Getting the balance between what’s healthy, nutritious and interesting in school (and work) lunchboxes can be difficult, but our libraries have some great resources to help you out.
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Lunch ideas
Here are some tips from a local dietitian to help you make nutritious and interesting lunches:
- Replace the traditional sandwich with different pita breads or tortilla wraps with the same kind of sandwich filling – cold chicken, tuna, beef, salad or vegetables;
- A pasta salad is a tasty, healthy and nutritious option – include sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and some grated cheese;
- Adding croutons or nuts to a salad will add different textures and flavours;
- Leftover pizza is another good lunch option and it is tasty cold;
- Pack some hummus in a plastic container. Cut a pita up into wedges for dipping along with some carrot sticks, celery sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, green pepper - whatever your child likes;
- Replace chips with rice crackers or a mix of nuts and raisins, use roasted but unsalted for a healthier snack;
- Include a reusable ice pack with the lunch to keep it fresh, or freeze a water bottle or juice pack and include in the lunch. By lunch time it will have thawed.
Healthy eating for kids
Community and Public Health, a division of the Canterbury District Health Board has a helpful range of information sheets on children’s nutrition:
- Top lunch box tips from Kidspot
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