You can not only save money by packing your children's lunches, but you can also ensure that they are not subsisting on junk food from the school's vending machine. However, children can quickly become bored with the same-old lunch staples. With today's easier access to a variety of foods, there are plenty of options you can prepare to keep things interesting.
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
Lunch box/container
Different variety of foods
How to Pack Unique Back-to-School Lunches
1
Invest in a lunch box. Brown paper bags might seem preferable for teenagers who associate lunch boxes with cartoon characters. However, since they are thrown away after one use, paper bags are not eco-friendly. Choose a sleek, modern-looking container for your older children with small containers that keep hot foods warm and cold foods cold. There are plenty that also include a reusable bottle or thermos for beverages.
2
Go Middle-Eastern and pack a mezze for lunch. A mezze is essentially a lot of little dishes. Pack pita bread with a few healthy dips such as hummus and baba ghanoush (an eggplant dip). Toss in some olives and a cheese like feta. A mezze can also include more American-type foods such as a handful of trail mix, apple slices, a container of yogurt, peanut butter crackers and sticks of celery with cream cheese. Variety is key to keep things interesting.
3
Replace the tired chocolate-chip cookies with exotic fruits like kumquats (eat the skin and pulp). If your child or teenager clamors for a real sweet, consider a few squares of a dark chocolate one day and candied ginger (which is sweet but also aids in digestion) the next. Choose products that have organic ingredients and less processed sugar.
4
Match foods with the weather. For colder days, pack a soup or stew with crackers or a slice of grainy bread. For warmer days, try a salad with mixed greens, a tablespoon of beans like kidney or chickpeas, a protein like chicken or hard-boiled egg, and a few colorful vegetables.
5
Jazz up old favorites with simple modifications. For the usual PB&J, try a different nut butter like almond butter or sunflower seed butter (which has a smokier, sweet taste) and a jam like blueberry or plum. Instead of potato chips, try sesame-seed crackers or veggie chips. Replace an apple with cubes of cantaloupe or pineapple. Replace the usual lettuce and tomato turkey hoagie with spinach, mozzarella, basil and sliced red pepper.
Tips & Warnings
Draw up a list of your child's likes and dislikes so that you will know which foods she will eat.
Introduce your children to new foods at dinner time or the weekends so that you see if they will eat them for lunch.
Make sure you buy a lunch container that is insulated so the lunch will not spoil.
Make sure your container is lead-free.
