What's for Lunch?

As parents, we start most school years with a vow to make healthier, more creative lunches, only to find ourselves, just weeks later, packing peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches most days. This year let’s try something new... Let's get the kids involved!

What’s for Lunch?
By Patty James
 
When kids are part of the process, they're more likely to eat their lunches. You'll also find "teaching moments" for sharing lessons about nutrition, while spending quality time together.

Sit down with your child and create a menu. Try to change your menus seasonally, and purchase organic foods when you can. Here are sample menus, tips and kid-friendly recipes:

Brown Bag Sample Menus

Week One:

• Monday: Hummus, celery, carrot and red pepper sticks, apple

• Tuesday: Peanut or almond butter sandwich on whole grain bread, broccoli florets with dip of choice, orange slices

• Wednesday: Cold noodle salad, snow peas, peach

• Thursday: Bean salad, red pepper slices, and apricots

• Friday: Whole grain tortilla with black beans, salsa, lettuce and cheddar cheese

Brown Bag Basics

You need a protein source with each meal. It can be a meat protein (such as chicken, turkey or fish, such as tuna), or your protein can come from beans, nut butters, tofu, tempeh or eggs. Vegetables are the key to good health; so always have veggies in the lunch. Include a fruit, too. A healthy dessert, or a great snack for later in the day, a piece of fruit is a sweet pick-me-up. Veggies and fruits also supply a good carbohydrate source. Healthy fats are also necessary and can be found in avocados, olive or flax oil (used in the bean salad or in the tuna salad), and nuts.

Week Two:

• Monday: Turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with sprouts and grated carrots, jicama slices with lime juice, nectarine

• Tuesday: Diced chicken drizzled with your favorite dressing, small salad, and apple

• Wednesday: Hardboiled eggs with dip of choice, cucumber slices, red pepper strips and carrot sticks, nectarine

• Thursday: Peanut or almond butter spread on a whole grain tortilla topped with sliced bananas and honey, thinly sliced raw zucchini with dip of choice, orange slices

• Friday: Tuna mixed with chopped olives, chopped celery and mixed with Italian dressing, raw cauliflower, cherry tomatoes

Think Outside the Bag

When SP blogger Brandy Tuzon Boyd got the brown-bag blues, she decided to try making bento box lunches for her kids. The results? Her kids ate all their cute (and healthy!) offerings, and Brandy managed to transform a daily chore into a way to get creative. Bonus: the fun, reusable containers mean less waste! Click on the link above to check out Brandy's post ("I Heart Bento"), including pics and tips on where to shop locally.

Prep Time

Set aside 30 minutes twice a week to go over menus and prepare for healthier, easier school days. Spend another 30 minutes twice a week cutting up veggies and having them all ready to go. With a little planning, this year’s school lunches will be healthier, and once you get into a rhythm, they'll require less time too.

Kid-Friendly Recipes

1. You-Create Bean Salad
Be sure to have your child make this colorful salad, or at least help!

One 15 ounce beans of your choice, rinsed and drained
½ cup thinly sliced celery
½ cup diced carrots
¼ cup chopped red onions
¼ cup chopped red pepper
Olive oil and lemon juice to taste or your favorite Italian dressing

2. You-Create Cold Noodle Salad
Your child should make this one as well!

Cook noodles of your choice: soba, spaghetti, etc. Drain and rinse in cold water. The amount of noodles depends on your family size.

Once the noodles are in a bowl, add something as simple as Italian dressing, or try making this sauce (again, play with the amounts) to pour on the noodles:

¼ cup brown rice vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
1-2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Juice from ½ lemon or lime
1 tablespoon honey or agave
2 cloves minced garlic
Pepper to taste

Next add:
Chopped red pepper
Chopped cucumbers
Grated carrots
Chopped cilantro or parsley

Remember: if the kitchen experience is fun, your child will be more likely to help in the future, and when kids create their own lunches, they are more likely to eat them!

Patty James is a Certified Natural Chef with a Master's degree in Holistic Nutrition and the author of More Vegetables, Please! A frequent guest speaker in schools around the US, Patty also runs Shine the Light On America’s Kids.