Pack a Healthy Lunch!
One of my goals for the new school year is to NOT give our daughter sandwiches three days out of five in her lunch box.
While menu planning has helped me a lot, I do need plenty of ideas and inspiration to come up with something that is fast, easy-to-make, affordable and healthy.
Yes, I know that is a lot to expect from a school lunch. But, that’s me! **laughing**
Anyways, whenever I’m stuck for ideas for anything, I turn to my favorite place- the Internet. More often than not, I find what I’m looking for. Don’t you all?
So, here are 20 Days {those are the number of actual school days in a month for our daughter} of Inspiration and Ideas for Healthy, Wholesome, School Lunches for Preschoolers from some of my favorite places online:
Note: Most of the posts have lots of ideas, so you’ll actually end up with way more lunch box menus than just 20!
1. Budget-Friendly School Lunches { Life as Mom}
2. Lunch Box Ideas: Entrees, Side Items and Special Treats { This Chick Cooks}
3. Quick Snack Ideas for a Busy School Year {Denver Bargains}
4. Lunch Box Ideas {Chef Mom}
5. The Art of Back-to-School Lunches {Food for My Family}
6. Balanced School Lunches for Picky Eaters { Simple Bites}
7. Lunch Box Ideas {Allrecipes}
8. Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies {Baking Bites} Note: All the other cookies, too, at the site are winners but since am looking for healthy, too, this was my first choice.
9. Back to School Snacks {Goodlife Eats}
10. Back-to-School Lunches that Kids will Love {Real Simple}
11. Back to School Treats {The Cutting Back Kitchen}
12. Homemade Granola and Granola Bars {Kitchen Stewardship} This one has me covered for both breakfast and the lunchbox!
13. Easy Breakfast Ideas with Real Food { Keeper of the Home} Most of them can easily be adapted for the lunch box.
14. Better School Lunches {Good Housekeeping}
15. Bento Box Basics for Back-to-School {Alpha Mom}
16. Snacks for Kids {This Lunch Rox} I’ve just linked to the page with the recipes for snacks but This Lunch Rox has plenty of inspiration for bento boxes as well. So, do explore.
17. Bento on a Budget { Frugal Family Fun Blog}
18. Healthy Lunch Box Ideas {Fresh for Kids}
19. Fun Finger Foods {Parents magazine} Can easily be adapted to jazz up the lunchbox.
20. Yummy Lunch Box Gallery{Easy Lunch Boxes} One of my favorite eco-friendly lunch box solutions, this is a compilation of lovely photos to show you how to pack your Easy Lunchbox with easy, healthy ideas.
Do you have any back-to-school lunch box ideas? Do share
Don’t forget to check out the other posts this month to help make back-to-school better and brighter!
Prepare Your Home for a Happy School Season
Frugal Hacks for Back-to-School Shopping
Tips for Rush-Free, Stress-Free School Mornings
After-School Play Dates, Activities and the Work-at-Home Mom
Health Tips for Toddlers: Keeping Kids Healthy at School
How to Teach Your Toddler to Deal with Social Rejection
Photo Credit: Bruce Tuten
Fruit and raw cheese is probably one of the easiest, healthiest lunches you can throw together in a snap.
Emily recently posted..WIG Episode 6: Why You Need Financial Independence
Hi Emily, that is true. Its quick and healthy. My challenge is getting our daughter to eat her apples and not just the cheese. LOL.
When you say “raw cheese”, do you mean Cottage Cheese or something else?
you can try making apple & cheese skewers (alternate cubed apple pieces and cheese). works for my kids!
Laura @ MOMables recently posted..Picky Eaters: A Texture Problem
Thank you for all the resources! I plan a week’s worth of lunches for my family. Home made, fresh, and I use it as an opportunity to introduce (read sneak in) a few new foods now and then.
Great list! I just did one on my site too:
http://www.snack-girl.com/snack/top-lunch-box-snacks/
I hope it is helpful.
Snack Girl recently posted..Nature Valley Granola Thins: Are These What Nature Intended?
Hi Prerna,
Thanks for always providing awesome info…this is a GREAT list of resources that parents can use for the entire year. I”m going to tweet this and share with everyone!
Viivan Kirkfield recently posted..Show-Me-How Story-time with Miss Vivian Travels to Chicago
You’ve gotta check out http://www.laptoplunches.com. They’ve got a full online menu library and you can sign up to get weekly menus sent to you. You’ll be hooked!
I wish I had this list of lunch box ideas when my son was younger. As Laura said, it is helpful to plan out the lunches in advance. This makes sure you are in the mindset to be a little creative and have the needed food on hand when it is time to do the preparation and packing.
Roger @ lunch box ideas recently posted..Lunch Box Meal Ideas That Tick
Wow, this is such a great list! I couldn’t have found it at a better time, either . . . feel like we’re all in that spring rut of sandwiches and too many bready lunches. Thanks for this great resource, I will be sure to check out the links soon.