Jeremiah starts school again in just one short week. I really meant to get all my back to school shopping done before baby's arrival...but baby Frank had other plans...and thats all good too... (:
It seems aside from all the shopping, and making sure the kids are prepared the next big challenge is making sure they eat a healthy meal at school...would you agree?
We are pretty lucky to have a great lunch program at Jeremiah's charter school but I'll be home from work for the rest of the year so I can give baby and kids lots of snuggles... and this means we will definitely be on a budget.
Walmart recently contacted me asking me if I could share some healthy lunchbox ideas with you. They sent me a gift card to shop their assortment of healthier food options in order to create healthy lunchbox options...here's what I came up with...
chicken salad: shredded chicken, a little mayo, seasoning and a can of veggies ( I have to thank grandma for this quick, easy and yummy recipe) served with Tostada pieces.
mashed sweet potatoes
blueberries
and a sweet and salty trail mix
whole wheat tortilla rolls up's: cream cheese, avocado and deli meat of your choice rolled up in a whole wheat tortilla and cut up in rolls
berries, melon and grapes
pretzels
Salmon burger: canned salmon mixed with a little mayo, lime juice, seasoning, leaf lettuce, all in a bun
plum
graham crackers
All very easy to make.
Giveaway
To celebrate back to school, Walmart wants to send one of you a $25 gift card to help you make a healthier lunchbox for your kiddos.
Leave me a comment telling me your best tip for making a healthy lunchbox or tell me a challenge you face. I will randomly pick a winner on September 4th at 11:59pm. US only. Make sure you include your email address if not already on your profile.
*Walmart sent me a gift card to shop for this post and share with you my lunchbox ideas. All thoughts are my own. They also sent one for a giveaway. No other compensation was given.
128 comments:
My challenge is that my son doesn't like vegetables except for carrots. I always put baby carrots in his lunch, but I wish he would try celery or other vegetables.
mami2jcn at gmail dot com
School in the Southeast started back on Aug. 8th. I'd love to see school kids eat the type of lunch you suggested, but I think it would be a hard sell.
OH my gosh, these look delicious and are making me hungry for lunch at 8 in the morning, lol!!
Your pictures are making me hungry!
Our oldest just started Kindergarten this year. Since we're homeschooling, we don't have to pack her a lunch...but we still have to plan lunches daily. Some of our standbys include: grilled cheese sandwiches, salads, smoothies, fresh fruit, and quesadillas.
stephanie@metropolitanmama.net
My best tip for making a healthy lunchbox is to be sure the little ones like it and that it is good for them
i have 4 kids and they all want something different--to make it healthy for them all--i had them tell me their favorite fruit & veggie and went from there--that way, nothing got wasted at school :) Their pick--bananas and celery :)
marci h
tristatecruisers at yahoo dot com
My tip is to include your children's favorite fruits to their lunchboxes
elena150980@yahoo.com
My best tip is to make healthy food look fun! Shaping veggies and fruit into fun animals, for example, goes a long way toward making them appetizing.
my tip is make a lunch with a variety of colors involved with the foods, seems to be a good way for a nutritional lunch
my best tip for making a healthy lunchbox is to always mix things up. You can have different pieces of fruit each day.
pokergrl8 at gmail.com
my best tip for packing a healthy lunch is to pack fruit for dessert. My kids have learned to love fruit and it has just enough sweetness to satisfy their sweet teeth. Grapes, pear, apple slices with almond butter and berries are all great ideas!
Thank you for the giveaway :)
hurdler4eva(at)gmail(dot)com
My kids love sliced fruit which I usually pack for them, along with a sandwich. I rather them eat the fruit instead of buying unhealthy choices from the school. I sometimes pack a little dip with it too or a little container of yogart for them to use as a dip.
Thanks so much.
rickpeggysmith(at)aol(dot)com
One challenge I face is keeping apples from turning brown. My grandson loves to eat them but doesn't like the peel, so I have to skin it and cut them up for him but they always turn brown!
janet3rdgrade@yahoo.com
Easy, organic all the way.
A challenge I face is putting healthy food in my childrens' lunches that they actually like to eat.
rounder9834 at yahoo dot com
My tip is to include your children's favorite fruits in their lunches.
austm7@aol.com
My challenge is keeping cold foods cold
Wrgauntt@yahoo.com
My challenge is to get creative of including beans into the meal.
