Healthy Lunchbox Tips

On the 1st February 2022 Mum’s across Qld rejoiced as our kids finally returned to school after 8 long weeks of school holidays!

Fast forward a month and we’ve now remembered the scourge that is packing school lunches. Five. Days. A. Week. Every week. (Well except those rare but delightful weeks which reward us with a public holiday, and more recently, unexpected school closures!!) Uggh!

Firstly, let me reassure you, the mental drain associated with figuring out what to pack every day is real. And it’s exhausting. And don’t worry, even I – nutritionist extraordinaire – feel it too. So take a breath, you’re definitely not alone, the kids are still alive – you’re doing great!

So what can we do to make it easier, and up the nutrient value all at the same time? I’m going to list my top tips below (starting with the nutrition stuff; I am a nutritionist after all).

Here we go…

Know what the basic foundations are for building a healthy lunch. In our house we use the following guidelines:

• 1-2 serves vegetables

• 1 serve protein

• 1 serve fresh fruit

• Minimal sugars (and no refined sugars)

• Wholegrains, not refined grains

• Minimal ultra-processed foods

So why are these things important?

If you’re only eating vegetables at dinner time, it’s almost impossible to get the recommended 5 serves per day. That’s an awful lot of veggies to get through in one sitting! So get in the habit of including vegetables with your lunch every day (we’ll work on breakfast another time).

Lots of young kids don’t eat enough protein, so making sure they’ve got some at lunch time can help meet their daily requirements. Not only is protein needed for things like growth, muscle building and wound repairing (and really, that’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as protein uses go), but it helps to keep kids fuller for longer and keep blood sugars more stable.

Protein levels are often highest in animal products such as meat, eggs & dairy, but other sources of protein include nuts and seeds (including seed & nut butters), legumes & beans (e.g. lentils, chick peas, baked beans etc), and you can even get small amounts from wholegrains. Keep in mind that proteins derived from animal sources contain all of the essential amino acids, but plant based sources need to be combined to make sure you cover them all (e.g. if you have some seed/nut butter at lunch, have some chick peas or baked beans with dinner).

As for sugars, the reality is these days we’re nearly all eating too much sugar to be healthy in the long term. Kids experience the same sugar crashes we do when they eat foods that cause a fast spike in blood sugar (e.g. lollies, juice, biscuits, white bread, jams etc). When our blood sugar goes up quickly, our body produces a big surge of insulin to bring the levels down – but often this brings the levels down too low which is what causes those energy crashes and leads to more sugar cravings. Think back to when you last had a sugar hit, and how you felt when the energy crash followed – imagine trying to concentrate and learn new things in a busy classroom while you’re feeling like that! Er, no thanks. You will absolutely make their school day easier by keeping their blood sugars steady across the day.

Ok, so enough about the nutrition side of things, when do we get to the stuff that makes it all EASIER? So glad you asked…

Start by building a list of ideas that you can look back on when you’re floundering. Spend a few minutes brainstorming with the kids, but don’t stress yourself out trying to make a complete list from the start. You can add to it as you come across new ideas and recipes.

Here’s sneak peek at some things from our list to get you started:

• Leftovers (if you haven’t got a thermos-style food flask for your kids I strongly recommend investing in one. They don’t have to be expensive, you can get them from Kmart. These babies are a game changer! My kids LOVE having a hot stew/soup in winter, and it’s super easy to make these up in bulk once a week).

• Pesto pasta salad (download the Healthy Lunchbox Guide for the recipe)

• Meatballs

• Lentil patties (download the Healthy Lunchbox Guide for the recipe)

• Mini quiches

• Baked beans

And get the kids involved in preparing/packing their lunches. Even from Prep my kids have had to help with this process. Now they’re a bit older (9, 12 & 13), they do most of the actual packing themselves (yay!) We do this the night before so there’s no mad-rush in the mornings, because mornings are busier in our house – but figure out what works best for your schedule.

My last tip is to prioritise a little time each week to do up a quick plan (we use a whiteboard) and spend an hour or two prepping some things for it. We do this on the weekend, but you can find a time that suits your family. And again, get the kids involved! They can wash or chop some veggies, roll some meatballs, stir some pesto through the pasta etc. Trust me, if you build these skills while they’re young, before you know it they’ll be ready to take the lead in their own lunch box packing before you know it!

And now for the best bit - I’ve combined all the food/nutrition basics for a healthy lunchbox (along with a few recipes) into a downloadable Healthy Lunchbox Guide so you can keep it handy and take the stress out of planning and preparing healthy lunches! Follow the link below to grab your copy today