Here we are, already well into the month of September! With it comes the arrival of school and lunch boxes. What you pack, impacts your child’s brain and health. And what a job it is to pack nutrition instead of prepackaged foods! It definitely takes intentionality and a good deal of preparation.

I want to share some ideas and recipes to inspire those lunch boxes. Some of these ideas will not likely be new, but maybe it can be a twist of inspiration one way or another.

Be Organized

Here is how I feel most prepared for the daily packing:  I keep my freezer compartment of the fridge well stocked with healthy baked goods/protein bars/leftovers/homemade pizza or pizza cups etc. I like keeping a variety of cookies and bars pre-bagged and ready to grab. I then slide all these into a gallon ziploc bag. Some days I’m also packing for Jerald and am always grateful for my supply stash.

I keep a clear organizer on a low shelf in my fridge, stocked with fresh fruit. Often things like apples, grapes, small oranges and the like. Another clear organizer holds cheese and cheese sticks. This makes for easy access for snacks or lunch packing, plus, the children can help themselves.  I’d much rather they see fruit, cheese sticks or yogurt cups when they need snacks than going to the pantry looking for snacky things! Not that I keep many snacky things around, but even healthy cookies don’t need to be the first option when they’re hungry!

A couple years ago, I took out 2 of my fridge drawers and use the lower shelves for my Tupperware Fridge Smart containers and the fruit/cheese organizer bins. I like this so much better than drawers! I like the easy access for already washed veggies options. Pepper or cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes or carrot sticks are the most frequent vegetables I pack. Sometimes I’ll do celery with peanut butter. Or for a different twist, fill celery with cream cheese and sprinkle with Nutritional yeast. I happen to like the last option better than my daughter. 😉

Most times I pack leftovers for Josie’s main dish, which they heat in the oven at school. (I don’t advocate microwave use) I also do this for the days I pack Jerald’s lunch. I find this much more simple and healthy than constantly packing sandwiches. I rarely have boughten deli meats on hand, simply because they are not good for you! They are filled with nitrates, flavorings, or other carcinogens.

6 Lunchbox Recipes

Ham or Egg Salad

We are blessed to raise our own organic hogs. A local friend from church butchers them for us and we get lunch meat ham from that.  Totally cured but without those harmful additives! What I most often make with that ham instead of a plain sandwich, is ham salad. I dice the ham very small, add homemade mayonnaise and presto- delicious ham salad!  Josie loves this with crackers. Sometimes I also make egg or chicken salad. Same idea- shred the cooked chicken or boiled eggs, add mayonnaise and salt. Super simple! Occasionally she eats these ‘salads’ on sourdough bread instead of crackers. When I have no leftovers or nothing else around, I resort to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich which she enjoys, but I don’t like to do it often. 

Homemade Mayonnaise

This takes so little time and is so much better for you than the store bought stuff!

In a wide mouth quart jar, break 2 room temperature eggs (I often set the eggs in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes.  This helps them dissolve into the oil better)

Add: 2 teaspoons white vinegar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice,  1 teaspoon salt,  ¹/² teaspoon mustard and 2 cups oil. Avocado oil makes the best but since it’s s so pricey, I sometimes use a mix of avocado and olive oil. Using only olive oil makes for a really strong tasting flavor, which I don’t care for. I use an immersion blender until it’s well combined and emulsified. Throw on a lid, add the date and refrigerate. Remember, this has no preservatives. But that’s OK! This is real, unprocessed food! Using fresh eggs will help it to last longer. 

You can also make this in a regular blender. Just blend everything else while drizzling in the oil.  I hate the greasy mess to clean up though. Absolutely recommend the immersion blender!

Pizza Cups

Use your choice of biscuits, bisquick mix or homemade dough. Press into well greased muffin tins. (I make a gluten free version for my crust.)

Fry 1 lb. Sausage. Drain and cool, then stir in 1 pint pizza sauce and 1 cup shredded cheese.  Fill dough lined muffins.  Bake at 350* for about 20 minutes or until crust is baked.  This amount of meat mixture makes 2 dozen pizza cups. These are delicious and freeze well! My family loves them.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Beat together: 1 C. peanut butter, 1/2 C maple syrup or honey,  1 Tablespoon vanilla. Then add: 1 C. oatmeal, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Beat well.  Very last stir in 3/4 c. chocolate chips.  Drop on greased or lined baking sheet. Bake at 350* for 10 minutes.  Super delicious and easy!

Chocolate Protein bars

Melt together:  1 C. Peanut butter, 1/2 C. Coconut oil, 1 C. maple syrup, 2 Tablespoons vanilla. Whisk to combine.

Remove from heat and stir in 1 ¹/² C. collagen powder and ¹/² C. Cocoa powder. Whisk to dissolve. Pour over 8 C. Rice Krispies. Stir well. Press into a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Set in freezer to chill. Cut into bars and keep refrigerated or frozen.

  My family loves these bars! Credit to my friend Valerie for giving me the idea to swap out protein powder in the original recipe, for collagen. I have learned some things about protein powder that make me skeptical about using it.

Protein Finger Jello

In a saucepan, pour in 2 C. 100% Juice. (We love grape sweetened with stevia) Sprinkle 4 Tablespoons beef gelatin (grass-fed pasture raised) over the juice and let bloom for about 5 minutes.  Whisk, and heat on medium until completely dissolved. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 C. Heavy whipping creme. Remove from heat and Whisk well.  Pour into lightly greased medium sized glass dish.  Set in fridge to chill until set, then cut into squares.

Additional Lunch Ideas

If you buy bushels of peaches to freeze, reserve some to fill small disposable cups with lids, for a handy lunch option. I like the ones from Walmart. You can find them in the aisle of disposable tableware. 

Or make a large batch fruit slush and do the same thing.  I’ve done both of these, plus last year I froze applesauce in these cups for another option. But so often, the slush or peaches came home again simply because Josie was tired of it. So this year I decided I’m not going to bother with doing that.

A side note on a delicious way to freeze peaches with out sugar is this. Use straight orange juice concentrate to stir over the peaches. I use 1 12 oz. concentrate to about 10-11 quarts peaches. The orange juice keeps the peaches from turning brown.  When I pull a pint out of the freezer, I sprinkle with stevia to taste. 

Yogurt is often a lunch option, but don’t be fooled thinking all yogurt is healthy. It can be, but you must be careful when purchasing yogurt or you will easily be consuming way too much sugar and/or food colorings, carrageenan, aspartame or sucralose. I usually buy a plain yogurt with a very low sugar content, then I sweeten it with stevia. Oikos and Chobani are good brands of Greek yogurt with a better ingredient list. But I still recommend checking the label, because it will vary depending on flavors or some contain a topping of sorts that may not be of the best ingredients. There’s been many times I have stood at the yogurt cooler studying ingredients, puffing with disgust! Of course, making your own homemade yogurt would be a great option too!

Another delicious recipe are these peanut butter banana muffins! I often make a double batch and fill a large cookie sheet instead of muffins. I like efficiency!

I’m sure there are more good ideas out there! Tell me what your healthy favorites are.

Pack to impact your family’s health!🍎