When school lunches fall into the ho-hum category, getting creative with healthy lunch recipes is easier than it may seem. For a fun twist on the traditional brown bag lunch, instituting daily themes can lead to big smiles.
Mini-Mondays
Every Monday, whatever gets packed into the lunch box is in miniature form. Mini sandwiches can be made by cutting a regular sandwich into smaller sized pieces. Baby carrots are a fun way to add color to a small themed healthy lunch. Mini bagels that are high in fiber and protein are a perfect healthy school lunch choice. Mini muffins can be used as a wholesome dessert. Other small sized lunch ideas include miniature sized snack crackers, mini-marshmallows, or even mini pizzas.
Toothpick Tuesdays
On Tuesdays, lunch ideas are numerous. Anything goes as long as it can be eaten with toothpicks. (For the sake of safety, toothpicks should be the rounded as opposed to those with sharp points.) A child's favorite fruit can be chopped into pieces and dipped into a side of yogurt. Vegetables and cheese cubes can be dipped by toothpick into a side of guacamole or ranch dressing. Toothpicks can be used with cubes of a nice baguette and dipped into a side of herbed olive oil. Other lunch recipes for this theme include cubed ham, dried fruit, and leftover pizza cut into small squares.
Wacky Wednesday
Wacky Wednesday is a day to fill the lunch box with the unexpected. Breakfast for lunch is always a hit. A bowl of cereal, waffle sticks and syrup, or a bagel with cream cheese are reasonably healthy lunch options. Unexpected lunch treats are good lunch choices for Wacky Wednesday as well. Fun lunch box surprises include popcorn, apples with caramel for dipping, or a drink box slush (made by freezing the drink box the night before.)
Thermal Thursdays
Warm up the lunch recipes for Thursday by using a thermal lunchbox set to pack hot lunch choices. Chili, chicken noodle soup or pasta and sauce are perfect for the thermal lunches and they each make a satisfying lunchtime meal. When paired with crackers or garlic bread, these lunch ideas can be a big hit.
Free Choice Fridays
Let the children be in charge on Free Choice Fridays. A well stocked pantry and refrigerator will give kids creative control over a healthy lunch. Sandwich supplies, yogurt cups, pretzels, cheese cubes, sliced fruits and vegetables are all great supplies to keep on hand for this. Children will enjoy the independence and parents will enjoy taking a break from lunch packing.
Packing healthy lunches can quickly become a monotonous chore. Using themes for school lunches is a great way to add healthy variety to the lunch box without devoting endless hours to the planning of the lunch menu.
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