-ups and similar (see above)
• Little Debbie anything
• Pudding cups (is there any “real food” in pudding cups?)
• Jello cups (ditto)
• Processed cheese slices or cheese and cracker packages
• Processed beef jerky
• Storebought cookies
• Pop-tarts
• Pastries, crescent rolls, biscuits from a can (trans fat alert!!)
• I’ve been away from school lunches long enough that I’ve forgotten some of the atrocities passed off as “food” that don’t fit into any food groups. What else should be banned from healthy school lunches?

Remember the Goal

The purpose of lunch is to provide the person with brain food and energy for the rest of the day. Learning happens all day long at school, and it’s so important that kids don’t have a “brain drain” between the hours of 1-3:00 because their lunch didn’t provide them the fuel they needed. Many kids also need energy for after-school sports or playtime. It’s okay to constantly remind your kids that good food makes you feel good, think better and get stronger. Someday they’ll thank you for it, and for now, you’ve been charged with your family’s nutrition. What a blessing and a responsibility!