Do you spend a lot of time prepping lunch for your children for school but they always return it home without touching it? If your answer is yes, then this post was made for you.
Keeping meals nutritious and exciting for children may often be challenging. Here is a list of items which you may include in your children’s lunch box;
Higher-fiber carbohydrates
- Whole grain bread, pita or bagels
- Whole grain or protein-fortified pasta
- Whole wheat or corn tortilla
- Quinoa
- Brown rice
- Couscous Whole grain crackers
- Rice cakes
- Whole grain muffins
- Granola bars
- Low-sugar cereals (Cheerios, Chex, Kix)
- Sweet potato or potato pancakes
Proteins
- Canned/pouched salmon or tuna Smoked salmon
- Cottage cheese
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Yogurt
- Cheese sticks
- Hummus
- Baked falafel
- Soy meatballs or veggie burgers
Fruits and vegetables
- Whole fresh fruit (apples, banana, peach, pear, plum, grapes, kiwi, sweet cherries, mandarin orange, berries)
- Dried fruit (raisins, apricots, figs)
- Baby carrots or carrot sticks
- Celery sticks
- Cucumber sticks
- Cherry tomatoes
- Broccoli/ cauliflower florets
Healthy fats
- Black or green olives
- Avocadoes or guacamole
- Ranch dip (made w/ yogurt)
- Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, chia, sesame)
To make it exciting for your children to eat, you may design the different food items in a creative way. Create small figures in the shape of numbers/letters, funny faces, flowers, animals, and many more. See some examples here .