FROM THE SCRAMBLE LIBRARY
SEND KIDS PACKING WITH HEALTHY SCHOOL LUNCHES
We all know about the time-tested PB & J, and the classic turkey sandwich. But here are a few other creative ideas that might bounce you and your kids out of your school lunch rut this year. If your kids have any other healthy school-lunch favorites, I’d love to hear what they are!:- Turkey or salami and Swiss cheese on wheat bread; sliced turkey or ham, red bell pepper strips, and Cheddar cheese wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla, with mayonnaise or spicy mustard; or tuna or chicken salad with whole grain crackers.
- Leftovers like pasta salad, tortellini with tomato sauce, pizza, cooked chicken, turkey sausage or steak—kids don’t seem to mind eating them cold
- Whole grain bagel or rice cakes with natural peanut butter or cream cheese for extra protein.
- Baby carrots, celery, sliced cucumbers and pita chips with ranch dressing or hummus.
- All varieties of fresh fruit—cut up apples, mango, oranges and other hard to eat fruit, if needed.
- Popcorn (a delicious whole grain), alone or mixed with raisins and nuts, or whole grain tortilla chips and salsa (look for a brand without added sugar) or black bean dip.
- Low fat vanilla yogurt with fresh fruit and granola or instant oatmeal (Keep them separate and let your child combine them at lunch).
- Proteins like low fat cheese sticks or cubes, hard-boiled eggs, diced tofu marinated with teriyaki sauce, nuts or chickpeas.
And here are some other creative ideas from Scramble subscribers. (Thanks to Diana Molavi, Rebecca Pilot, Dionne Kumpe, and Monica Smith for their creative infusions!):
- Sliced apple with a tiny container of peanut butter, or dip pretzels, carrots, celery and apples in Dionne Kumpe’s homemade peanut butter yogurt dip (a 3 to 1 ratio of creamy honey soynut or peanut butter and low-fat vanilla yogurt.)
- Edamame – steamed with a little sea salt, or cucumber (or any veggie) slices with ranch
- Mash 1/2 an avocado with a little salt for guacamole with tortilla chips
- Homemade trail mix with dried fruit, almonds, cashews, and sesame sticks and/or Dried fruit (without sulfur dioxide) – think more than raisins: prunes, cherries, blueberries, apples, etc.
- Homemade cereal mix with crunchy, hi-fiber cereals, look for cereals with at least 5 g. fiber and no more than 5 g. sugar and not too many ingredients you can’t pronounce!
- An Egg Muffin: Lightly toast one English muffin and top it with a slice of cheese. Make the egg patty by beating one egg with a dash of milk and a sprinkle of salt or Parmesan cheese. Microwave, lightly covered, for about one minute in a small, shallow bowl. The egg gets cooked into a perfect disk, which can be placed between the halves of the muffin.
- Subscriber Monica Smith recommends The Laptop Lunch bentoware reusable lunch containers www.laptoplunches.com. “These containers are soooo cute. One of the little containers is just the right size to hold salad dressing, hummus, peanut butter, etc. There is even a water bottle that fits into this lunchbox so we are generating zero waste.”