How to Pack a School Lunch Your Child Will Actually Eat
During the summer, the children grazed in the pasture, and perhaps the “lunch” was a series of snacks laid out all day. But now that it’s time to study, we need to make lunch more specific – packing it in small containers with sections and tucking it into an insulated bag covered in unicorns.
Since my oldest son is going to kindergarten, I am a little intimidated by the need to cook dinners that are both engaging and useful for exploring the brain and body. A recent survey of nearly 1,700 Food Network parents found that more than half of them also can’t figure out what to put in their lunch boxes.
So I asked four kids / food experts for tips to answer the most important lunch box questions: who, what, when, where, why and how?
Who should pack the lunch box?
Lunch box experts agree that kids should pack their own lunch.
“This will not only make your preparation easier, but it will also ensure that whatever goes into your kids’ lunch box is fun for them to eat. Their help in the process also sets the stage for their more frequent participation in the kitchen, ”said Michelle Buffardi, vice president of digital editing for the Food Network and Cooking Channel.
But don’t give the kids carte blanche to raid the pantry; start with limited options, including their favorite foods and the foods you want them to eat.
What’s going to lunch box?
Help your kids put together a good meal by making a selection menu for each food category. Melanie Potook, speech language pathologist and author of Adventures in Weggyland: Help Your Kids Learn to Love Vegetables with 100 Easy Steps and Recipes , calls it a “packing card”: Print a photo of your child’s lunch or bento box and write to four options for each product group.
“For example, parents might list cashews, turkey rolls, hummus, or protein bars for protein. For cereals, parents can easily provide whole grain crackers, tortillas, buns or muffins, etc., ”Potok said.
Or try the Food Network recipes recommended by Buffardi:
- Sandwiches with cream cheese and ham and green onions
- Chicken salad
- Easy-to-Make Muesli Bars
- Air Rice Snowballs
- Panko chicken nuggets
- Ten Minute Tomato Soup
- Oatmeal Chocolate Snacks
When is the best time to cook lunch?
I remind myself that it was not even five minutes before you left in the morning.
Brianne DeRosa, who blogs about cooking family meals in Red, Round or Green and has contributed to Cooking with Trader Joe’s: Easy Lunch Boxes , recommends picking up lunches on the eve of school, right after dinner.
“On the one hand, leftovers from dinner can be a great addition to a lunch box,” she said. “Scoop up soups, stews, pasta and casseroles in thermoses; just a quick warm up in the morning and they’ll be fine. Fried vegetables, salads (no dressing to avoid dampness), grains and cuts of meat can be put directly into lunch containers to help you move towards a balanced meal. ”
Where do I put all those lunch box toppings?
Both Potok and DeRosa advise keeping a certain supply of food for lunch in the pantry, refrigerator or freezer.
“The idea is to always have a stock of items on hand that requires minimal preparation, and that can either complement a fresh lunch, or be a great option for an ’emergency’ lunch when you stand in front of the refrigerator and wonder what to serve. package, – said DeRosa. “I grab a lot of pantry items for lunch online and deliver them right to my door: cups of applesauce, cans of tuna, peanut butter, granola bars, macaroni and cheese, cooking mixes, disposable coconut milk.”
Why You Shouldn’t Worry About Kids Collecting Lunches
Worried about kids packing the same four items every day? The thread had already thought about it.
“Cross out food if it was packed twice a week. This ensures that children do not “eat” or always eat the same food every day and then tire of that food by refusing to eat it again. If your only option is to pack new food, like blueberries in the fruit section, that’s a win! ” she said.
According to Molly Birnbaum, editor-in-chief of America’s Test Kitchen Kids, who recently published The Complete Baby and Toddler Cookbook , getting kids involved in food preparation is good for everyone.
“For kids, an interest in food is a great way to learn more about health and nutrition (we believe cooking at home is the first step to eating healthily),” Birnbaum said. “It’s a great way to spend time with your family, away from screens. Children feel excited when they cook and take immense pride in the ready-made meals they create themselves or with help. In addition, food is a great way to learn about the world around us: where the ingredients come from, how they eat in different cultures, how to count and measure, how the senses work, and much more. “
How to make it even easier and more fun
To add to the fun, Buffardi offers interactive dining experiences.
“Making lunch more interactive can go a long way, so keep that in mind as you prepare and pack,” she said.
Birnbaum agrees to encourage kids to be creative with their food.
“At America’s Test Kitchen Kids, we found that the more powerful kids feel in the kitchen, the more fun they get,” she said. “Let them exercise their creative freedom when making sandwiches, experimenting with what they like best. Use a fun bento box or other type of lunchbox with many small compartments so kids can choose many meals each day. ”
It’s not too early to get young children to cook and plan meals.
“The key to making (or just making light meals) with toddlers is getting them to stir, roll, squeeze, squeeze, or grind as much as possible – the youngest kids really do respond to hands-on activities in the kitchen,” Birnbaum said. …