Knock! Knock!
Who’s there?
Orange…Orange who?
Orange you glad it’s lunchtime?!?!
I recently asked Finnley, my sweet “seven-and-three-fourths”-year-old niece, what she liked best about second grade. This smart, strong girl informed me her favorite “classes” were recess and lunchtime. She clearly takes after her aunt! I’m all about food and playtime. When I asked her to tell me more about school lunch, she told me she takes turns eating from the school lunch line and bringing a sack lunch from home. She and her mom review the school lunch menu to decide which days she gets to pack her Hello Kitty lunch bag.
“I like to pack my own lunch; it’s one of my best responsibilities,” she explained. “I sometimes make a summer sausage sandwich and I like to take Gogurt.”
Finnley’s excitement over her Hello Kitty lunches took me back to the days when my girls let me help them pack their lunches. I’m a huge proponent of the school lunch line so it was an occasional treat for them to bring lunch from home. When they did “brown bag” it, I tried to pack wholesome foods in a clever way. I’d choose green foods for St. Patrick’s Day and creepy-crawly foods for Halloween. To pump up the spook-factor, I’d make “ants on a log” (celery, peanut butter and raisins), “eyeballs” (grapes) and “worms” (cold pasta salad). I’d toss a few plastic spider rings in the bottom of the bag for them to share with friends. Sometimes they’d come up with a theme of their own. I remember a “snow” theme where all the foods were white (turkey and white cheese on white bread, cauliflower and ranch dip, and marshmallows). They loved the challenge of coming up with themed foods and preparing their own meals. I liked the opportunity it provided to engage them in conversations about good nutrition.
Trade Up for Better Lunches
Speaking of nutrition, the NuVal nutritional scoring system makes shopping for nutritious sack lunch supplies a snap! NuVal factors in more than 30 nutrients to score foods from 1-100. Just trade up when you can by selecting higher scoring foods. Use NuVal to select a better bag of groceries, like high-scoring whole grain breads, tortillas and crackers or a rainbow of fresh fruits and vegetables. From cereals to soups, and snack bars to apple sauce, give NuVal a try today and simplify your supermarket shopping.
Six Tips to Pack a Lunch They’ll Actually Eat
1. Get a cool lunch bag
Everybody knows that a terrific lunch bag is where it’s at. The day’s of brown paper bags are over. From camo to Disney (and everything in between!) kids can choose lunch bags that reflect their unique personalities while toting tasty lunches to school.
2. Keep hot things hot and cold things cold
Invest in some reusable cooler packs to keep perishable foods at safe temperatures. Buy a small, leak-proof, insulated storage container (a.k.a. Thermos) to send hot soups, pastas, and casseroles.
3. Sneak in a surprise
Brighten your child’s day by slipping a handwritten note, a cartoon, a clever riddle, or a silly joke (Knock, Knock, anyone?) into his or her lunch bag. Use a Sharpie to write on bananas and draw faces on oranges. Shop clearance racks for fun napkins, straws or trinkets to add flair to mealtime.
4. Forget the B-O-L-O-G-N-A sandwich
Mixing things up keeps lunchtime interesting and inspires kids to try new foods. Instead of a boring sandwich, try kabobs! Skewer cubes of lean deli meats and cheeses with cubes of whole grain bread, cherry tomatoes, veggie slices and spinach leaves. Add a mini-fruit kabob of skewered red and green grapes and blueberries to round out the meal. Try rolling some “sushi” out of tortillas, deli meat, cheese and veggie strips. And, remember kids love build-your-own meals. Pack build-your-own mini pizzas or tacos or send a homemade (meaning healthier!) Lunchables kit with whole grain crackers, lean meats, cheeses and thinly-sliced vegetables.
5. Involve your kids in the process
Whether it’s choosing which days to pack a lunch, making a grocery list together, or selecting a theme (Green Eggs and Ham, anyone?), make it a teachable moment. They’ll be responsible for making good food choices throughout their lives, why not help them learn the basics now?
6. Pick a theme—add some fun
Let creativity shine with cleverly themed lunches. Here are some ideas to pack more fun (and nutrition) into lunchtime:
Breakfast for Lunch
Always a hit! Just pack your child’s favorite breakfast foods.
- cold cereal or granola (they can get milk at school)
- oatmeal (either warm in a Thermos or try Refrigerator Oatmeal in a Mason Jar)
- yogurt parfait (build-your-own style with toppings like berries, coconut, mini chocolate chips, nuts)
- fresh fruit, berries, raisins
- fried egg sandwich or hard boiled egg
- homemade breakfast cookies
You Are My Sunshine Lunch
Think yellow foods or anything related to the sun.
- Sunbutter sandwich
- boiled egg
- egg salad sandwich
- yellow pepper slices
- corn (keep it warm in a Thermos)
- banana
- pineapple chunks
- galia melon cubes
ABCs for Lunch
Pick a meal where the foods all start with the same letter.
- alphabet soup, apple, almond butter…
- banana, burrito, blueberries, bagel…
- chili, carrots, cucumber, chicken wrap…
- pickle roll-ups, peaches, pizza, pumpkin seeds…
- spaghetti, salad, strawberries, soup, sandwich…
Polka-Dot Lunch
Think small circles.
- Mini bagel sandwiches or circular cookie cutter sandwiches
- fruit salad of green and red grapes, fresh blueberries
- cherry tomatoes
- carrot and cucumber circles (slices)
- cookie
- don’t forget a polka-dot napkin to complete the theme
Orange You Glad It’s Lunchtime?
Another color-themed lunch that packs good nutrition and good times.
- tomato soup
- Goldfish crackers or other higher NuVal scoring orange-colored crackers
- orange tortilla wrap
- marble cheese stick or cheddar slices
- orange pepper slices
- carrot sticks
- roasted red pepper hummus
- orange or clementine
For more fun lunch box ideas, please visit the BLEND Pinterest page.
Do you have suggestions to add to the list? We’d love to hear your creative lunch ideas. Please share them in the comment section. Thanks.
Have a healthy day!
Kelly
This is a guest post by Kelly Radi. Passionate about food and nutrition, Kelly is a freelance writer, NuVal expert, former BLEND employee, and current BLEND advocate. A wife and mother of 2 teenagers, Kelly lives in Sartell where she is often spotted at Coborn’s scouring the shelves in search of the best NuVal scores. She enjoys cooking, playing tennis, and sitting down with a good book. She can be reached at radi.to.write@gmail.com.
The opinions expressed in this blog are the opinions of the writer and not the opinions of NuVal LLC, Coborn’s, Inc., BLEND, and the CentraCare Health Foundation. Read more “Peek Into Kelly’s Kitchen” blogs, here!
