Rainbow Blog

Fresh Lunch Ideas for Back to School

posted by: Kia

Back to school means back to making lunches. It’s no small task to create a lunch that is healthy, well -balanced, and something your kids will enjoy! In the morning rush, it may be tempting to quickly throw a lunch together with pre-packaged foods, however the majority of pre-packaged foods are loaded with artificial colours, sodium, sugar and ingredients we can’t even pronounce. Your kids will have a much more successful day at school if their bodies are filled with fresh healthy foods instead! So when it comes down to Fresh versus Fast…do your best to choose Fresh! With some planning and creativity, healthy lunches can be fun, delicious and easy!

Here are a few suggestions for packing fresh healthy lunches:

Team Work: Get your whole family involved with lunch preparation. It eases the workload on you and teaches your kids valuable life skills. Children of all ages can and should help with planning and preparing their lunch. It’s a great opportunity to teach them about the importance of healthy food choices. Kids are far more likely to eat lunches that they helped put together!

Plan Ahead: Take some time to sit with your kids and find out what they like to eat (no junk food). Come up with a simple lunch menu for the week, then put together your shopping list before you head out to the grocery store.

Organize: Set up a cupboard where you keep all the lunch gear such as reusable containers, lids, thermoses, water bottles, lunch bags etc… Make sure it’s a cupboard that your kids can reach since they’ll be helping you out! Setting up a specific place for all the lunch gear means that everyone knows where things are when putting together lunches! It’ll also help your kids to put their lunch items in the right place when they are emptying the dishwasher

Prep Time: Get everyone in family to help wash and prep fruits and vegetables. It’s much easier to put together a quick lunch when everything has been washed, chopped and is waiting in the fridge! Cutting up fruits and vegetables into to smaller pieces makes it easier for your kids to eat them. Carrot sticks, apple slices (sprinkle them with lemon juice to prevent browning) or loose grapes are much more appealing to kids than having to deal with the whole fruit or vegetable.

Fruits & Vegetables Everyday: Fruits and veggies are a must have for healthy lunches! Kids eat with their eyes so have fun chopping fruits and veggies into fun shapes. There are lots of great kitchen tools that make it easy to create fun designs and patterns! If your kids aren’t too fond of fruits and veggies, try including yummy dips such as their favorite salad dressing, hummus or plain yogurt. Dipping makes eating more fun!

Think Rainbows: Get your kids into the healthy habit of eating a variety of colourful fruits and veggies every day. By eating a rainbow of produce your kids will benefit from the wide spectrum of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. It’s the phytonutrients that give fruits and vegetables their colour and help to keep our bodies healthy! Eating a Rainbow is a fun and easy concept for kids to understand.

Balancing Act: Try to incorporate a good variety of proteins, grains, and produce for every lunch. Keep things interesting by switching between sandwiches, pita pockets, wraps, rolls…that way you won’t get stuck in the same old rut day after day! If you feel that it’s important to include a sweet snack, just be sure to keep it very small and remind your child that it’s to be eaten after everything else!

Hot and Cold: No one likes soggy sandwiches or mushy fruits and veggies! Hot foods should be hot and cold foods cold. Add a cold pack to their lunch container to keep things fresh and cool. For hot foods use insulated containers to help keep them warm.

Don’t Forget Water: There really isn’t a better drink for your child than water. Having a “cool” water bottle might help you convince your kids to switch to water! Fill their water bottle half full the night before and put it in the freezer. In the morning fill the rest of the bottle with water. By lunchtime they’ll be able to enjoy a very refreshing bottle of water.

Get Creative: Switch up the normal routine…cookie cutters make fun sandwich shapes, toss in a sticker or try including a hand-written note to your child. Even if it’s just in once a week…add something fun and unexpected…your kids will love it!

Putting together a healthy lunch can be easy with a little planning, creativity, and most importantly by getting the whole family involved! The extra effort will be worth it knowing that your kids are getting a healthy lunch and at the same time they’re learning to take responsibility for their food choices. The goal being, that when they get a bit older, they’ll be used to making healthy lunches…and maybe dinner too?!

Happy Healthy Eating,
Kia