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Lunch Box Blues: 7 Ways to Beat It.Here's how to pack healthy meals your kids will actually eat. 1 Beverage. Milk, water, fruit juice are the healthy options. Freeze water or juice and by lunchtime, it will be cold and ready to drink. 2 Sandwich. Peanut butter, cheese, turkey, tuna salad. Vary the bread choices - English muffin, bagel, pita, tortilla, etc.) to make old favorites seem new. 3 Veggie. Broccoli, carrots, celery, jicama, pepper sticks, radishes, raw squash, zucchini. These are more likely to be consumed if you pack a little container of ranch dressing for a dip. 4 Fruits. Apples, pears and oranges hold up best. Bananas, plums, grapes, cherries and peaches may get a bit squished. Be sure to protect them in plastic containers. Cube cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, and put them in a container on the fridge shelf. Applesauce is another option. 5 Dairy. Yogurt, cheese sticks. 6 Snacks. Granola or fruit bars, dried fruit, raisins, pretzels, goldfish, nuts, pickles, trail mix, cold cooked pasta, popcorn, dry cereal, rice cakes. 7 Dessert. This is a toughie. Some schools don't allow them, but if yours does, there's no harm in including a pudding, cookie or piece of cake. Don't pack candy, however. Top Tips for Packing Eats for School1 Make it easy.Make an assembly line of the agreed-upon foods. Devote one shelf of the refrigerator to school foods. Make sandwiches the night before and put them on the shelf alongside approved beverages. Cut up the veggies into fun shapes, put them into plastic snack bags and add them to the shelf. Pour ranch dressing into small containers and add that to the mix. Devote a special shelf of the pantry to school snacks and desserts. Make sure everything is packaged in one-serving packets. Be sure to have a good selection. Change it around each week for variety. Now, every morning your child can pack her own lunch in five minutes. Be sure to use an insulated lunchbox and a refreezable ice pack to keep foods cold. 2 Make it fun. One way to make it fun is to let your child pick out her lunchbox. Let her decorate it if she wants. Cut the sandwiches into fun shapes with cookie cutters. Cut the veggies into interesting shapes as well. Include stickers. Insert a not reminding your child of some fun activity after school. And don't forget to tell them that you love them! My daughter, when she was 10, saved all her notes - unbeknownst to me until recently. She never said a word about them. But her actions spoke louder than words. And were very OK with me. 3 Think beyond midday. Pack snacks for morning and afternoon recess as well. Many kids just cannot face breakfast. Pack them a granola bar or dry cereal to munch at morning recess. And if the kids have after-school activities, they'll need some sustenance to get them through that as well. How to Create a Homework Central
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