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Today is my son’s first day back to school! This summer just flew by. Well, sending him back to school today also meant making his lunch. And I had to give that some thought and go shopping earlier this week. Making sure he had healthy lunches with minimal waste and minimal cost was a challenge I liked.
School lunches cost more each year. Schools offer plenty of options but not all of them are healthy. But even parents that qualify for state free lunch programs are finding that there are still costs involved when their children are served up unhealthy foods. Making your child’s school lunch is an economical, and healthier, alternative. Luckily is not a hard task either.
Kids like school lunches because they are provided with a variety of choices. Homemade lunches can offer the same varieties but with a smaller price tag. I am very proud of the fact that my son prefers the lunches I make and so do his fellow students and his teachers! A bit of time planning, shopping for the best deals, and a little prep time is all it takes.
First, ask your children about their favorite lunchtime meals. If you send foods that your children enjoy, you are more likely to elicit their cooperation when its time to help pack and eat the lunches. I know this is true in my case. I even let my son make portions of his own lunch meal.
If your child likes foods that need refrigeration, be sure to purchase an ice pack for their lunch and an insulated lunch bag. You could do what I do which is slip in a nifty little fruit shaped ice pack from my favorite bento eBay store.
Fresh fruit offers a sugar boost that is better than a candy bar. Include a cup of fresh strawberries, apples, oranges, or whatever fruit is in season. They can even be frozen, which will make sure they are cool and delicious by lunch time. If they need more sweetness, add a cup of yogurt to use as a fruit dip.
Kids won’t eat anything that requires too much work. Cut their peanut butter and jelly sandwich into bite-sized pieces for easier handling or cut off the crust if they don’t like it. Use a cookie cutter to make interesting shapes. If your kids are older and health-conscious, serve a turkey and veggie delight in pita bread. Soft chicken tacos or ham roll-ups are delicious also.
Bento boxes with different compartments are a great for serving up last night’s leftovers for today’s lunch. Throw in a slice of meatloaf and a bit of leftover corn on the cob from the previous night, and add some fresh fruitvoila! There are even some cool looking bento lunch boxes for older kids.
One incredibly simple thing my son loves is hard boiled eggs and I have found a way to make even that interesting. I use egg molds to change the shape of an egg into that of a car, bear, bunny, or fish. He just loves them. I put together a quick tutorial for you at the bottom of this post.
If your kids don’t want the traditional milk at lunch, they may make a trip to the soda machine. To avoid this, invest in bottles of fruit juices. I buy juices in bulk and use Klean Kanteen or Sigg bottles to cut down on waste. Make sure that the juices are 100% juice with no sugar added. Whole Foods also has organic chocolate and vanilla milk boxes that are loved by my kids.
If you have a Costco nearby then pick up some of that same organic chocolate milk there to save almost $3.00 on a dozen. Some other Costco favorites for school lunches in our household are Fruitabu smooshed organic fruit rolls (another HUGE savings), organic stone wheat crackers that taste yummy with jam, organic peanut butter and jelly, and organic granola bars. We also buy their big containers of grapes and freeze them for school lunches.
Save money on utensils and napkins buy giving them REAL tableware and cloth napkins. The Laptop Lunchbox system comes with a fork and spoon and an ideal place for a cloth napkin.
School lunches can be delicious, nutritious, and more affordable if they are made at home. Why not give it a try?
Technorati Tags: school lunch, bento, laptop lunchbox, healthy lunch, frugal lunch
amygeekgrl (Crunchy Domestic Goddess) said,
August 22, 2007 at 3:15 pm:
what a fun, informative post! my dd is starting preschool in 2 wks and i need to figure out good lunch ideas for her. i love the bento boxes, but don’t have one yet. might have to invest.
Carrie said,
August 22, 2007 at 4:12 pm:
Tiffany my kids all LOVE hardboiled eggs, and now (thanks to our chickens!) we get tons of free range eggs free, we eat them a lot.
I had no idea you could make those cute little shapes like that though! You are too clever girl
Abigail said,
August 22, 2007 at 7:39 pm:
Cute post! Fortunately the school lunches here in Japan are subsidized and are extremely healthy, so I won’t have to worry about that when our little Matthew is old enough for school. I would say 99.99% of the kids eat the school lunch rather than bringing their own.
