How to Spruce Up Your School Lunches
The school year has begun, and this means getting back into the lunch-making routine. But a midday meal doesn’t have to mean the same old peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich on pre-packaged white bread.
You want lunch for your family to be delicious, but also nutritious. Here are a few ways you can spruce up your sandwiches and snacks this year.
Get creative.
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Cooking and preparing food should be a fun experience! Even just by changing the type of bread you use in your sandwiches, you’re elevating the game. Swap out your usual choice for a ciabatta roll or crispy multigrain loaf.
You can even make a “Bento box” lunch. Include a hard-boiled egg, some celery and carrot sticks, nuts like almonds or cashews, berries and crackers. You could also include a chicken wrap loaded with feta, chopped tomato and romaine lettuce and cut that into slices. A Bento box can provide a tasty, balanced lunch. If you’re packing lunch for a child, cutting sandwich bread or fruit into fun shapes can help them look forward to mealtime.
Try these ideas from Martha Stewart: 30 Creative Bento Box Lunch Ideas Kids Will Love
Try this recipe from Bon Appétit: Fried Bologna Sandwich
Make a large lunch that the whole family can eat.
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Making separate lunches for yourself and your kids can take a lot of time. Try making a sheet pan meal with protein and veggies to save on cooking time throughout the week. If it’s cooler out, you can make a hearty vegetable stew.
Try this recipe from Bon Appétit: Sheet Pan Chicken Meatballs with Tomatoes and Chickpeas
Involve your family in the lunch-making process.
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Have your child pick one food each from different food groups and use that to help them craft their meals each night. They can help you cut healthy snacks like celery and carrots into snack-size pieces. This way they’ll learn about healthy foods and what it takes to cook them while having more input into what they eat each day.
Check out this guide to age-appropriate food prep tasks: A Guide to Kitchen Tasks for Every Age
Head to Doris Italian Market to find all your sandwich favorites: freshly baked bread, quality produce and premium deli meats and cheeses.
