Are your kids picky eaters? When you’re making them lunch before school, the last thing you want to do would be to send them to school without something that they can really enjoy.
There’s nothing worse than opening the lunch box at the end of the day to see it’s still full. We know our kids need to eat well to give them the energy to study, and of course we want them to enjoy eating too. Eating a healthy lunch each day sets them up with good habits for life.
It can get hard thinking of creative, healthy and yummy ideas every day of the week, so here’s a few of my family’s staples to get you started:
Quesadillas
Cheese is something that basically every kid loves. A lot of the time, it doesn’t even need to be hot for them to love it. That’s why this is the first entry here.
Quesadillas are super simple to make, and your kids will love them. Just pack their lunch with the quesadillas cut into slices for easy eating.
You can add some kind of dipping sauce like a mild salsa to the lunch. Keep small jars or pots handy to pack individual portions of this.
To keep it balanced, you should include some kind of fruit. You can go with either a small fruit salad, or some sliced pineapples. Your side could be a small handful of corn chips.
Spring Rolls
The coolest things about these spring rolls for your kids is that they can easily eat them with your hands! It might take a minute, but you should be able to find rice paper wraps at a large supermarket. If you have trouble, look for an Asian shop near you.
You can quiz the little monsters on what kinds of things they would like inside their rolls and you can fill them with any combination of their tastes. They keep well, and will give them a light healthy lunch that will keep them happy until dinner time.
I like to include peanuts and blueberries as a side snack to add colour and texture.
Hummus and Pita Lunch
The last thing you want to do as a parent is to confuse your child’s palate with that of an adult, so this is going to be kept simple.
Place some of your homemade or shop-bought hummus in its own container so it can travel safely. Pack your choice of lunch meat slices with carrot slices, grapes or small tomatoes. If you like, you can put another dipping sauce into their lunch for the vegetables.
Hummus is great because it’s a good source of protein, and that will help your little ones to stay on top of their day.
Rolled Sandwiches
Sandwich wraps are everywhere now, so you can grab some from the supermarket, and fill it with any kind of meat, cheese, and lettuce that your kids will love to eat. Cut them into slices, and you’ll have another super fun finger food to take with them. Pack with a side of apple slices, and some celery sticks. You can include a dipping sauce for the celery.