My biggest challenge is staying creative and making sure my family doesn't get bored with their lunches.
My daughter loves fruit so I freeze seedless green grapes so that by the time she has lunch the grapes are still cold for her
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
A mi hija le encata todo tipo de frutas y verduras y vegetales a ella no se le hara dificil incoplementar una dieta saludable. nilyrivera@yahoo.com
My daughter loves bananas so, I try to add a banana at least 2-3 per week. So, my tip is to add what you know they will actually eat that is healthy for them.
Kids will eat lots more veggies if you include a small container of dip. I like healthy ones like hummus or fat free greek yogurt.
I find it helpful to have a weekly lunch menu that the kids fill in themselves from a list of healthy items they like and will eat. Luckily, they eat just about anything so it's never been a problem. Thanks.
sweepster49 at comcast dot net
My biggest challenge is finding things that can stay at room temperature!
I make the foods interesting & fun by having lots of shapes & colors in what they have!
I like to let my daughter help me pick out her food and fruits. Because it doesn't matter how good it is for you if your child doesn't eat it.
I like to put fruit and yogurt in lunches to keep it healthy
Include fruit and veggies in the lunch.
The challenge I face is getting my daughter to eat veggies at lunch
kport207 at gmail dot com
My challenge is that my son will eat the cookie I send for dessert first!
reklaw422 at hotmail dot com
I used to make my own fruit cups for my daughter's lunch with fresh fruit (no added sugar, no preservatives) and send them in the small glad lidded containers
sksweeps (at) earthlink (dot) net
I always try to make lunch fun with different fruits and veggies with homemade dips
My challenge is finding time to make healthy lunches. s2inamug @ aim dot com
We are vegetarian so I have to make sure my son gets enough protein. Luckily he loves beans and lots of veggies.
washoekathy@ yahoo.com
I try to make it colorful and give choices
The challenge I face is that my son only likes peanut butter sandwiches and cheese sandwiches. He can't bring PB to school, so he's stuck with cheese all day.
tamarsweeps-at-gmail-dot-com
Keep it colorful and fun! Lots of variety, fun shapes, etc. Take a cookie cutter and make fun shaped sandwiches!
skyejaden at gmail dot com
I cut healthy sandwhich - chicken tuna into fancy shapes.
The kids love it!
And fresh fruit or veggies.
Thank you.
barbara dot montyj at gmail dot com
I like to mix up the colors and flavors. My challenge is making it fast and on time.
marypopmom@yahoo.com
Getting them to eat veggies. I started to put surprises in so that they would look forward to lunch time.
cgentry15952@yahoo.com
I include a variety and always a treat for the end of the lunch!
Thanks for the chance.
mogrill12@gmail.com
My daughter packs her own lunch
than ks
aunteegem@yahoo.com
always have fruit and veggies
I try to always have fruit to put into lunches.
ighmeg at yahoo dot com
My tip is to get an insulated lunch bag and some of those cold packs that you keep in the freezer. It's really important to keep some foods cold.
marcia.goss@gmail.com
By including an apple, banana or some yogurt
My 2 boys are hard to pack healthy lunches for. For some reason they love green apples though. No other kind just green. So I try to include apple slices in their lunch boxes.
Thanks for the giveaway!
eswright18 at gmail dot com
I have a hard time coming up with a variety of lunch ideas. My girls usually go back and forth between 3 things. The items aren't really all that healthy either. Thank you!
crystalfaulkner2000 at yahoo dot com
They love watermelon and I freeze the chunks so they thaw out enough by lunchtime for them to enjoy a delicious healthy sweet.
ky2here at msn dot com
What I find challenging is the peer pressure kids face in school sometimes abo0ut eating, sometimes it's not cool to eat healthy, sometimes it's not even cool to eat!
I find it challenging to include enough vegetables in my daughters lunch.
Use fast food type coffee stirrers as skewers and load them with fresh fruit and cheese chunks.
