This is my first back to school season as a work from home momma; and I made a promise to myself that I would do this year better. Every other year, I have gone into a new school year in this stressed out state of disorganization and mom self-doubt. That was not fun for me and, even more importantly, a super uncool way for my little man to kick off a brand new year (when there is already so much overwhelm for young people, I certainly do not want my stress to add to my son's!)
My goal for myself and my family was to get organized and lead off the 2018-2019 school year with solid, manageable plans to tackle everything from chores/homework juggling to (one of our biggest ongoing stressors)..."what's in my lunchbox?".
Our oldest kiddo is going into third grade this year. Since he was in preschool, we have discussed making healthy choices and eating well. Now that he is becoming more independent and involved in his own meal prep, we're really ramping up those convos! So, how can I can quell some of my own exasperation with the "what's going in my lunch?" question; and help my eight year old to balance thinking for himself and staying within the constrains of acceptable nutrition? Enter: The Color-Coded Lunchbox Chart.
I felt inspired by the colored portion containers that a popular eating plan recommends. It seemed like a perfect approach to keeping my son on task when we are putting his lunch box together by gently forcing him into nutritional balance. Keeping it real, if he had his complete freedom of choice in the matter, he'd opt to grab a Lunchable and a chocolate milk every single day. By allowing him to build his own lunch using color-coded food categories and containers, he's learning about keeping his preferences and choices in check.
To get started, first, my little dude and I had a chat about mutually agreeable food choices. For my son, he likes to have four food options in every lunch. We broke his lunchbox down into four color categories: red (the main eat), blue (fruit/veggie), green (starchy/fatty/crunchy) and purple (treat!).
The Main Eat:
- Meat, cheese and cracker
- Cracker cuts of salami & pepperoni
- Deli ham, turkey or roast beef
- Rotisserie chicken
- Sliced cheese or cheese stick
- Wheat crackers (We like Kashi Original Seven Grain Crackers!)
- Deli meat & cheese sandwich
- Peanut butter & banana sandwich
- Meat & cheese tortilla roll up
- Hard boiled eggs
- "Nachos" (*store the cheese and choice of toppings in one container and the chips separately to allow for scooping...no soggy chips!)
- Tortilla chips
- Shredded cheddar
- Salsa
- Sliced black olives, leftover chicken, beef or pork (shredded or diced), beans
- Graham crackers sandwiched with peanut butter
Fruit / Veggie:
- Apple slices
- Pear slices
- Grapes
- Banana
- Applesauce cup
- Blended fruit pouch
- Strawberries
- Clementine or mandarin orange
- Fresh fruit salad
- Carrot & celery sticks with ranch greek yogurt
- Gerkin pickles
- Black olives
- Edamame
Starchy / Fatty / Crunchy:
- Veggie chips or straws (Our preference is Sensible Portions Veggie Straws...the ranch are so YUM!)
- BBQ crisps (These Our Little Rebellion Protein Crisps are a fav in our house!)
- Nuts: cashews, peanuts or mixed nuts
- Trail mix
- Baked cheese crackers
- Granola
- Pork rinds
Dairy / Treat:
- Yogurt smoothie (We freeze our bottles and then they are perfectly thawed but chilled by lunch.)
- Greek yogurt cup
- Pudding cup
- Buy milk at school (inevitably our son always opts for the chocolate milk!)
There is a lot of preparation and planning that goes into managing a family household (both at back to school time and beyond), helping your children eat well shouldn't have to be a source of stress...or constant debate. While I certainly don't have all of this mom business figured out, I do feel a bit more adept and organized when it comes to checking that lunch box off of the to-do list everyday. Thus far, we have successfully made it through the stress free prep of one school lunch...only 175 more to go!
**We omitted the "Drink" category from our lunch making because if my son doesn't buy milk at school, then he's drinking water. Yep. I'm that mom. If you prefer to include a beverage too than a fifth "Drink" option (ie. juice box, water bottle, lemonade...) could easily be added!
**We omitted the "Drink" category from our lunch making because if my son doesn't buy milk at school, then he's drinking water. Yep. I'm that mom. If you prefer to include a beverage too than a fifth "Drink" option (ie. juice box, water bottle, lemonade...) could easily be added!
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