It’s back to school, back to making lunches. Whether you are planning, preparing or presiding over your child’s lunch kit we’ve gathered a few healthy tips and tricks to help ease the load.
Make whole foods fun
Organic fruit, vegetables and popcorn are solid staples for any lunch kit because they are chemical-free and don’t contain the sugar, fats, sodium and high caloric counts of their processed counterparts.
But let’s be honest, most kids are uninspired by the sight of a whole banana, apple, or carrot in their lunch, and no one wants to eat plain popcorn (recipe ideas here). So try having a little fun with the basics to keep your kids interested.
Here’s a tip we liked from the BC Healthy Living Alliance “Kids can get bored of carrot sticks. Try some other raw veggies as well, and cut them into different shapes from time to time, such as carrot coins.”
The Goodlife eats blog has some great ideas for cutting vegetables into long thin strips using a mandolin, cheese into fun shapes like stars using cookie cutters and making fruit kebabs with yogurt for dip. We suggest packing the lot in reusable containers to make lunches litterless too.
The meal planning app LaLa Lunchbox makes a game out of choosing healthy foods for younger kids and then converts it to a grocery shopping list for you. For older kids who want to pack their lunches and need wholesome ideas try the website’s School Lunch picture gallery. Waffles instead of a sandwich, DIY and made-by-child sushi (recipe here), and dried mango (we carry these in-store in bulk) served in colorful reusable cupcake holders to add a little pizazz to the presentation.
In-store we also have some great side items like locally-made Nature’s Fare brand turkey, bison and beef pepperoni sticks, Seasnax seaweed, and Mary’s Gone Crackers (great with homemade hummus). We also carry Daiya, a milk alternative cheese for those with dairy sensitivities. Our kids love Ecos coconut water velvety dark chocolate drink as a substitute for chocolate milk.
Watch for synthetic colors, artificial sweeteners, and salt
Registered dietitian Tristaca Curley of Fueling with Food reminds us to read ingredient lists if we are purchasing pre-packaged foods for our pantries.
“Avoid items with ‘enriched’ in the ingredient list.You’ll also want to watch for dyes and artificial sweeteners including sugar alcohols, but also too many natural sugars that may belisted as syrups and concentrates in the ingredient list.”
Curley also encourages us to keep an eye on sodium levels. According to Health Canada the recommended dietary allowance for children aged four to eight is 1.2 -1.9 grams of salt per day, for ages nine to thirteen, 1.5 -2.2 grams. To put that in perspective for younger children that’s only ½ – about ½ teaspoon of salt per day.
According to a recent study by the World Action on Salt and Health (WASH),82 percent of fast food meals contained more than 1g of salt.
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