THE BACKPACK IS ready, the uniform is organised, and you’re left with the daily task that no parent counts as their favourite on the back-to-school list: packing school lunches. Having a picky eater in your family can make that daily project even more challenging.
My daughter heads back to school next week, and while she’s not an outspoken picky eater, half of the contents of her lunchbox seem to return home with her each day, crumbled from bouncing around her lunchbox uneaten. That can be discouraging and also worrying – kids do need fuel to get through long schooldays.
If you have a picky eater, or even just a less enthusiastic eater, packing school lunches might require an extra dose of creativity. You don’t need to carve every ingredient into an elaborate shape, but even a simple change in how you prepare food can spark interest from your little one.
Likewise, getting kids involved in making parts or all of the lunch packing process can increase their likelihood to actually eat it. While that does take a little more forethought on your part, it could ease your stress in the long run.
Throwing in a packet of crisps is an easy fix, I know, but this list of school lunch ideas for picky eaters should help you cut down on that added sugar and salt, as well as helping you curb single-use plastics.
Keep reading for simple school lunch options that will have your kid munching in no time.
While I’ve never met a slice of batch bread I didn’t like, somehow my kids didn’t inherit that trait and seem to prefer peeling the contents of sandwiches instead of eating them whole. If your children similarly shun bread, try making sandwiches on mini bagels instead. Cream cheese helps a slice or two of ham stick better and might appeal to little appetites.
If your child is old enough not to use a stripped skewer as a tiny weapon, try packing meat, cheese and veggie skewers. You can get inexpensive bamboo toothpicks (like these) that are disposable, and simply chop a selection cheese, veggies and meat into cubes before spearing them. Go with whatever cheese and meat combination your child is likely to try, but chunks of chicken or ham are usually palatable to kids.
Start with cherry tomatoes, chunks of cucumber, or a stem of broccoli. If your child isn’t the biggest fan of strong cheese, try halloumi, which is very mild and can be found in most grocery stores. For even more buy-in from the intended recipient, you can enlist the help of your picky eater to help skewer them the night before.
Even picky eaters will usually gobble a bunch of blueberries in a pinch, so mix them in with sliced strawberries, a couple of raspberries and even chunks of apple or watermelon to make a fruit salad that won’t likely return home with them later. You can make an easy dip by drizzling a little honey into a half cup of Greek yoghurt and sprinkling in a little cinnamon. That might entice picky little ones to pick up a piece of fruit that’s not on their favourite list.
There’s no rule that says you have to send your child with standard lunch fare every day. If you know your child will eat breakfast food, like sausages, egg cups or even French toast, take their lead. French toast is easily made the night before by dipping thick bread into a bowl with an egg whisked with a little milk. Slice the french toast into finger shapes for optimal munching.
Baking your own muffins might sound a tad intimidating, but if you think of it as a weekend activity that serves the purpose of getting ready for the week and keeping your kids entertained, it’s worth the extra hassle. If you make your own, you’ll instantly be starting with a higher nutrition level than store-bought mini-muffins.
These healthy muffins come together easily. Combine melted coconut oil, honey, eggs, yogurt and vanilla extract; separately, stir the dry ingredients (whole wheat flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt) together before stirring them into the wet mixture. Carefully stir in blueberries, and bake in muffin cups at 200 degrees. Ask your picky eater to help you in the test kitchen, and together, come up with the right berry-to-muffin ratio.
There’s something about sandwiches in stick form that my kids are more likely to eat, so I tend to slice anything and everything into finger-shapes. The bonus of grilled cheese is that when the cheese is melted, the bread sticks together better for kids who haven’t mastered keeping sandwiches intact.
Cheese melts more evenly if it’s shredded, so shred a block of mild cheddar or Emmental onto a slice of bread. You can add a bit of mayo or a slice of turkey if they’ll eat it as well. Into a hot pan with a bit of butter melted (not much, just enough to barely coat the pan), and cook the grilled cheese until it’s melty inside. Weighing the sandwich down with a heavy plate keeps the slices of bread squished together well.
My son would live on noodles and noodles only, if he was allowed. Cooked plain noodles are easy to pack in lunch boxes, just ensure they’re sealed to keep them from drying out. I can’t trust him to use a fork to keep sauce off his fingers (and everywhere else), so I use a small container to pack a sauce for him to dip.
Tomato sauce is an easy way to sneak in a few veggies as well. Shred a carrot and half a courgette into a pan with a little hot olive oil and cook them until they’re barely tender. Mix in a cup of pasta sauce from a jar and you’ll have veggie-packed noodle dip for the week.
I’m such a convert to apple chips that it’s now the only way I will eat apples! Apple chips are little more than apples sliced thinly, but they provide a more crisp crunch than sending a whole apple in your child’s lunchbox. A sprinkle of lemon juice can help keep them from getting brown, and a dip, like Greek yoghurt or nut butter (if your school is nut free, try this sunflower nutella), will increase the fun level.
My kids love individual yoghurts, but they usually have more added sugar than necessary and are terrible for the environment. Instead, we make plain Greek yoghurt ‘fancy’ using a selection of options they can choose and sprinkle themselves. If your child has a bento box style lunchbox, create a build-your-own fancy yogurt parfait. Use berries, granola, chopped sultanas or dried cranberries for your child to sprinkle, and for a little added fun, throw in a tiny handful of cake sprinkles. That lunchbox is practically guaranteed to come home empty.
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