How to Plan Healthy Lunches for Kids

Making sure that your carefully prepared lunch doesn't get ignored or ditched in the trash can is a tricky feat. Here's how to avoid those expensive, high-fat, premade lunches, and give your kid a meal that will make him or her the envy of the cafeteria.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Get input from your children about what they want. They'll be more likely to eat what they choose (except, of course, nutritional zeros like chips and soda).
2. Prep lunches with leftovers from dinner the night before. You'll be more creative and less frazzled in the evening. Save some chicken breast for salad with red grapes and celery, a slice of meatloaf for a sandwich, or cooked vegetables for pasta salad with Italian dressing. See 17 Streamline Your Morning Routine.
3. Strive for balance. Healthy lunches should have a complex carbohydrate such as whole-grain bread or pita, a source of protein (peanut butter is fine), at least one serving of fruit or vegetables and one source of dairy (string cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese or milk).
4. Get creative: Use cookie cutters to carve sandwiches into fun shapes or include the fixings for "ants on a log"--aka peanut butter and raisins on celery.
5. Sneak in fresh vegetables and fruits. While your child may leave a whole apple untouched, she may love diced apples in her chicken salad sandwich.
6. Cultivate adventurous eating. Introduce new foods gradually, pairing them with your child's favorite snacks. For example, if he loves carrots with ranch dressing, slip in some cucumber and zucchini slices as well.
7. Indulge in desserts, but don't go overboard. Rice crispy treats are low fat, oatmeal raisin cookies pack a nutritious punch, and puddings and Jell-O come in low-sugar and low-fat varieties. You don't want to deprive your children, but you also don't want them to be high-wired on sugar or falling asleep in class from a heavy, rich treat.

Tips & Warnings

• At the beginning of the week, boil a dozen eggs to use in egg salad, tuna salad or as a healthy lateafternoon snack.
• Wrap a frozen juice or drink container with a paper towel to keep the condensation from getting the rest of the lunch moist--your child can then use the damp paper towel to clean sticky fingers and faces.
• Don't get stuck in a rut: If your child ignores her sandwiches, try stacking cheese and salami on wholegrain crackers instead; swap the peanut butter and jelly for pita with hummus or cinnamon-raisin bagels with cream cheese and jelly.
• Add a favorite healthy snack, such as grapes, granola bars, trail mix or string cheese, for an afternoon pick-me-up.