How to Fix Your Kid Lunch

Making sure that children eat healthful meals can be one of the biggest challenges for parents. But if you're creative, flexible and organized, you can make lunches that your child will enjoy eating.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Reusable Insulated Lunch Bags
• Wax Paper
• Plastic Food Containers
• Insulated Container
• Plastic Food Containers
• Various Eating Utensils
• Cooler Gel Packs
• Fun Inserts
• Lunchbox Or Paper Bags
• Plastic food containers
• Wax paper
• Interesting, healthy ingredients

Thinking ahead

1. Involve your child in the shopping and preparation. Choosing containers, selecting bread and helping to pack the lunch all encourage a child to feel invested in the process.

2. Prepare as much as possible the night before. Freeze juice boxes, refrigerate sandwiches, cut vegetables or portion out pasta. This will also allow your child to help out more easily.

3. Prepare ingredients in bulk. Keep enough cut fruit for several days and put in plastic containers. Slice meats and cheeses for the week, and place a week's worth of individual portions between pieces of wax paper.

Making lunch fun

4. Vary ingredients. Instead of just regular bread slices, make sandwiches with shaped rolls, pita bread, English muffins, raisin bread, crackers or bagels.

5. Incorporate unusual shapes or colors. Make wheel-shaped pasta or green noodles. Cut turkey and ham slices with cookie cutters.

6. Make the meal hands-on or interesting to eat. Include a little container of dip for vegetables, or crunchy stir-ins for yogurt.

7. Include funny cartoons, silly photos, riddles or stickers. Write supportive notes reminding your child that he will do fine on the spelling test or that you'll be cheering her on at the basketball game. Collect fun inserts and write notes in advance, then tuck them away. Keep in mind, though, that older children are easily embarrassed among their peers.

8. Alternate lunch containers or decorate a batch of paper bags in advance as a weekend art project.

Taking precautions

9. Wash fruits and vegetables before packing them.

10. Use an insulated container for hot foods. Preheat it with boiling water, fill with piping-hot food and tell your child not to open it until lunchtime.

11. Invest in reusable insulated lunch bags. Keep two or three gel packs in the freezer, so you'll always have one ready. Refrigerate foods overnight.

Tips & Warnings

• To slip vegetables into your child's diet, steam and pure'e them until smooth. Freeze them in an ice cube tray, then stir the cubes into pasta sauces, soups or even mac and cheese (sweet potatoes disappear in the cheese sauce).
• Children need at least two servings each of fruit, milk and protein every day. They also need three servings of vegetables and six servings of cereal or grains daily. Here's what constitutes one serving in each food group, respectively: one small apple, 1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) of milk, 2 oz. (55 g) cooked lean meat, 1/2 cup (2 oz/55 g) of raw or cooked carrots, one slice of bread.

[pushkina]

on 8/3/2008 our schools don't allow nuts, eggs, sweets, cakes, or juice. imagine how much fun making lunch is with all these restrictions, as well as everything the kid won't eat anyway!

on 8/8/2006 Letting your child pick their lunch is important. Let them pick:
1. sandwich filling
2. fruit
3. a snack
4. something sweet
This way children will eat their lunch. Another thing is letting your child order their lunch once a week or when they have done something special (like doing well in school). Deciding for yourself what your child is eating is okay, but encourage them to say what they don't want and give them choices. I find giving them sensible choices is the best way to get no leftovers!

on 6/30/2006 Don't force your kids to eat stuff they don't like. Look around, there are so many different kinds of vegetables out there. Let them try different things. If you're feeding them broccoli and peas, let them try capsicum, pumpkin, mushrooms and more. They could love something that they have never had before! Just because you, the parent don't like a particular food, who says they won't? While you're at it, be a role model and try some new things yourself.