Help Me! What do I pack for my kid's lunch?

Back to School Lunches


Here are some tips and pointers to help you and your child pack a healthy lunch that they'll eat and not throw away.

• Be organized. The least frazzled parents are the ones that are the most organized.

• Get your kids involved in packing their lunches at an early age.

• Sit down and create a list. Get them to write down the groceries you need for the next week‘s lunches.

• Take them shopping with you, it may take a little longer at first, but it will be worth it in the long run.

• When you arrive home let them help put the groceries away.

• Get them to help pack their lunch. Let them make decisions on what they want that day, based on the list and supplies you bought together.

• Have all the packing and wrapping supplies handy and in one place – wax paper, baggies, small to medium plastic resealable containers, thermos, etc. all in the same drawer or cupboard.

• Pack only 100% juice or milk for lunches – no fruit cocktails, pop, or fruit beverages. You want the food your child is eating to contribute towards their health not their waistlines.

• Have cheese in the fridge – if all else fails – chunks of cheese and whole wheat crackers are a great lunch. Add some fruit and a carton of chocolate milk and lunch is ready to go.

• Kids love muffins – make a double batch of whole grain muffins (see recipe below) freeze them in 1’s or 2’s depending on the age of the child. When you are packing lunches at breakfast – pop them into their lunch kits – they will be thawed out by lunch.

• In the case of Grade 1-4’s make the muffins in mini muffin tins. Three mini muffins equal 1 regular muffin. Little kids get intimidated with large lunches – the 3 mini muffins, even though it’s the same as 1 regular, aren’t as daunting and will get eaten.

• Pack salads in a resealable container along with some beans and a small container of salad dressing. They add the dressing at lunch so the salad doesn‘t get soggy.

• Pack “traders” – every kid likes to trade part of their lunch – pack an extra of one of the items your child wants to trade i.e. canned peaches, trans fat free granola bars, whole grain cookies (see recipe below), this way you know your child will be eating their healthy lunch.

• Rule of thumb about food safety – keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot – Freeze juice or milk packed in Tetra Pak packaging. I always pack 2 drinks, a frozen 100% juice in Tetra Pak packaging and a container of milk. The frozen juice keeps the entire lunch cold. My son drinks the milk at lunch and saves the frozen juice. The frozen juice thaws out by afternoon recess or the walk home and he gets a great cold drink as a snack.

• Make sure your child is meeting their calcium requirements.
Pack low fat milk or low fat chocolate milk packaged in Tetra Pak packaging
Age 4-8 they need 800 mg calcium
Age 9-18 they need 1300 mg calcium

• When you’re making supper and it’s something the kids love like spaghetti, ravioli, chili, or soup; make extra – these are great to pack in a thermos the next morning.

• When using a thermos, pour hot water into the thermos while the food is being reheated, pour out the hot water, and add the reheated food. This way the food will stay hotter longer.

• Snacks are an important way to add healthy foods to a child’s diet. Avoid empty calorie foods like pop, chips, chocolate bars. Choose foods that are rich in nutrients and provide healthy calories. Great choices - fruits and veggies, dairy products and whole grain breads, crackers and cereals.

• Keep veggies in the fridge chopped and ready to go – if it’s there and ready to eat there is a much better chance that they will eat it.

• Use low fat salad dressings as dips.

• Pack a mini snack bag of veggies and a small container of dip.

• For decedent treats choose foods that are made with low fat dairy products, whole grains, non-hydrogenated margarine and dried fruits.

Foods to have on hand to pull off a healthy lunch:

You'll be able to pack a great lunch with a pantry that offers possibilities.

• Bread in the freezer – a loaf of bread will stay fresh for up to 2 months wrapped in the freezer. You can make the sandwich on the frozen bread. It will thaw by lunchtime.

• Muffins – make a double batch and freeze the rest in individual baggies.
• Whole Grain crackers – Triscuits, try the low sodium version
• Whole grain whole wheat English muffins – store in the freezer
• Yogurt – 175 g containers
• Cheese – cut into cubes to have ready to go
• Non Hydrogenated Margarine
• Eggs – hard cook and store for up to 4 days
• Canned Salmon, for sandwiches or salads
• Leftover cooked meat or poultry from the night before
• Canned beans – chickpeas are a great addition to a salad
• Nuts – only for adult lunches, no nut products at schools
• Peanut butter - only for adult lunches, no nut products at schools or try nut free Peabutter
• Baby Carrots
• Red, orange, or yellow peppers (whichever one your child will eat)
• Low Fat Ranch or whatever type your child likes – for dipping
• Lettuce for sandwiches or salads
• Canned fruit – peaches, pineapple, mixed- whichever your child will eat
• Dried fruit – like raisins, apricots, cranberries
• Granola bars – nut free
• Low fat puddings
• Small and medium sized resealable containers
• Small and medium baggies
• Chef’s Select 100% natural soy wax paper, compostable
• Thermos – for soups, leftovers from dinner
• Thermal Lunch kit
• 100% juice in Tetra Pak packaging frozen in the freezer to act as the cold source
• Milk in Tetra Pak packaging – chocolate or plain

