Packing a Nutritious School Lunch That Your Kids Will Enjoy
Andrea Mathis is a Licensed/Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Owner of Beautiful Eats & Things. Beautiful Eats & Things is a blog that provides easy and healthy recipes, parenting tips, and lifestyle/DIY hacks! Andrea believes in achieving optimal health by incorporating healthier eating habits into your lifestyle and making healthy eating fun! When she’s not running after her 2 toddlers, she’s updating her blog with delicious, wholesome recipes that the whole family can enjoy! For more information about Beautiful Eats & Things, visit Andrea’s website http://beautifuleatsandthings.com/
Summer vacation is slowly coming to an end which means back-to-school prep is in full effect! Anyone that knows me, knows I am a complete advocate of prepping! I prep everything from school clothes to lunches! It helps to keep down the chaos during the week!
Speaking of school lunches, my kids are extremely particular about what they eat! As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I am also particular about the foods they eat! I want to make sure that are eating wholesome foods that are packed with some essential vitamins and minerals!
To help make lunchtime fun, I decided to start the school year off right and use a Bentgo Brights Lunchbox! My son LOVES it and asks for me to put his dinner in it too! Lol! I’m not exaggerating! He will eat his dinner out of his Bentgo box while sitting at the dinner table! And the best part is that he eats the majority of his food!
I love using Bentgo Brights lunchbox because it has the perfect-sized compartments that keep the food separated and fresh! Those compartments help to keep foods properly portioned and allow for me to pack a nice variety of foods! This lunchbox also pairs perfectly with my favorite toddler utensils that I got from www.booninc.com
Here are a few of my tips for providing a Nutritious School Lunch:
- Get your kids involved: When preparing my kid’s lunch, I bring them into the kitchen and let them help me put everything together! Yes, they may try to sneak a snack or two, but they really enjoy feeling that they’ve had a part in preparing a meal.
- Include fresh fruit and veggies: Try to include fresh fruit and/or veggies whenever possible. Sometimes, I will add a fun fruit dip to keep interesting!
- Portion out dessert items: Instead of giving your kids a whole snack bag of cookies/treats, take a few out of the package to pack in their lunch, and save the rest for the next day. This will help to cut down on the amount of non-nutritive, sugary foods they consume daily!
- Limit juice and sodas: Consider packing water instead of juice or sodas. These items contain a lot of sugar and usually very few nutritional benefits. If your child insists on having juice, try adding fresh fruit to the water to sweeten it naturally.
I hope that you received some helpful lunch inspiration that will kick-off your school year in the right, healthy direction!
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