How to Pack Healthy School Lunches and Snacks
Busy parents know that packing healthy lunches and snacks that kids will eat and not throw out or trade day after day is a challenge. For kids with food allergies – which, according to the CDC, is one in 13 kids or about two per classroom – or who attend a peanut-free school, it gets even more difficult.
Here are some tips for packing healthy and delicious allergy-friendly lunches and snacks that fuel kids’ active minds and bodies all day long.
Send a Kid-Approved Snack
There will be birthdays and celebrations in school where the snacks may not be allergy-friendly. Talk with your child’s teacher and make sure they understand his or
her dietary restrictions. Send a snack they can eat for the teacher to keep on hand for
these occasions. Or, if it’s your child’s birthday, send something delicious everyone
can enjoy together.
One to try: EnviroKidz Granola Bars and Crispy Rice Bars, the first organic,
gluten-free, peanut-free bars for kids, in tasty Chocolate Chip and Strawberry Granola
Bars and Berry Blast and Chocolate Crispy Rice Bars. The strawberry and berry
blast flavors are also dairy-free, and 1 percent of sales from all four flavors go to help
endangered species.
Make It Positive
Instead of focusing on the things your child can’t eat, focus on all of the delicious foods they can enjoy. You can look online for ideas and talk about them with your
child, involving them in the process to come up with a list of things they love. Try
gluten-free waffles instead of bread for sandwiches, nut-free butters like sunflower
seed butter, smoothies or soups in a thermos, or fruit with dairy-free yogurt for
dipping. Make sure to stock the fridge and pantry with these items so you can easily
pack lunches without stress. You can even post the list on the refrigerator and let them
choose what they want.
Go for the Gold Standard: Organic
If your little one has allergies, it’s important to think about lunches in a holistic way,not just avoiding certain foods.
“When packing allergy-friendly foods, considering the quality of all the ingredients,
not just the ones it’s ‘free of,’ is really important,” said Ashley Koff, registered
dietitian. “The easiest choice: organic ingredients, which means non-GMO, because
they give you what the body recognizes easily and avoids ingredients that can detract
from better nutrition and better health.”
Make It Fun
Just because you are avoiding certain foods doesn’t mean that lunch or snack time can’t be delicious and fun. Pack foods in a variety of colors and shapes, including
rolls and stacks. Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes and create pops, kebabs
or other easy recipes that use kid- and allergy-friendly foods and make eating a
blast. Additionally, a simple, sweet note or picture drawn on a napkin can be a nice
lunchtime surprise.
Packing lunches and snacks for kids with allergies can be a challenge, but with
some planning you can find delicious, nutritious foods your child will love. Find more
allergy-friendly recipes and lunch and snack tips at envirokidz.com.
Fruit and Granola Bar Kebabs
Serves: 8-10
4- 5 varieties of colorful fruits
Star or heart-shaped cookie cutter (optional)
1 box peanut-free EnviroKidz Granola Bars
kebab skewers
Wash and slice fruit into bite-size chunks large enough to withstand a skewer.
Use cookie cutter for fruit shape at top of kebab.
Once fruit is ready, cut up granola bars, about 3 squares each, and begin layering
kebabs.
Serve immediately.