By the way, I saw your comment about meatloaf and corn on the cob, and thought your readers might like to see an example of a bento with meatloaf and corn over at Bento Yum that I posted a week or so ago. (http://www.bentoyum.com/?p=158)
Cheers, and happy lunch making!
Jen @ One Moms World said,
August 23, 2007 at 2:51 am:
Just the post I needed. I have been grabbing those Amy organic meals from Target but I can’t give them to her everyday.
Sharon@New Urban Mom said,
August 23, 2007 at 9:50 am:
That is the most beautiful looking lunch! I needed some ideas for my teens who are going back in a week. They hate the cafeteria food and we decided this year we’d make an effort to make our own healthy lunches on a REGULAR basis. This is a great post full of good ideas for moms. I really enjoy your blog!
How to Solve Money Worries said,
August 24, 2007 at 8:17 am:
[...] Washko presents Healthy, Fun, Frugal School Lunches posted at Natural Family Living [...]
melanie said,
August 24, 2007 at 11:08 am:
We use the Laptop Lunches system, and I absolutely love it. Well designed and it holds up to everyday use very well. I highly recommend it!
Making lunches is a bit frustrating because I have an extremely picky eater and I am constantly trying to come up with creative yet frugal lunches. I love all the ideas at http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/ but unfortunately my kids are not adventurous enough to try some of the foods. I would love to see a post dedicated to lunch ideas… foods that travel well from home to school and that will stay fresh for a few hours with a cold pack; clever ideas for presentation; healthy snacks?
melanie said,
August 24, 2007 at 2:57 pm:
I was going to mention vegan lunchbox too which I find very inspiring for my OWN lunches even though I’m not a vegan.
Carnival of Money, Growth & Happiness #15 | Credit Card Lowdown said,
August 27, 2007 at 1:23 am:
[...] Washko presents Healthy, Fun, Frugal School Lunches posted at Natural Family Living [...]
Raising A Healthy Family » Carnival Of Family Life Has It All said,
August 27, 2007 at 10:15 am:
[...] Healthy and Frugal School Lunches by NatureMoms [...]
Sandier Pastures — desert living, Dubai style said,
August 28, 2007 at 2:32 am:
[...] Washko provides tips to prepare Healthy, Fun, Frugal…School Lunches at Nature Moms. Make your children’s first day of school extra-special by making creative [...]
Joanna said,
August 28, 2007 at 8:17 am:
I like the idea of bento lunches, but haven’t tried it, and I’m running out of creative ideas for packing lunches for hubby & I for work- thanks for the reminder!
Summer said,
August 28, 2007 at 8:38 am:
Thanks for this very informative post!
Maggie said,
August 28, 2007 at 8:57 am:
I love bento style lunches and use them often, but I have never seen those egg molds before, how cute!
And Miles To Go.... said,
August 28, 2007 at 11:10 am:
what a great idea!!
Stephanie said,
August 29, 2007 at 2:49 pm:
I never knew you could mold boiled eggs. How cool!
casual friday everyday said,
September 2, 2007 at 10:26 am:
I loved the video, too! Very neat little boogers. I know my son would love eggs shaped like a car or animal. heck, maybe i would a little, too
The Fifteenth Healthy & Fit Family said,
September 4, 2007 at 8:47 am:
[...] Nature Mom is packing a healthy lunch box. [...]
Carey said,
October 6, 2007 at 12:21 pm:
We just bought our daughter a laptop lunch box due to your suggestion and she is the envy of the lunch room and many mothers have asked where we heard about it. We love it.
gifts said,
February 27, 2008 at 5:08 pm:
Man, your kids are lucky. All I would get for school was a tomato and cheese sandwich, which would get placed at the back of my schoolbag and squashed during the day (I had no lunch box.) Then, by lunch time, I would grab the sandwiches and have to deal with tomato-soggy bread. Yuck! Eventually, I gave up and rather went hungry until I got back from school at about 3pm. Although I would be starved, at least I didn’t have to endure soggy sandwiches every day. And at least I could make my own lunch and ensure I got what I liked!
Framed Art paintings said,
April 24, 2008 at 7:57 am:
Preparing lunches and food for our kids is really tough. The challenge is to be able to prepare REAL food for them. That definitely requires some of our time but absolutely worth it. The problem is that the more that we want our kids to benefit from the nutrition provided by REAL food the more that they prefer junk food. How do we make our kids love REAL food?