My granddaughter is Lactose intolorant, so it's a challenge trying to make sure she has enough calcium- also, we've had to inform her school & warn them not to give her milk.
writer61@yahoo.com
Letting my daughter mix up her own trail mix is always a big hit for lunches.
dolniaks at consolidated dot net
My biggest challenge is a picky eater who can change his mind in a minute about things he always liked before
Katharine D on rafflecopter
i think of the rainbow and try to include a food for each color. for example: red-apple. orange-carrots, yellow-bread, green-grapes, blue-juice, purple-jam
include a fruit every day - regnod(at)yahoo(d0t)com
I add colors to the lunches, the more colorful the more healthier
mellanhead74 at hotmail.com
Add a fruit and vegetable each day
ajoy1332 at yahoo dot com
I try to make the food look appealing to them so they hopefully will be more inclined to eat up!
cjnedrow at gmail dot com
My best tip is having variety. Kids get tired of the same things day in and day out. For a main entree not only can you do sandwiches, but you can choose from salad, soup with an insulted container, grilled chicken breast, etc. Always have a fruit and veggie as its essential to growing kids, but also add in a variety of other snacks. Instead of chips you can choose pretzels or rice cakes which are low calorie snacks that come in a variety of flavors.
darkmysticnight(at)hotmail(dot)com
My challenge is picky eaters! They don't really like vegetables that much. I always make sure they have fruits, lean meats, and water in their lunches.
Always put in fresh fruits & veggies! :)
I usually put fruit and cheeses in her lunch as well as 100% real fruit juice
Hotsnotty2@hotmail.com
My challenge is my daughter likes very few fruits and vegetables. It is very hard to pack her a healthy lunch.
thisisme79 @ gmail dot com
I try to always pack a fresh fruit.
My best tip is to pack fresh fruits and veggies each day.
chrystaljns at gmail dot com
I put in colorful fruits and veggies!
rusik76@hotmail.com
I try to put in a different fruit in their lunch from the previous day
rtrexel@gmail.com
My healthy tip would be to put things in the lunch that the child picked out. Being able to make their own lunch from healthy choices makes a child happier about their lunch.
pack their lunch with an apple, grapes, orange or other fruit
brich22 at earthlink dot net
The canned veggies may be quick but not healthy as they usually have lots of salt. Steam frozen veggies and use those instead.
april dot vrugtman at gmail dot com
When dealing with children and veggies always make it look and sound exciting! Find a way to spice things up!
Ashley Marie Morrissey
ashummz05@yahoo.com
I just try to remember 4 food groups when putting their lunches together.
Have the kids help pick and prepare the items for their lunc. Thanks for the giveaway.
President(dot)peaches(at)hotmail(dot)com
My daughter won't eat any cold veggies so that rules out veggies at lunchtime. Packing for her can be so tough.
chipdip2010(at)hotmail(dot)com
I cut up fruit and veggies on the weekend to use all week long in the lunches.
ericacarnes(at)gmail(dot)com
My tip is to get your kids involved - my son makes his shopping list and we got together and we alwasy make his lunches together. hes allowed one sugar snack - so gushers or a brownie the rest is cheese and crackers, fruits, dips and greek yogurts
Like you I love roll ups, i find i can put almost anything in a tortilla and roll it up and my kids love it! We use peanut butter in them alot since we dont eat meat
I always go for variety.
Diet Coke and lunchables. Easy
My child does not like very many vegetables, so I usually have to mix them with something sweet like applesauce.
Cut your veggies in fun shapes to make them more interesting.
jennylovesjeff (at) hotmail (dot) com
my best tip is use a frozen juice or water bottle to keep items cool.
itsjustme62613 at gmail.com
The challenge I face is that my children are much older and consider most of the traditional lunch box foods to young for them. I have trouble finding unique and tasty healthy items that they would all enjoy.
lisalmg25 at gmail dot com
I do find it hard to make their lunch new and exciting. I usually make wraps instead of normal sandwhiches. Tuna wrap, pb & j wrap veggie bacon ranch .
willdebbie97 at yahoo dot com
I let Liz choose what she wants in her lunch. That way I know she'll eat it all. I only give her healthy foods to choose from.
traymona[at]aol.com
i like to cut bell peppers and stick them in the lunch box.
rparis100@gmail.com
My challenge is packing snacks (other than fruit, yogurt, cheese, etc) that are healthy.
