lunchbox

Editor’s note: The following is a guest post written by Annabel Karmel, the British children's chef and kiddie cookbook author. This week Annabel shares lunchbox tips to keep lil one's midday meals exciting!

Children are all different, but by and large what they want is a quick fix – something to eat fast saving maximum time for the playground. Here are some tips on how to make healthy lunchbox ideas that will sustain them until dinnertime, and most importantly food that they will enjoy eating.

• Lunches can be prepared the night before to save time the next morning. You can prepare pasta salads, sandwich fillings or include something from last night’s dinner like soup in a flask, chicken skewers or a frittata (Spanish omelette).
• Avoid too many processed foods as they tend to contain few nutrients and too much salt, sugar, additives and saturated fat. Instead of chips or chocolate biscuits try offering toasted seeds, popcorn, rice cakes, yoghurt covered raisins and dried apricots.
• However healthy food is, it won’t get eaten unless it’s tasty and appealing to your child. Simple touches can make all the difference like cutting sandwiches into shapes using cookie cutters or threading fruit onto a straw to make a fresh fruit skewer.
• As the colder weather sets in it’s a good idea to include something hot in a lunchbox. A wide mouthed mini thermos flask would be ideal for serving up a delicious cup of home-made or good quality bought soup like tomato soup which is both warming and nutritious.
• Pure fruit juice contains 100 percent fruit juice as you would expect, however a ‘fruit juice drink’ can contain as little as 5 percent juice and high levels of sugar and artificial colors and flavors. Other good options for the lunchbox are fresh fruit smoothies, probiotic mini yogurt drinks or plain old water.

Have a picky eater that refuses to eat his greens or a lil girl who is begging to be your sous chef, but you don't know how she can help? Submit your cooking and feeding questions to The Children's Table group over in the LilSugar Community and we'll have Annabel answer them!

Packing lunch and snacks for school-age children can be a tricky chore. My little school gal loves apples, fruit leathers, and cheese sandwiches one week, and despises them the next. While you can't plan for alterations in their taste buds, you can map out how you will pack the goods.

FitSugar suggests whipping up new lunch habits for the new year and I couldn't agree more. Anything will taste better if it arrives in a BPA-free Goodbyn lunchbox ($30), which can be decorated and toted about town without spillage or daily plastic bag waste. Looking for something smaller or less detailed? Try one of the colorful options below. Who knows, the new carrier may trick them into eating their greens.

You've moved from brown bagging munchies to an eco-friendly lunch bag, so now it's time to upgrade its contents! Get out of the everyday sandwich rut and start getting creative with what you pack to sustain your kids.

• Shape up. Simply changing the shape of the food you are packing can make a big difference. Use cookie cutters to create sandwiches that will put a smile on your lil one's face.
• Roll it up. Use creative "packaging" to put a sandwich together. Wraps and pitas can add some interest to the lunch box, as can turning an ordinary tuna sandwich into a sushi-style roll.
• Put it on a stick. String some fruit and veggies onto a stick for a mini-kabob that looks more enticing than fruit in a baggie.
• Repurpose dinner. Cook up some extra pasta at night and mix it with fresh vegetables and some protein to make a tasty cold noodle salad.
• Build it up. Put the ingredients for a nutritious sandwich in the lunch bag and allow the kiddos to build their own creation, in the order they want.
• Make it brunch. French toast and fruit salad can easily make their way into the lunch box for a fun alternative.

For some added inspiration, check out these books filled with lunch-bag-ready recipes.

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