From House To Home

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Packing a healthy lunch is one thing, but getting your kids to eat it can be quite another. The good news is if you are willing to think outside the box when it comes to your kids’ meals, you’ll have them cleaning their lunch boxes in no time.

Top nutritional experts agree that the key to getting kids to eat healthily is to involve them in shopping for what goes into their lunches. Bring your children with grocery shopping and allow them to make choices. For example, let them select the fresh fruit and vegetables that strike their fancy.

Also, kids respond to colors, so try to train them to eat at least one orange, red, and green food each day and then let them make food choices according to color. Ask them, “Would you like carrot sticks or an orange today? Green pepper strips or a Granny Smith apple?”

Other tricks to insure that your carefully prepared lunch doesn’t end up in the trash can include making lunch fun. There doesn’t need to be a choice between good for you and fun for you. Instead of a plain old PB&J sandwich, for example, jazz it up a bit by using cookie cutters to carve the bread into exciting shapes such as dinosaurs or dragons, flowers or butterflies. Disguise a regular piece of celery by naming it an “ant log” and placing peanut butter inside with raisins on top. Keep in mind that it is easy for kids to ignore whole fruit, but if it is diced or sliced, then eating it becomes a lot easier. Take that a step further with tricks such as placing sliced apples in a baggie and sprinkling them with cinnamon—it’s like apple pie in a bag!

If you’re growing tired of packing the same-old, same-old sandwiches, imagine how tired your child is of eating them. Instead, try a pita pocket or tortilla wrap sandwich. Experiment by filling a “pocket” with diced veggies and turkey or by rolling Swiss cheese and ham into a delicious wrap.

As far as beverages go, nutritionists warn that packing a sugary beverage can easily ruin an otherwise healthy lunch. Overall, kids don’t drink enough water. So try this easy tip: place a small bottle of water in the freezer overnight. Take it out in the morning and place it in the bottom of the lunch box. It will serve to keep lunch cool, and by the time the lunch hour rolls around, it will be thawed enough to drink.

Angela Kolden is a freelance writer who has been chasing the dream of packing the perfect lunch for 12 years.

Healthy Snacks To Avoid

In today’s market, numerous snacks are marketed to be healthy when they are anything but. Here are some “healthy” snacks to avoid.

Cereal bars— Many contain 40 percent sugar and 30 percent fat.
“Real” fruit snacks— They can contain as much as 63 percent sugar.
Fruit juices— Avoid unless they are 100 percent juice.