The situation in school lunchrooms is often a sad prospect. The standard school lunch in America is lacking in nutrition and is too full of chemicals and other ingredients we should avoid, like sodium, trans-fats, and sugar.
If you happen to be a single parent, trying to provide a better lunch than what children receive at school can seem doubly daunting – especially when you consider the time and expense involved.
Meal Planning Help for Single Parents on Single Incomes
By using a few simple tips and tricks, though, you can out-shine your kids’ school lunch program, save time and money too.
Follow along and I will explain how to shop and prepare healthy school lunches, without spending lots of money, while expending very little time or effort.
How to Shop and Plan for Healthy School Lunches and Snacks
Nothing is cheaper or more nutritious than fresh fruits and vegetables bought locally and in season. This is key. Shop for these at a farmer’s market if one is available to you. In this way you are assured that the produce is local, fresh and seasonal. You will also grant yourself some peace-of-mind by knowing the food is less likely to be contaminated with E. coli, listeria or salmonella.
I like to buy fruits and vegetables weekly. Doing so further ensures freshness and avoids crowding problems in the refrigerator. On any given day, I will be sure to buy:
- two generous hands full of fresh snow peas
- a bag of baby carrots
- a carton of grape tomatoes
These always seem to be available, but take a look around to find what else is available when you shop. Keep an eye open for your children’s favorites.
Healthy Snacks for Kids
If you have a young child, he is likely to have a snack period before lunch time. To ensure mine have healthy snacks I buy seasonal fruit. Look for color, ripeness and variety. And, don’t be surprised if your child proclaims grapefruit is his favorite!
I also like to keep canned nuts, sunflower seeds and dried fruits at home for times when the fresh fruit is not looking very good, or the prices have gotten too high. It’s always a good idea to have a back-up plan, but having these available also provides variety in the diet. Nuts, seeds and dried fruits store very well over the long term.
Healthy Main Course Meals for School Lunches
The absolutely easiest way to make sure your child has a wonderful main course in his school lunch is to use your crock-pot slow cooker for preparing supper while you’re at work. Before supper, simply remove the amount of cooked food you will need for lunches the next day and store in the refrigerator until morning.
Wraps made with tortillas, romaine lettuce leaves or lightly steamed Napa cabbage leaves are also quick and easy to prepare. When you have leftovers place them in a container in your refrigerator. Some leftovers to use for quickly filling wraps are:
- Beans
- Rice
- Quinoa
- Taboule
- Couscous
- Tuna salad
- Sliced boiled eggs
Spread the wrap with hummus or avocado. Toss in a slice of cheese or some roasted turkey. Add a few red bell pepper slices for crunch and you have an instantly great main course for lunch.
Assembling Healthy Homemade School Lunches Fast
This is the fun part. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll wonder why you haven’t done it before.
While your children are eating their healthy breakfast:
- Line up all lunchboxes on the kitchen counter.
- Pull out as many sandwich bags as you have lunchboxes.
- Gather and line up the same number of fresh fruits.
- Fill sandwich bags with 5-each of the grape tomatoes, snow peas and baby carrots.
- Heat leftovers from last night in the microwave oven and divide into thermos containers.
- Place foods in lunchboxes along with bottled water or canned V-8 Juice.
- Add a napkin, and a fork or spoon if necessary.
Done!
And you still have plenty of time, so think about throwing in a few nuts and raisins or a tiny container of dip for the veggies just to round things out.
If you choose to make wraps, they are a little more time consuming than using supper leftovers. These, however, can be assembled the night before and stored in the refrigerator until morning. Plus, they will not require heating in the microwave.
Time and Home Management Skills
For single parents, acquiring a few time and management skills can make all of the difference in how stress free your day can be. Using these simple tips and tricks saves time, money and energy while granting the peace-of-mind that comes from knowing your children are always well fed.
Maria Blanco - Writer/Editor, Certified Family Herbalist, Naturopath, Holistic Nutritional Consultant
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