School Lunches – The Bane of Every Parent’s Existence

When I was in elementary school I had a choice: peanut butter and jam with an apple; peanut butter and honey with an apple; or peanut butter and banana with an apple. The problem now is that kids have too many choices and frankly, they are too fussy – my children included. Also with nut allergies, the peanut butter option has kind of disappeared. Parents at my kids’ school often approach me and ask what I put in their lunches. They are often surprised when I tell them that starting last year both my girls, aged 9 and 12, make their own lunches. I make sure I have healthy choices in the house, then I set out some clear rules, and they follow them. Since I believe in the 80/20 rule, they must have 80% of their lunch healthy choices and 20% “treats”. Since the treats part is easy, I will talk about what I consider to be healthy choices. First, however, I would like to suggest you invest in some really good quality food containers (safe plastics are #1, #2, #4 and #5), a wide mouth thermos and freezer packs. This will make life so much easier.

- Any kind of fresh fruit, apples, sliced oranges, pears, grapes, etc. Put the fruit in containers wrapped in paper towel to stop it from bruising. If your kids like apples or pears cut up, sprinkle a little lemon juice over them to stop them from turning brown (oxidation). If nuts are permitted, try having some peanut butter to dip the fruit in to. If fresh fruit is not feasible, an alternative would be something like Motts Fruitsations (Unsweetened). Dried fruit would be the last choice since it is a very concentrated form of sugar. ¼ cup of raisins is equivalent to about 1 cup of grapes. I NEVER recommend fruit juice since it is basically “liquid sugar”. 1 cup of 100% pure apple juice is equal to about 3 or 4 apples and has 30g or 7½ tsp. worth of sugar, but is devoid of the incredible nutrients and fibre that are naturally found in apples. DRINK WATER, EAT FRUIT!!!!!
- ‘Veggies and dip’ is a great, fun way to start incorporating some “greens” into the diet. Cut up celery, carrots, broccoli, etc. and the dip of their choice. We love Renee’s dressings since they are quite “clean”. Hummus is also a great choice. We also like celery with cream cheese or peanut butter.
- Whole grain wraps are so much more fun than sandwiches and the variety is endless. Cook up extra poultry or meat at dinner time, slice it up thinly and use that in the wraps in place of processed meats. If you are vegetarian, use legumes. Add shredded cheese, thinly sliced carrots, sliced red pepper, shredded lettuce, their favourite dressing, guacamole, sour cream, whatever they like – in fact, let them help you make them. If you cut the wraps in ½ inch segments and use colourful toothpicks, they look like pinwheels. I love having peanut butter and a whole banana in a wrap.
- Multigrain crackers and cheese. You can use the thermos for cut up cheese to keep it cold. You can buy pre-sliced cheddar cheese in most stores now. I do NOT recommend processed cheese at all since it is made with Formaldehyde.
- Yogurt cups can also be put in a thermos with ice. Chose 2% fat or higher since children need the fat for their brains to work properly and the low fat varieties are usually loaded with sugar, or worse yet, aspartame. Olympic brand is my favourite. Island Farms is also good.
- If nuts are permitted, then ¼ cup of mixed nuts would be great.
- Chick peas (garbonzo beans) right out of the can are yummy and loaded with protein, iron and zinc. Buy organic if possible

The list of things I DON’T recommend is too long for this article, but you are welcome to make an appointment with me to come to your home or take you grocery shopping along with your kids and together we will get you all on the right track.