Don’t Pay for Kid’s School Lunches – Pack It Instead
There are major advantages of packing your child’s school lunches versus participating in the lunch program. Just a few of the positive rewards of preparing your kid’s school lunches include being healthier, cheaper, and the ability to cater to your child’s unique tastes.
Choosing to send lunch to school with your child is the easy part, but what foods should you include each day to keep them from getting bored with the same things? Every day’s lunch should include a main dish of some type. A few popular main course lunch ideas include sandwiches, wraps, salads, or a hot lunch. Also be sure to add a side or two, a drink and if you choose, a healthy snack or dessert.
Let’s start with a few main lunch dishes. You can use almost any type of sandwich for this part. Some ideas are ham and cheese, chicken salad, or peanut butter and jelly. Mix things up a bit by deviating from the normal sliced bread by using a soft shelled tortilla and creating a wrap with their favorite ingredients. Bagels and pita pockets make great sandwich holders too. If your kids are older or just enjoy salads, try topping the salad with ham and cheese or grilled chicken breast for lunch. Remember to pack the salad dressing in a separate container to keep their salad from getting mushy.
If your child has access to a microwave at school, consider packing leftovers from last night’s dinner in a microwavable container with a tight fitting lid. No access to a microwave? No problem. Invest in an insulated thermos to make it easy to pack soups and stews in their lunch.
There are a ton of varieties when it comes to lunch containers on the market. You can find wide-mouthed thermoses. Another smart investment is an insulated water bottle. They can carry drinks such as water, fruit juice, and even cold herbal teas in their school lunch.
Last but not least, let’s talk about how your child will actually get that lunch to school each day. There are quite a few different types of lunch boxes and containers available. If your children are younger you may want to let them help you pick one out that is functional and fun at the same time.
If you are packing a sandwich, a piece of fresh fruit and a bag of chips, you don’t really need anything more than a few sandwich bags and a small brown paper bag for transporting your child’s lunch to school. This option makes cleanup a snap too. Just remind your child to throw the bags away when they are finished eating. The hard, plastic lunch boxes are also a good option and will keep the sandwich and chips or pretzels from getting smashed and messy, especially for younger kids who don’t think about the mess that can come from shoving their lunch bag into their book bag in the morning.
When preparing your child’s lunch, keep in mind things such as the child’s age, the type of lunches they will be eating and convenience. Don’t think just because they are taking their lunch to school means they have to eat the same boring meal day in and day out. By switching items up and giving them a large variety, they just might end up the envy of all the kids at their lunch table.
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