Sep. 9

Healthy Lunchbox Challenge

It’s that time of year again—back to school! I know as busy mammas keeping our kids on track with healthy meals can be a challenge. Below are some practical tips, tricks, and creative lunch ideas to make packing nutritious meals a breeze. Focus on building well-balanced lunches that include protein, healthy fats, and fibre from nuts, vegetables and whole grains. Use these tips to ensure your kids stay nourished and energized throughout the school day.

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Tons of people ask me what I feed my kids for lunch and today I decided it would be a great idea to create a blog post about it!  I try my hardest to feed my kids CLEAN food as much as possible, but there are absolutely days when I’m short on time and give them money to buy lunch from the school cafeteria or if you have one in high school, whatever fast food is nearby. Definitely not my proudest moments, but some days it’s just about survival!

Here's a couple things to keep in mind when putting together a clean lunch for your kids:

  1. High protein foods will help kids stay fuller longer.  Hard boiled eggs, meat, cheese, Greek yogurt (without added sugar and other junk), chia pudding, avocado, bananas, nuts, seeds, natural nut or seed butters, hummus, black beans, lentils, and even spinach, broccoli, and quinoa are all examples of high protein foods that my kids enjoy. Make sure to put some of those high protein ingredients in every lunch!

  2. If you are wanting to focus on CLEAN eating lunches for your kids, try to stay away from processed meats like hot dogs, bologna, ham, sausages, and lunch meat. I like to pre-cook a couple of chicken or turkey breasts on a Sunday to have on hand, ready to slice. You can also freeze pre-cooked, sliced meat in the freezer so it’s ready to go. 

  3. Buy organic as much as possible. Eating Organic foods is the best way to minimize the toxins found in many food products from overuse of pesticides and herbicides. If organic is unavailable, soak the vegetables and fruit in water with a tablespoon of vinegar to ensure any buildup is removed. Please see the resource for organic growers in your area.  CANADIAN ORGANIC FARMS

  4. Have fun teaching your kids how to love their bodies and their health through clean food! I know it's not always easy to do, but I also know that it's SO NECESSARY!

HERE IS MY A-Z LIST OF KID FRIENDLY CLEAN EATING LUNCH IDEAS

  • Apple slices with organic nut butter to dip

  • Applesauce--Organic & Unsweetened

  • Avocado (goes great on anything)

  • Bananas

  • Berries

  • Brown Rice Cakes (with a nut butter, hummus, or cream cheese and veggies for the top)

  • Brown Fried Rice with Broccoli

  • Buffalo Chicken Nuggets --homemade, breaded with oatmeal

  • Carrot sticks (with hummus or cream cheese to dip)

  • Celery (with nut butter. raisins, cranberries, or cream cheese on top or to dip)

  • Cheese sticks

  • Cherry Tomatoes

  • Chia Pudding 

  • Chickpeas - Roasted (they're crunchy & yummy!)

  • Cranberries (Dried)

  • Cucumber slices (with hummus or cream cheese to dip)

  • Dates

  • Dried Fruit

  • Dried Seaweed (crunchy)

  • Fruit Bars (make sure they don't have added sugar or preservatives...I like the “That’s It” brand--available at costco or amazon. 

  • Fruit Salad

  • Grapes (organic if possible)

  • Greek Yogurt (Full-Fat/Plain without added sugar and junk) with fruit, nuts, and honey in it

  • Guacamole - clean with fresh ingredients (use veggies, brown rice cakes, or brown rice chips to dip)

  • Hard Boiled eggs 

  • Kiwi

  • Melon (Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Honeydew, etc)

  • Honey (organic local honey)

  • Hummus

  • Nectarines

  • Nuts and Seeds-Raw (almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, shelled sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, etc)

  • Nut Butters (peanut, almond, cashew, etc)

  • Oranges

  • Peaches

  • Pickles

  • Raisins

  • Spinach (I try to put raw baby spinach in everything I can--sandwiches, wraps, burritos, salads, etc)

  • Sprouts 

  • Trail Mix (make it clean/with dried fruits and nuts maybe a tad bit of DARK chocolate)

  • Veggie Roll with brown rice 

  • Wrap (using hummus, cream cheese, or mustard plus veggies/protein of choice--don't forget to add spinach and use a whole grain tortilla)