Packing Healthy Lunches for School
This is the first year that we have had to pack a lunch daily for any of our kids! It is a little daunting to say the least. I don’t want Henry to have to eat cafeteria food everyday, but the task of making him a healthy lunch everyday really overwhelmed me at first.
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| My baby! |
But then, I just told myself: “Rachel, you fed him everyday at home during the summer. Just continue those lunches and prep them ahead of time just like you do for yourself!” Duh!
So, here are some of my tips for packing healthy, filling lunches for school age children:
1. Invest in a good storage/cooler system.
A lot of the foods I send for Henry need to be kept cool for a few hours, so having a good insulated lunch bag with an adequate cooler is important. We got his from Target this year, but there are tons of cute functional lunch bags out there. Here are some of my favorites:
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| LL Bean |
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| Pottery Barn |
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| Target |
2. Keep it Fresh
We all know there is no telling what that lunch box touches at school throughout the day! Make sure your work service and the lunch bag are cleaned every day with soap and water.
3. Prepare the Night Before
Weekday mornings at our house are quite hectic. So, I make sure to prepare as much the night before as I can. I bag veggies or fruit, fill containers with ranch, set apart lunch meat or cheese that will be pack and have it all in one place in the refrigerator so I can just grab it in the morning and go.
4. Include a Treat
My kids love sweets just like the next person. I always include a sweet treat of OUR choosing! We pick them out together. MOstly, I stick with organic and low processed sugars, but there are days they get Oreos or something we don’t normally eat. This is one our favorites!
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| Z bars |
5. If they eat it at home, they will eat it at school.
Lunches don’t have to be PB & J or turkey sandwiches everyday. My kids love soups, breakfast foods, etc. So get creative. Henry will eat boiled eggs all day long if I let him, so I will definitely take advantage of that! These muffins are great ideas to bake ahead of time and pair with an egg or fruit.
There are great soup containers available that will keep food warm for hours. As we get into Fall, I am definitely going to take advantage of sending leftovers!
