Healthy and realistic lunches for this back-to-school 2025

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Most children are going back to school this week, and as parents we feel relieved when the family goes back to a consistent routine. However, as the person that oversees lunch preparation you could be feeling the pressure of coming up with a quick but healthy lunch. You could even be dreading the whole lunch prep idea. But it doesn’t have to be this way!

Here we have our top 5 suggestions to be successful this school year:

  • The key to success? Food prep, food prep, food prep! You’ll be surprised how much time you will save if you have a menu prepared ahead for the week. Nothing fancy! We recommend having a whiteboard or even just a sheet of paper with the days of the week and what you will be eating each day.

Monday

Tuesday

Etc…

Breakfast: Grape nuts (high in iron!) with strawberries and milk

Breakfast: Egg bites with bell peppers and orange juice

  

Lunch: Peach, Rotisserie chicken sandwich (with spinach) and a dark chocolate

Lunch: Apple, cheese stick, salad with falafel and hummus (carrots, corn, kale, blueberries, falafel, hummus)

  

Dinner: Meat lasagna and cream of mushroom soup

Dinner: Tomato soup, Salmon and smashed sweet potato.

  
  • Prepare batches of food over the weekend, things like soups, egg bites, oven baked dishes or cutting fruit/veggies are things that can be done ahead of time. If your lunch is a salad and you already have the peppers, corn and blueberries clean, cut or cooked then the only thing left to do is add everything to the fresh lettuce and cook the protein source.
  • Not all packaged food is bad. Don’t feel guilty about using some prepackaged food to save some time, things like frozen veggies or fruits, breakfast cereals with no food dyes, some broths, some yogurts, etc. are a great choice. You can use free apps like Yuka, Fig, Fooducate and Spoonful to scan foods with your phone at the grocery store to make sure it doesn’t have harmful additives.
  • It doesn’t have to be perfect, just try that most meals are balanced, including: 1 fruit + 1 veggie + protein + cereal/starch + healthy oils.
  • Have fun and include your children in the decision-making process. For example, give them two choices: “Do you want carrots with hummus or celery with peanut butter for lunch?”

For more information, or to schedule an appointment with the professionals at the Outpatient Nutritional Counseling & Diabetes Center, call (586) 493-8500.