School Lunch Ideas
By Aaron Gallegos, MSN, AGACNP-BC, FMCAC
Packing lunch for your kids can be simple, nutritious, and fun!
Here are some ideas for bento lunch boxes.
-Baby carrots with hummus (Chilled lunchbots)
-Celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins
-Tuna salad-celery bits sandwich (Chilled lunchbots)
-Raw sliced apples with sprinkled cinnamon
-Hummus with chips (Chilled lunchbots)
-Broccoli florets with hummus
-Siete tortilla-Miyoko cheese-turkey roll-ups (Chilled lunchbots)
-Sliced strawberries with cinnamon
-Grilled cheese sandwich (Chilled lunchbots)
-Cheese sticks (Chilled lunch bots)
-Chicken nuggets (Lunchbots)
-Mixed nuts
-Mixed berries (Chilled lunchbots)
Nut-butter sandwiches: Except for nut allergies, a nut-butter sandwich is by far one of the easiest and most convenient snacks to pack for your kids’ lunch. A nut-butter sandwich is packed with healthy fats, proteins, and phytonutrients, and you can easily add sliced strawberries, bananas, and even a bit of honey, which will make an ideal snack and even lunch for school.
I know we all want our kids to learn how important fiber and phytonutrients are in the food we as parents give them. So, I wanted to remind us all of some inexpensive and colorful lunch fillers to help our kids get the nutrition they need as they grow. Think of broccoli, baby carrots, seaweed, red sweet bell peppers, blueberries, blackberries, and even kale chips to be part of your kid’s lunch. Sliced apples with sprinkled cinnamon are also a great choice. Fresh and seasonal fruit is a great way to get phytonutrients and macronutrients.
Remember to have fun and avoid feeling like it is a chore. It is perfectly fine to get left over for lunch from the night before. Some leftovers such as chicken nuggets, pasta, soup, and even pizza are great choices. However, remember to have your themo-lunchbot available to avoid bacterial growth. Keep hot food items hot and cold food items cold.
It may be a good practice to have your children pack their own lunch. In doing so, your kids will learn responsibility in choosing something they like to eat. My daughter, for example, likes to slice her own apples and sprinkle plenty of cinnamon on them. My son loves to slice his red bell peppers with hummus on the side, well most of the time. Other times they both like to make oatmeal with cinnamon and oat milk or coconut milk. They take pride in preparing their lunch and they are more likely to eat it if they prepared it.
Aaron Gallegos is a board-certified Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. He obtained his Master of Science in Nursing degree with Honors at the University of Texas at El Paso. His long-standing medical career of over 30 years began as a US NAVY Hospital Corpsman, where he cared for service members and their families. His devotion to service and love of learning compelled him to earn his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at the University of Texas at El Paso. His diverse nursing experience, as an ER nurse for over a decade, a Cath Lab nurse, a flight nurse for a fixed-wing air ambulance, and his multiple international medical trips to Ghana and Haiti. Learn more about Aaron here.