In a School Lunch Rut? Tips For Improving Your Child's Lunch
Half the school year has gone by and school lunch routine has become well, so routine. Your children's lunches seem to be coming back half eaten with certain food groups untouched. Even though you know what to pack: fruit, vegetables, lean protein and dairy, it's a challenge to think outside the lunchbox. What do you do? Here are some tips to put the spice and zest back into your child's lunch:
Dress Up Fruit/Vegetables or Hide Them: If you have a picky eater on your hand, try sending dips along with fruits or vegetables. For veggies try: hummus, light salad dressing or artichoke and spinach dip. For fruit, try: caramel sauce, yogurt or almond butter. One of my children refuses to eat vegetables so I use my food processor to grind them up and add them to a yogurt base to make a dip to go with crackers.
Lean Proteins Do Not Always Need To Be Sandwiched: Try some tasty alternatives to sandwiches like: tortillas with low-fat cheese, whole-wheat crackers, baked chicken or turkey. deli meat rolls-ups, spring rolls and quesadillas.
Make Food Fun: You don't have to have an art degree or be creative. Use a cookie cutter to form sandwiches into shapes, make a smiley face out of fruit or spell out their name on the side of a sliced carrot.
Ask Your Child For Input: See what your child would like for lunch the night before. You can lay out the choices, but they will feel in-powered to take part in the decision making process. With my daughter I asked if anyone at school had something in their lunch she wanted to try. To my surprise, she said salad! So you never know until you ask.
Turn A Napkin Into A Note: Write a quick message on their napkin about their upcoming day. I wrote my daughter a message about her book report that she was nervous to give telling her I knew she would do a great job.
Pay Attention If Your Child Refuses To Eat Something, Could Be An Allergy. Since allergies are so prevalent in this day and age, it's important if your child says something you are giving them is making their stomach upset or feel funny. A family member of mine had this happen after their school-age child complained about stomach issues and tested positive for Celiac Disease. If you have a child with allergies, here is a great site with school lunch ideas categorized by what type of allergy your child has. Kids with Food Allergies.
Do you have creative and healthy lunches that work for your family? Please feel free to share!
