Lunches can be more of an inconvenience than any other part of getting ready for school. Once the backpack is bought and the perfect outfit is picked out for the first day, lunch tends to be forgotten until five minutes before the bus leaves. While the schools have started serving more nutritious options for kids, your child can't always be trusted to choose an apple over a cookie. Then there's the fact that many kids don't really like the lunches served up in the school cafeteria. Parents often opt for convenience, those pre-packaged options that cost a lot and are filled with a ton of chemicals, sugar and sodium. Making lunches quick and healthy is the best way to set your child up for success.
Susan M. Parks, Registered Dietitian
2282 Field Stone Drive
Mendota Heights, MN 55120
(651) 592-7830
www.healthenutrifit.comSusan Parks understands that everyone has obstacles to eating healthy. She works with a variety of clients spanning a wide age range and can help tackle healthy eating in all types of situations. With a passion for cooking and activity, as well as experience being a busy parent, Parks knows how difficult it can be to keep up with good nutrition on a daily basis. Parks shares some ideas for creating healthy and quick lunches for your family.
Preparation Is The Key To Convenience It always seems like everyone is giving advice on school lunches and including the old "make it ahead of time" suggestion. Obviously this is a good way to cut down on prep time in the morning, but it may not be helpful advice when it's down to the wire and there is really only 10 minutes to make lunch. Assuming you at least went shopping for some items, preparation can be a little easier than making it the night before. When shopping, choose things that are easy to assemble and pack up in the morning. Pay close attention to how you buy vegetables and fruits, the key components of a healthy lunch. Pre-cut produce is easy to throw into a plastic baggie and takes less than a minute to pack up. Arranging your refrigerator and pantry so the lunch items can be grabbed quickly is another way to prepare for success.
Checklist For Success
What are the food groups again? Are potato chips considered vegetables? Yikes! Packing a healthy lunch that gives your child a well-rounded selection with all the essentials can be confusing. Hence the checklist. When crunched for time, parents often grab whatever looks like it will get eaten for lunch and often forget the importance of the meal. Keep a checklist on your refrigerator and be sure to write down exactly what should go in every lunch. Examples include: vegetable, fruit, protein, whole grain carbohydrate, dairy choice, beverage, snack and treat.
Enlist HelpBecause it is their lunch, they certainly can help make it. Give your kids a task to allow them to help with the lunch. Younger kids can bag up crackers or choose their own snack. Older kids can make their own sandwiches. This is also a perfect opportunity to teach them about nutrition and the components of a healthy lunch. Getting input from the person who is actually going to eat the lunch is also helpful to know what they may or may not like about how you are packing their lunch.
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Pay Attention To Leftovers
Leftovers from dinner or other meals translate into easy lunches. Got a couple of slices of leftover pizza? Perfect for lunch tomorrow. Leftover chicken? Make a sandwich for lunch. The possibilities are pretty endless where leftovers are concerned. However, paying attention to what is leftover from yesterday's lunch is just as important. You may be packing something that is not getting eaten because your child doesn't like it. Are they taking one bite of the sandwich because they don't like the crust? Ask them and then cut off the crust. Little did you know that a crust can taint an entire sandwich. Are they not eating the fruits and veggies and just eating the dessert and snack? Stop packing a dessert and snack until they agree to eat the healthy stuff too. The trick is to communicate with your child and get to know what they will eat. When you have a plan, packing lunches become a lot easier.
Seal It With A KissNo need for a gourmet cupcake or cookie in your child's lunch every day. Sure, a great dessert is nice once or twice a week, but a giant serving of fat and sugar should not be a daily staple. Chances are, your child is sharing some kind of treat with a friend or getting candy in class for being well-behaved. Another thought is that you have no idea when your child is actually eating that dessert, possibly they gobble it down first and get too full for the healthy stuff. Miniature chocolates, "fun sizes," and Hershey kisses make perfect everyday desserts for school lunches. Just try not to eat a bunch yourself.
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Andrea Wodele is a freelance writer who has lived in the Twin Cities for the last 10 years. Her hobbies include exercising, driving kids around, watching Minnesota sports, and reading self-help literature. Examiner.com.