I was wondering if you could give me some ideas on what to pack my daughter for lunch. She just started junior kindergarten and this is the first time lunches are not prepared for her at school. I would like to get some healthy ideas as my daughter is a little overweight and I would like her to maintain her current weight so that as she gets taller she will thin out. Right now I pack her 1/2 turkey sandwich or hard boiled eggs. Carrots and ranch dressing. Canned fruit in fruit juice. Also, she has a peanut allergy.
Thank you for all suggestions.
From being on Weight Watchers myself I have learned a few tips that can definitely be started at a young age.
*Use whole wheat/whole grain bread (higher fiber the better)
*Use fat free mayo, miracle whip, ranch dressing, etc.
Sounds like you are doing a great job with her!
I have a couple ideas. You could buy a thermos and fill it with vegtable soup, nice on those cold days - with a few whole grain crackers. Try the turkey sandwich on a whole wheat baby bagel. You can also try an old favorite - ants on a log. Spread a spoonful of low fat cream cheese on a celery stick and line with raisins.(Also works well with peanut butter). If she likes tuna you could do tuna salad with a happy face made out of cherry tomatoes. Turkey roll ups are also good - Get a piece of romain lettuce or butter lettuce and line with turkey, a small piece of cheese and a little low fat dressing, then roll it up like a cigar. I would stay away from canned fruit even if its in juice, give her an apple or grapes, there is more fiber and less sugar. Good luck I hope some of the ideas are useful ~E.
I would make it a point to avoid anything with high fructose corn syrup. "Giant" has a great selection of organic snaks. Any fruits and vegatable are great. My kids take the "naturals" yougurt from I think it is bryers. WE also do the low fat mozzarella cheese sticks Sometimes instead of a sandwich I will make pasta salad with "kamut pasta" which is better then wheat pasta or white. My kids also like tuna salad rolled in a lettuce wrap. We avoid school lunches because the nutritional content is horrible. www.livegreeneasy.com www.livegreeneasy2.com
My kids love yogurt(both the kids type and dannon carb and sugar control). Frigio makes a light string cheese which is high in protein and low in fat. Grapes, and clementines make a real easy grab solution for canned fruit. Good luck.
you could try hummus instead of the ranch dressing... it's made from chick peas instead of mayo, so much healthier!
there are these "chips" called Fruit Crisps Apple Ripples (or something like that) and the ingredients are Apples and apple juice. My girls love it!
box of raisens, pretzels, Natural apple sauce (no sugar added)
My daughter who is about the same age is also a little overweight. She was 10lbs 3 oz at birth and never looked back. She is really slimming out, but would like to keep her on a heathly eating plan (like our whole family should be!!) I pack her lunch as well, and I love the ideas that the others have given. I had been sending water in for my daughter since juice boxes are an occasional "treat" for her and not an everyday thing. But, the teacher told me that all the other kids had them and she had been asking for them. I found Motts for Tots apple juice. It has NO added sugar and it is 50 calories per box and counts as a 1/2 fruit serving! They are more expensive than the other juice boxes, but not outrageous. As another mom pointed out, Giant has a great organic food section.
Good luck!
Definitley share with the school and your daughters teachers that you would like her to stick to a healthy diet. You don't have to mention that you would like her to specifically thin out if you are not comfortable with that, but letting them know can help if she is getting daytime snack that you are unaware of. A lot of school provide snacks even though they do not provide lunches, and having an extra eye in the classroom to make sure she is not gettin anything other than what you provide is a good idea. Also, kids in classes this age tend to have a lot of birthday parties, holiday celebrations, and those events almost always include cookies, cake, candy etc. by providing your daughter's teacher with a healthy alternative, something perhaps that your daughter doesn't usually have, but is less high in fat, sugar, and calories than cake, would be great. Or just asking the teacher to limit your daughter's portion might work, although at that age kids do notice every little discrepency in portion size compared to their peers. Since it really is about her health, it wouldn't be totally unethical to stretch the truth a little with her peanut allergy and use that as an excuse for not wanting her to eat anything that has been prepared by you.
First of all you are off to a great start already! One thing i find is low fat(skim milk) cheese sticks (mozzarella) work well and stay with them. I would try whole wheat bread if you haven't already, pita bread or soft tortilla for a wrap. Fruit juice is high calorie so I would try water instead. When you buy the canned fruit, make sure it is not in heavy syrup. I pack applesauce (there is one with Splenda) in the little cup sizes. Another idea is the 100 calorie granola bars or snacks/crackers - (of course you have to watch for the peanut).. Hope this helps..I have three kids all with different taste buds and all built different, so it is difficult to choose to meet all their different needs.
