How to Pack a Lunch for Teens
Keep a healthy balance between nutrition and foods teens like. It doesn't matter how nutritious their lunch is if they won't eat it.
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Instructions
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Gather nutritional information from several sources and focus on the special nutritional needs of growing teenagers.
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Find out what your teenager likes to eat. Respect personal food choices such as vegetarianism.
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Peruse magazines, newspapers, cookbooks and Web sites for lunch ideas that meet your teenager's needs and preferences, as well as your own nutritional standards.
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Learn how to make easy international foods such as sushi, knishes, calzones and spring rolls, which can be novel and fun.
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Consider sandwiches, burrito-type "wraps," salads, pizzas and pizza-like foods, and rice bowls, which are both portable and proven teen pleasers.
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Use fillers that are healthy and tasty: peanut butter, cheese, meat, hummus, tofu, greens, vegetables and eggs.
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Think blended. Smoothies and shakes are delicious, different, trendy and power-packed with nutrients.
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Pack power bars, fruit bars, smart trail mixes or yogurt to boost a picky eater's lunch.
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Variety should be a priority. Teens get tired of the same old thing every day.
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Tips & Warnings
Stay open-minded; teenagers have very definite ideas about most things.
Rice bowls are easily made at home. Use a protein-rich topping (tofu, meat, cheese, beans) and veggies for the greatest nutritional value.
Keep your eyes open for unexplained weight gain or weight loss, as eating habits can often be the first sign that your teenager is troubled or unduly stressed.
Consider food safety. If the lunch will remain in your child's warm locker for several hours, be sure you use foods that will not spoil.
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Comments
View all 9 Comments-
Teens are old enough to pack their own lunch and this is not realistic in the average household where both parents are working. My child has her own alarm and if she forgets to pack her lunch or decides she wants to spend the time in the morning globbing on makeup instead then she gets to deal with it.
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mysonmessiah
May 19, 2009
let me say something if your packing a lunch for a teen he or she might not be the most popular kid around i know that dose not matter much but that packed lunch can do allot to a teenagers social life if they don't know how to handle it well its not the cool thing to do just give them five bucks or so. -
Aug 12, 2006
Dry off the lettuce and tomato by patting them with paper towels before making the sandwich.
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Aug 12, 2006
Dry off the lettuce and tomato by patting them with paper towels before making the sandwich.
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Jun 30, 2006
When I make sandwiches the day before, I don't put mayonnaise or anything but the meat and cheese. I pick up the little packets every time I go into a fast food restaurant and just put them in the lunch bag.
