As a parent, it can be frustrating to have your child come home with an uneaten lunch, find out it has been traded with a schoolmate or as my friend once told me, simply thrown away.

To ensure your child eats what you pack, try some of these ideas:

• Plan ahead for the week and add the items to your regular shopping list. Ask your child for suggestions and let him or her help prepare school lunch.
  
• Choose a variety of foods from the major food groups: whole wheat bread, cut raw veggies, sliced fruit, and string cheese.
  
• One or two cookies make a fine dessert, as do low-fat pudding and sugar-free Jell-O. An active child needs some extra energy to get through the day.
  
• Provide milk money, or put milk in a small thermos.
  
• When including perishable foods, use a freezable cold pack. A frozen bottle of water, milk or juice will work. Your child can drink the thawed juice.
  
• Don’t forget the value of attractive packaging. Decorate the bag with stickers, use holiday-themed napkins or include notes with jokes, cartoons or special messages
  

Introduce Your Little One To Gently Spiced Foods

• Mild salsa with toasted pita points.
  
• A baggie with 2 or 3 small cheese blocks would be good with the salsa.
  
• Grapes plucked from the stems with little squares of cheese pretty much guarantees your kid will enjoy this treat.
  
• Include green, red and yellow pepper slices with carrot sticks. These colorful veggies make it easy to get kids to eat them.
  
• Gently spiced meat loaf thinly sliced on crustless wheat bread cut into 4 hand (small hands) sized sandwiches. If your child enjoys pickles put a pickle round on the meat loaf.

It's easy to ensure that your children that your children have healthy snacks in school and at home.

Jazz up the usual fruit offering with berries, oranges, grapes and mangoes. Freeze peeled bananas on a stick, or add fruit to plain yogurt.

Put peanut butter on apple or banana slices.

Cut fresh veggies and serve with low-fat salad dressing or mild or medium spiced salsa.

Make mini pizzas with whole-wheat English muffins, tomato sauce and shredded cheese.

Trade chips for whole-wheat breadsticks, pita bread or unbuttered popcorn.