Peachesncream887(at)hotmail(dot)com
My best tip- using one of the principals of the bento lunch, try to have a 5 color lunch. (I don't mean from food dyes lolol). It gives you a pretty good balance.
discriminating_diva at yahoo dot com
My challenge is that one is a very picky eater. It's hard to get him to even try some things.
braaisjo at gmail dot com
My challenge is finding a healthy VARIETY!
I usually try to add in healthy extras for my kids' lunches, like yogurt or fruit.
I have to say, your trail mix looks scrumptious!
westiemks5@yahoo.com
The lunchbox is kind of small. I can't always fit everything.
My challenge is getting them to drink enough water!
lmerritt49903@gmail.com
i add fruits and water to their lunch
amy16323(at)gmail(dot)com
I try to do "lunchbox themes"
clarkmurdock@yahoo.com
Luckily my daughter likes most veggies, so I don't have trouble with it. her fave in her lunchbox is Baby Carrots.
chrissylea1979 (at)gmail(dot) com
My challange is getting enough veggies in!
ohsmiledarling(at)gmail(dot)com
I add a lot of vegetables and fruits as well as yogurts to keep lunch healthy. It's important to also mix it up so the kids don't get bored!
cassandraashleym(at)yahoo(dot)com
My challenge is keeping the lunch fresh and cool until lunch time.
Our biggest challenge is our 13 year old has refused to eat school lunch since day one so it's tough sometimes if we forgot to get bread or something and have to run out in the morning and get it before bus comes which is really early
yanktheese@yahoo.com
for a healthy lunch put berries in it, like strawberries, they taste good and they are good for you too!
susansmoaks at gmail dot com
i usually add cut up carrots or celery or any fresh fruit and they love it
ardelong2(at)gmail(dot)com
A tip is to have a 'taste test' day on the weekend...put out healthy options like veggies and fruits...an assortment of those they say they like, those they say they dont, and new ones. Have a 'review card' to rate each one. Use the review card to help pick healthy snacks for lunches
I struggle with getting veggies and fruit eaten..cookies seem to be more popular
I will pack whole wheat bread
My best tip for making a healthy lunchbox is to let my daughter help choose which foods will go into it... of course the options I give her will all be healthy choices. She always liked the fact that she has some say in it.
The biggest challenge I face is finding enough fruit and veggie options that will be eaten.
Katharina angelsandmusic[at]gmail[dot]com
Fresh strawberries are juicy and easy to eat for little kiddies. EMail: yona(at)pricelesswriters.com
A challenge I face is making it healthy and something she'd eat. She is a very picky eater but luckily she does like alot of fruit.
email/ daveshir2005@yahoo.com
My biggest challenge is getting my daughter to eat healthier foods.
s2s2 at comcast dot net
my son loves when I add in carrot sticks and celery with peanut butter
kathypease(at)gmail(dot)com
My 9 year old loves it when I take shishkebob sticks and put grapes, strawberries, and blueberries on them.
some type of fresh fruit every day!
jagar0047 at yahoo dot com
I like to pack fruit as a snack!
annemarie562000(at)yahoo(dot)com
Always get fruit packed but my challenge is the veggies the only "raw" veggie my son will eat is carrots.
schueler.jessica@yahoo.com
I pack fruits like apple slices or carrots and peanut butter to dip them in, they will eat them that way.
honeypie411 at yahoo dot com
I'm always looking for easy portable fruit & veggie options.
ccboobooy at gmail dot com
My challenge is not to get in a lunchbag rut...of the same thing.
My kids love variety in their lunches. One thing I have to avoid for school is peanut butter and anything with nuts because there is a child with a serious nut allergy at my kids school. vidomich(at)yahoo(dot)com
my favorite thing to do is bento boxes! cutting up little fruits and vegetables to make faces and shapes. he loves it and will eat things he normally wouldnt.
My nephew likes to help pack his lunch and i give him choices (grapes vs oranges, yogurt vs string cheese) so he feels more "in charge" of his own lunch!
Ttrockwood@yahoo.com
Thanks for the giveaway...our challenge is to get our kids to eat their entire lunch in the alloted time vs socializing !
senorpiero [at] yahoo [dot] com
One challenge I face is staying creative in the kitchen so that my family does not get bored with their lunch.
Mushrooms, Green Chilies and Feta Cheese in a tortilla wrap.
Thanks for the contest.
Everyone likes something different.
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