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Making school lunches fun but healthy can be quite a challenge sometimes, especially if your brood have a thing against green vegetables as some kids often do. My little monsters angels insist that they need to have a treat once a week and beg and beg for soda.
Eventually we sat down to talk about why I give them the foods I give them, what the difference is between everyday foods and sometimes foods.
This discussion was important because I didn’t want them getting to school and just tossing the things they didn’t like from their lunch pack. As a way of making things interesting, we sat down and looked through magazines and online for fun recipes we could prepare together.
In some instances I got to pick out the only ingredients they could work with and they got to decide how they wanted it cut or cooked.
The general idea was to slowly integrate them into the clean eating lifestyle and I found that including them in the planning and preparation helps make things a lot easier. If you are having a hard time getting your kids to fall in love with clean eating school lunches, here are a few ideas that might inspire them to rethink their decisions.
Clean and Basic Fruit Muffin Recipe
Recipe from Clean Eating With Kids
This clean eating muffin recipe is the perfect blank canvas and allows you incorporate your kid’s favourite fruit into the mix. With a prep time of 10 minutes and a bake time of less than 15 minutes, this will definitely be one of your go-to school lunch recipes.
Cheese and Bacon Bites
Recipe from Clean Eating With Kids
This is one of those handy snacks you’ll always want to always have on hand, you can bake a batch of these and store in an airtight container. It will save you a few precious minutes on school mornings.
Apple Peanut Butter Raisin Stack
Recipe from Best Clean Eating Recipes
This fun but messy twist on “ants on a log” will have your kids loving their lunch. The best part is, they can make it themselves- one less thing on your To-Do list! Just be sure to suggest they also pack a few extra napkins… or a wet wipe or two.
Chewy Muesli Bars
Recipe from The life Harvest
The Chewy Muesli bars is more a super food bar than a lunch bar which makes it just perfect for the kids. It’s a yummy high-protein bar that will fill them up really nicely.
Baked Ziti Cupcakes
Recipe from My Jewish Learning
I love how cute these ziti cupcakes are. If you can’t find individual aluminium cups that’s okay, a regular muffin pan will do but you have to remember to quickly take them out once they are baked.
Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Recipe from Thirty Handmade Days
Remember how I told you my kids insist they have a treat once a week? Meet the treat. They’re super simple, endlessly customizeable and secretly healthy!
Ants on a Log
Recipe from Two Healthy Kitchens
This creative spin on the classic is a great way to get your kids to eat their fruits and veggies, you can make a fun activity of it by letting them pick out the toppings and making their own combinations.
Clean Eating Naan Bread
Recipe from Clean Eating Recipes
This yeast-free Indian naan bread was a great discovery and makes a regular appearance in the lunch box rotation. It’s got greek yoghurt, oat flour, cilantro and few other healthy ingredients.
Rice Balls
Recipe from Beyond Kimchee
Another great recipe to get your kids involved in making their own lunches- put out a platter of cut veggies and let them go to town. Plus, how cute and colorful are these little gems?
Raw Carrot Cake Balls
Recipe from CBC
Packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and fresh carrots this energy bites will keep your kids going strong all day. No refined sugar here- instead this recipes gets it’s sweetness from honey and dates. Now how about that?
Kraft-Style Mac & Cheese With Cauliflower and Sweet Potato
Recipe from Nikki Dinki Cooking
Almost every kid loves mac and cheese so sneaking in some cauliflower and sweet potato was certainly a genius way to get them to eat up those vegetables.
Veggie Wrap
Recipe from No Meat Athlete
How about a vegetarian- friendly wrap to keep things interesting? All you have to do is chop, toss and wrap. It’s easy, filling and a super fast lunch option for when you’re running short on time in the morning.
Tuna Salad on Crackers
Recipe from Garnish & Glaze
This is one tasty lunch that everyone will enjoy finding in their lunch bag. Pack the crackers and the tuna in seperate containers to keep the crackers from getting soggy.