Packing your kids’ lunch isn’t an easy feat. You have to give your little ones a healthy meal before the school bus comes. This everyday rush makes it easy to repeat the same lunch, day in, day out. What if we told you there was a way out? We’ve compiled five effective hacks to relieve the stress of making a healthy lunch.
Make the most of dinner preparation time
Aside from feeding everyone at night, you can use your dinner preparation time to settle half of the next day’s school lunch. Transform the dinner ingredients into a different lunch delicacy. This way, your kid enjoys different meals but with leftovers.
For instance, if you serve roast chicken with roast potatoes and vegetables for dinner, you could keep half a chicken filet aside. Then make it into a yummy chicken and avocado wrap for your child’s packed school lunch the next day.
You should always have this at home
On those lazy mornings, you might enter into panic mode upon finding that there’s no fresh bread left for sandwiches. Making school lunch with bread is time-effective and very easy, so it’s important to have it on hand.
We recommend always keeping a ready supply of sliced bread and wraps in the freezer to preserve freshness. When making lunch, defrost them in the toaster, and make delicious sandwiches for your kids. Bread can be a lifesaver.
Put the kids to work- they’ll love it
You can’t accurately guess what snacks your kids feel like taking, so what’s better than allowing them to choose themselves? By letting your kids pick their snacks, fruits, or drink, you can be sure they’ll eat what they packed. Also, it’ll save you time.
You can keep some baskets on the kitchen counter with fruit and small bars or snack packets for them to choose from. You only have to refill the ‘snack station’ when supplies run low. This gives kids some ‘authority’ over their lunch.
Make things interesting with DIY Bento boxes
Kids love to have their food compartmentalized as they would in a Bento box. You can leverage this to make them eat a bit more. The good thing is that you can make a Bento box layout without spending extra money.
You can use silicone (or paper) bun cases to separate different foods. Just pop crackers in one bun case, cut grapes in another, cheese slices in one more, and olives in the next. This keeps the little ones interested in eating from every section.
With these containers, your kids will feel at home
Most kids don’t eat much of their packed lunch because it’s always cold; it doesn’t feel warm as it would at home. When your kid’s lunch is warm, they tend to eat more because it feels fresh. Honestly, who likes cold food?
For meals like chicken nuggets, risotto, or soups, consider buying a Thermos food jar to keep them warm. Alternatively, you could get an insulated lunch bag that keeps everything inside warm. They are affordable, so you don’t have to break your budget.
