School lunches cost more each year. Schools offer lots of options but not all of them are healthy. Making your child’s school lunch is more economical and healthier alternative.
Kids like school lunches because they are provided with a variety of choices. Homemade lunches can offer the same varieties but with a smaller price tag. You can give your child choices while still not breaking the budget.
First, ask your children about their favorite lunchtime meals. If you send foods that your children enjoy, you are more likely to elicit their cooperation when it’s time to help pack – and eat – the lunches.
If your child likes foods that need refrigeration, be sure to purchase an ice pack for their lunch and an insulated lunch bag. Seal the ice pack in a plastic bag before putting it in the freezer. The plastic bag keeps this fluid from touching your child’s food.
Most school cafeterias have microwave ovens available for student use. Dinner leftovers make excellent lunch fare. Invest in microwave-safe bowls to store your child’s lunch.
Fresh fruit offers a sugar boost that is better than a candy bar. Include a cup of fresh strawberries, apples, oranges, or whatever fruit is in season. If they need more sweetness, add a cup of yogurt to use as a fruit dip. One fun option is to freeze the fruit the night before and put it into the lunch bag still frozen. That way, your child will enjoy “slushie†fruit for lunch.
Kids won’t eat anything that requires too much work. Cut their peanut butter and jelly sandwich into bite-sized pieces for easier handling. If your kids are older and health-conscious, serve a turkey and veggie delight in pita bread. Soft chicken tacos or ham roll-ups are delicious also.
If your kids don’t want the traditional milk at lunch, they may make a trip to the soda machine. To avoid this, invest in bottles of fruit juices. Make sure that the juices are 100% juice and not mostly sugar. Another alternative is water bottles and flavored drink packets. Crystal Light and Kool-Aid brands offer drink mix packets that are perfect for a bottle of water.
Save money on utensils and napkins. Buying plastic forks and napkins seems like a good idea but kids throw them away after each meal. Let your kids use the utensils and paper products provided by the school.
School lunches can be delicious, nutritious, and more affordable if they are made at home. Provide your children’s favorites without the preservatives and added fat.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Iris // Sep 28, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Our daughter really likes her packed lunches most of the time, and we long ago worked out a you-can-buy-one-day-a-week policy. Occasionally she will buy more than once a week, either because she has forgotten her lunch (not often), or because on occasion she is hauling so much stuff that we let her buy. There are specific lunches she will choose to buy at school (pasta bar and asian bar).
Skip flavoring the water – if kids don’t get used to it, they won’t want it. Our daughter thankfully doesn’t like pop, and is happy with water in her lunch, or sometimes milk.
Skip the plasticware, pack silverware. Taking the school’s flatware and napkins is like stealing salt and pepper packets to use at home. I bought stainless sporks to pack in lunches. Actually, I bought these
http://splayds.com/index.html
which gets you eight of them. They’re a little pricey, but they are very heavy-duty, essentially a buy-it-once item. Part of the name relates to ‘blades’ – they are not sharp-edged, but can still be used to cut something that doesn’t really require a knife, and the edge is straight enough to work well for this. We use them at home too, and do sometimes pack spoons in our lunches depending on what we’re having.
http://remogeneralstore.com/pages/item.cfm has better pictures. There is also now a smaller, dessert version of them.
The real reason for packing lunches is that the nutrition of most school lunches is questionable. Also, if your child is even a little bit picky, you can give them a fruit and veg you know they will eat, rather than having them buy and then toss overcooked green beans. When we have a dinner our daughter really likes, we always ask if she’d like it for lunch, then put it in the fridge in a container in which it can be nuked, then packed in a wide-mouth insulated jar. Putting whatever it is and the veg that goes with it in a dish it can be heated in saves time in the morning. Invest in the containers you need to pack lunches. It will pay off in both dollars and nutrition.
2 jwilk // Oct 2, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Have you seen these?
http://www.laptoplunches.com/
They are fantastic. We bought one for our ten-year-old and just wash it out every evening & re-pack! It’s even got a little pocket inside for a cloth napkin and/or icepack. There are several kids in my daughter’s class who use these! They’re wonderful.
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