Healthy Lunches For Kids
Think Like a Kid
Recipes
A healthy lunch includes foods from at
least 3 of the 4 food groups from Canada's
Food Guide to Healthy Eating. Parents want lunches to be healthy, convenient,
affordable and most of all eaten and enjoyed
by their children, while kids want something that is fun, appealing,
tastes good and is approved of by their
friends.
Think Like a Kid...
Kid's Choice
- Involve children in the planning and
preparation – they're more likely to eat
their lunch that way. Put a copy of Canada's
Food Guide on the fridge and encourage
your children to include lunch foods from
at least 3 of the 4 food groups.
Variety
Add variety to delicious sandwiches.
- Use a cookie cutter to make interesting
star, animal or heart shapes
- Try a variety of breads (e.g. wholegrain,
rye, roti, enriched or cheese flavoured
breads, rolls, bagels, English muffins
or pita bread)
- Mini pitas stuffed
with meat, vegetable or cheese fillings
- A filled roti or tortilla wrap, cut
into small pieces
- Flavoured cream cheese on whole-wheat
melba toast, bagel chips, crackers or
rice cakes
Cool Foods
Children like to eat foods cold that
adults wouldn't imagine doing.
- Cold leftover pizza, chicken fingers,
fish sticks
- Cold pasta or cold macaroni and cheese
with tuna, sliced meat or extra cheese
- Mini-kabobs with cubed meat, cheese,
sweet peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes,
grapes, melon or kiwi
Leftovers
Lunch can be leftovers or even a breakfast
type of meal.
- Meat or vegetable stew
- Chilli con carne
- Leftover pancakes or waffles, preferably whole-wheat.
Pre-Packaged and Easy
- Include a small treat or an occasional
pre-packaged lunch item if that is important
to your child.
Although most children love fruit, at
lunch they may not have the patience or
time to peel fruit.
- Pack small bite size pieces of fruit
like grapes, pineapple chunks, strawberries,
cherries or pieces of melon
- Send containers of applesauce or canned
fruit
- Cut oranges into wedges
- Halve kiwis and include a spoon to
scoop out the flesh
- Make a small cut into banana stems
for easier peeling
- Pack fruit into protective plastic
containers to prevent bruising
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Tips
- Prevent soggy sandwiches by putting lettuce,
tomatoes or other vegetables in a container
or small plastic bag for your kids to
add at lunchtime
- For extra flavour send individual ketchup
or mustard packages like the kind you
get at a fast-food outlet
Food Safety Checklist
- Keep sandwiches in an insulated lunch bag with a freezer pack or a frozen juice or milk container
- Chill all lunch bag items before putting them in the bag
- Freeze sandwiches overnight. They'll thaw by lunchtime but stay cold and safe.
- Pre-heat a thermos® with very hot or boiling water before filling with steaming hot food like soup, stew, spaghetti, chilli or baked beans
- Make sure lunch boxes, insulated lunch bags, containers and cutlery are washed every day in hot soapy water
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Revised:
June 25, 2010
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