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5 Healthy Brown Bag Lunches Your Kids Will Actually Eat
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Created in partnership with Kidfresh.
Maybe you’ve been focused on getting better cereal into your kids’ morning bowls, and you totally spaced on what to pack for lunch?
Getting into back-to-school mode can be a real challenge, as everything shifts into overdrive and you’re racing to make sure homework’s done while also having to worry about three (three?!) meals a day.
KidFresh’s healthy, frozen meals can help with all of it—breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. That even includes packing lunches, since the meals, which are packed with hidden nutritious vegetables, can easily be heated, wrapped up, and stuffed in a lunchbox. Even better news? Many of the meals are now available for purchase online, and Nutritious Life readers get a special discount using code “Kidfresh5.”
Keep reading for five super simple healthy brown bag lunches you can rely on all school year long.
5 Healthy Brown Bag Lunches for Kids
Chicken Meatball Sub
Kidfresh’s chicken meatballs are packed with healthy protein and include hidden onion, celery, and carrots for extra nutrients. Heat ‘em up at home and then make your little one a nutritious version of a meatball sub by adding tomatoes and cheese and using healthy bread.
Fruit and Yogurt and Veggies
Lunch doesn’t have to be in sandwich form to be portable. Pack up foods your kids love in a Bento box for a smorgasbord-style lunch. Think a handful of apple slices, carrot sticks, some Greek yogurt and a nut butter for dipping, a few slices of organic cheese, and some healthy trail mix. There is something slightly decadent about this style of lunch that kids really enjoy.
RELATED: 6 Lunchbox Essentials for Toting Healthy Food
Upgraded PB&J
The truth is: this classic never gets old. Sure, with white bread and super processed spreads, it’s little more than a sugar bomb. But it’s easy to make a healthy, delicious version. Choose a nut butter that’s just nuts (and maybe some superfood seeds or a little salt), fruit preserves without added sugar, and a healthy bread like sprouted grain, whole wheat, or sourdough.
Wagon Wheels Mac ‘N Cheese
Here’s a food you usually serve hot but that totally works cold: Pasta! Cold mac ‘n cheese is like a delicious, cheesy pasta salad. Heat up the Kidfresh version and pack it in your kid’s lunch box with a piece of fruit. They won’t know but they’ll also be having veggies for lunch, thanks to pureed carrots.
Leftover Burgers
Here’s an idea: Instead of cold cuts, make a big batch of burgers, like these chicken-veggie burgers, and then send the kids to school with a burger piled with veggies, on a whole wheat bun or English muffin.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
The Nutritious Life Editors are a team of healthy lifestyle enthusiasts who not only subscribe to — and live! — the 8 Pillars of a Nutritious Life, but also have access to some of the savviest thought leaders in the health and wellness space — including our founder and resident dietitian, Keri Glassman. From the hottest trends in wellness to the latest medical science, we stay on top of it all in order to deliver the info YOU need to live your most nutritious life.
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