Being a parent is not an innate skill. You have to learn to juggle family obligations, combine work and family, and also manage the little details that are constantly added to your list of daily tasks.
Preparing lunch boxes is one of these tasks. And because most moms want to give their children varied lunches that will help them make the most of their school days, they have a lot of nutrition questions about what lunch boxes should contain.
So today I am answering 3 of these questions:
1- What?s a nutritious lunch box snack?
It?s a snack containing food which provides the child with nutrients: proteins, vitamins and minerals, fibres, etc. You should try to limit treats that provide mostly sugar, fat and calories, such as chocolate bars. A few suggestions:
- a fruit salad
- homemade oatmeal cookies
- raw veggies with a dip
- Coolision yogurt
- a whole-wheat muffin
- a milk drink box
2- My child isn?t very fond of vegetables. How can I make them part of his lunch box and be sure that they are not brought back home at the end of the day?
The easiest way is to make them part of his main meal, in a form that is hard to pick out. For example, you can prepare a main-dish soup with diced vegetables, use a sandwich spread that has chopped vegetables in it, camouflage vegetables in a spaghetti sauce, or offer a main-dish salad composed of a variety of vegetables, pasta and cooked chicken. Avoid adding too many snack foods to his lunch box; this way, he?ll have to eat his main dish containing vegetables to satisfy his hunger.
3- How can I avoid serving the endless lunch-meat sandwich to my child who doesn?t have access to a microwave oven?
The options are numerous! You can serve a hot lunch using the good old thermos bottle method. Don?t forget to preheat it for 5 minutes with boiling water and then add the food immediately afterwards. A main-dish salad is also an easy solution; choose a grain product as a base (rice, couscous, pasta, quinoa), add meat or a meat substitute (chicken, tofu, eggs, chickpeas, tuna), and then a good helping of vegetables. You?ve got a complete and delicious meal! Finally, you can transform the classic sandwich into a wrap, a cold burger (pieces of cooked pork with cheese and condiments) or a pita spread with peanut butter and wrapped around a banana. Your imagination is your best guide to creating varied and delicious lunches that will delight your children.
Source: http://blog.danone.ca/healthy-eating/answers-to-your-lunch-box-questions/
