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Get a Better Grade in Lunch

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    Summer vacation is coming to an end, and many kids are both excited and disappointed as they return to school.  As preparations are made, supplies purchased, and everything else is done to get ready for school, many parents are struggling with lunch ideas each day.  Grocery shelves are lined with colorful boxes and bags of many foods that they are hoping will become part of your school lunch routine, and cafeteria workers are getting their kitchens ready to cook for the masses.  As you plan your strategy for school lunches, consider the fact that choosing to prepare your own meals will give you the most control.

Nutrition Counts

    Though a bright, cheerful box may entice some shoppers, these pre-packaged lunches often have ingredient lists that should be considered before a purchase is made because they do matter.  Consider calories, sodium, fat content and preservatives.  You can visit www.mypyramid.gov to find the recommended daily intake of nutrients for every age and body type.  It is useful to know how much of what your children should be eating so you can keep lunch in perspective.  It is easy to develop the mindset that lunch on the go or away from home doesn’t matter as much nutritionally if you make up for it later with a healthy dinner.  Lunch, however, does matter a great deal.  For some children, food coloring, preservatives, and other ingredients have been linked in studies to changes in behavior and concentration challenges (http://www.cspinet.org/fooddyes/ ). An inadequately balanced lunch can leave children tired and hungry by mid-afternoon.  Be sure to include protein and fiber since they can help kids feel satisfied longer.    

Containers Make Lunch More Fun

    Lunch boxes are much more than a chance to show the world who your children’s favorite cartoon character is.  They have the important responsibility of holding and protecting their lunch until it is time to eat it.  It doesn’t matter how delicious and nutritious any meal is if it’s stored improperly and is harboring bacteria.  Remember that temperature matters.  For warm dishes that are packed hot (i.e. insulated containers of soup or chili) you will want the food to be store at 140 degrees  or warmer so bacteria won’t grow.  For cold options like sandwich meats or salads, use cold packs and insulation to keep the stored temperature at 40 degrees or less. 

    It is important to have the right containers to store the food within the lunch box (or bag).  They should be airtight -- and easy to open for kids. Children of all ages enjoy neatly packed dishes that give you the option of picking and choosing the flavors you like.  Crackers, cheeses, fruit, nuts, and any other small bites that can be packed neatly in small containers can create a nice menu to enjoy during lunch (but avoid pre-packaged lunches; they are so lacking in nutritional value that they are banned in some schools).  Many wonderful options for containers now exist; check your local grocery store and big box store for convenient containers that are just the right size and shape to hold the foods your children like.   If you find containers that make it a pleasure to make and take lunch, you will be more likely to do so.

Green Drinks

    Juice boxes, soft drinks, even bottled water can all add up on your grocery bill.  Some of these options are full of empty calories, artificial ingredients, or sugars, and the disposable containers they come in create a lot of waste.  A wonderful alternative is to invest in a re-usable container that can double as an ice pack for your lunch.  With your own container, you can make your own iced tea, infused waters, or juices.  By having the freedom to blend your own, you can incorporate more of what you and your kids really enjoy -- green tea, herbal tea, citrus water, mint water, cucumber water, or diluted juice.

Make More Lunches and Less Hassle

1. •Include a piece of whole fruit in every lunch (bananas, easy to peel oranges, apples, pears, plums, nectarines and grapes). Not only will the fruit be nutritious, but it is also easy to eat on the run or grab quickly.
   

2. •Organize and categorize what you want in every lunch.  It is nice to have a basket of fruit options, a basket of healthy salty options (crackers, nuts, or pretzels), a choice of protein (cheese or meats), and any other items you want on a regular basis.  If the food you choose requires refrigeration, you can designate a refrigerator drawer or plastic container to hold them so they are easy to grab and go.  Once you are organized in this way it will be so much easier to pack, and it is a great way to involve the kids in the process by instructing them to “choose one of each category.”
   

3. •Prepare for your weekday lunches during the weekend.  Some things can be made in advance and frozen for future use; you can cube that leftover chicken and freeze it for a salad later in the week, make some sandwiches that freeze well (peanut butter and jelly is a great example), or cook a pot of soups.  Cut up fresh vegetables to use at the beginning of the week with a dip, or later in the week, can be included in a soup, stir-fry, or pasta dish.  Planning ahead will make it so much easier and can help prevent desperation decisions that are less healthy and waste from over buying.

Dear Jessica,

    How to I keep cut fruit from turning brown when I pack it in my kids’ lunches? 

    I am asked this question on a regular basis.  Some cut fruits change color to a less than appealing shade of brown when they are exposed to air due to oxidation.  This reaction, however, can be significantly delayed by using citric acid.  The easiest thing to do is dip your fruit briefly in a solution that contains citric acid, such as orange juice, lemon juice, or lemon-lime soda.  Try this technique to slow the browning of  apples, pears, bananas, and other fruits, especially when you are packing cut fruit in lunches.