Guest Author - Jennifer Wolf

As you know, it's really important for kids to eat well-balanced, nutritious lunches in order to ensure that they have enough energy to get through the whole school day. Unfortunately, many schools only allow kids 15-20 minutes to get settled in the cafeteria, purchase milk/juice/lunch, and eat. As a result, our kids frequently ditch their meals and come home extremely tired and hungry! To help, we need to make sure our kids are:

1. Eating a well-balanced, filling breakfast every single day
   
2. Bringing a healthy snack to school (if permitted)
   
3. Packing nutritious lunches that can be eaten fairly quickly

Here are some quick and easy ideas for building tasty lunches that your child can eat in a hurry:

Lunch Meat Roll-Ups
Place a slice of provolone cheese on top of a slice of deli turkey or ham. Roll it up to create a handy, quick, and nutritious part of your child's lunch. Make three or four, and store them in a mini-sandwich bag so that they don't unravel easily.

Granola and Yogurt
Purchase individual yogurts on sale, and pack them in your child's lunch alongside a cup of granola. They can add the granola to the yogurt once they're settled in the cafeteria.

Cottage Cheese and Fruit
This is another quick, easy idea. Just purchase a six-pack of individual cottage cheese servings, and pack it in your child's lunch along with a single serving of pineapple chunks.

Cereal
This is a great staple, and it's full of nutrients. Plus, you know your kids will eat it! Just pack some cereal in a reusable, sealed plastic bowl, and allow your chid to purchase milk at school.

Cheese and Crackers
Most grocery stores now sell a variety of pre-packaged, individually wrapped cheeses. You can choose from mozzarella, cheddar, and provolone. Pack these alongside some whole-grain crackers and fresh fruit to create a nutritious, filling meal.

Additional Tips:

• Make sure you pack refrigerated items alongside frozen cool-packs to be sure they'll still be cold at lunchtime.
  
• If your child's lunch box is made of vinyl, make sure that it does not contain lead.
  
• Peel and slice some fresh vegetables on Sunday evening. Then package them in mini-sandwich bags, and you'll have healthy snacks for the whole week!
  
• Granola bars, nuts, and cereal bars are also great snacks.