Try these 3 recipes below:

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Kid Friendly Wrap

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
from: Ultimate Foods for Ultimate Health and don't forget the chocolate!
makes - 12
Totally kid approved

These muffins are my son's favourite. He can eat them for breakfast, lunch, snacks, or even as a dessert, but not all in the same day. They are loaded with fibre as well as flavour. They taste too good to be "good for you." For a really moist muffin make sure that the bananas are really ripe. Think of overripe bananas, think of a too ripe banana to eat as a snack, think that the skin is so black that they look a little too ripe to even think about eating. These are the perfect ones for recipes like this.

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup wheat bran
3/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups mashed banana, approx. 4 really ripe bananas
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 omega-3 egg


1. Preheat the oven to 400F/200C.
2. Line a muffin tin with large paper cup liners.
3. In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients using a fork or a wire whisk.
4. In a medium bowl beat together all the wet ingredients. The mashed banana really needs to be mixed in well.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix till just combined.
6. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Nutrition Note:
Each muffin contains: 180 Calories, 5 g Protein, 5.8 g Total Fat, 1 g Sat Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 6 g Fibre, 170 mg Sodium, and 36 g Carbohydrate.

What does a really ripe banana look like?
Well it's almost all black and fairly squishy! You can either let your bananas hit this state of ripeness on your counter attracting fruit flies or look in the markdown produce section for some ripe ones, and then let them sit on your counter getting even riper. Freeze any that you won't be using right away. When it comes time to make these muffins pull out 4-5 of the blackened bananas (freezing really turns them black) thaw them, cut off the tops, and squish them into a measuring cup. Perfect intensely banana flavoured mush!

What the heck is Buttermilk?
A lot of people think that buttermilk is really high in fat and therefore bad for you. Wrongo! In the old farm days buttermilk was the liquid leftover after butter was made, hence the name. Today it is made by adding special bacteria to non-fat or low fat milk, giving it a slightly thickened consistency and a tangy flavour.

I use it a lot in low fat cooking. I find that it adds a lot of flavour to muffins and other quick breads. So if you bought the buttermilk just for this recipe, look through the other muffin recipes. You won't be throwing the unused buttermilk away - you will actually use it again!

If it’s been sitting in the fridge for awhile, give the carton a shake before measuring it out.


Chocolate Chip Cookies
from: Ultimate Foods for Ultimate Health and don't forget the chocolate!
Makes - 40

Every kid needs a cookie in their lunch kit, but too many are loaded with trans fats and white flour. Try these whole grain cookies made with heart healthy non-hydrogenated margarine. Bake a double batch and freeze them for up to 2 months.

1/2 cup non hydrogenated margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 omega-3 egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 375˚F / 180˚C. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl cream the margarine. Beat in the brown sugar and then the white sugar.
3. Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
4. Stir in the whole wheat flour, baking soda, and the chocolate chip cookies.
5. Drop by rounded teaspoonful onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool slightly before removing them from the pan.
6. Store in an airtight container

Nutrition Note:
per 2 cookies: 112 Calories, 1 g Protein, 5.8 g Total Fat. 0.6 g Sat Fat, o g Trans Fat, 1 g fibre, 35 mg Sodium and 10 mg Carbohydrate.


Kid Friendly Wrap

1 large whole wheat soft tortilla, Dempster’s makes a great one
2 larges leaves of leaf lettuce
2 oz. cooked leftover, chicken, or turkey, or roast beef, chopped (basically whatever type of meat you had the night before)
2 tbsp. low fat salad dressing, your child’s favourite most kids love Ranch, Italian, or Caesar

Lay 1 leaf of lettuce on top of the tortilla. Top with whatever protein you are using, pour on the salad dressing, lay the second leaf of lettuce on top, roll up tightly, and then wrap in plastic wrap. Can be prepared the night before.

Serves 1