School lunches provide a great opportunity to work more fruit and vegetables into your child's diet, giving the energy and nutrients they need to get the most out of their learning day - and that goes for adult lunches as well.
Nutritionist and 5+ A Day advocate Claire Turnbull offers suggestions for making packed lunches interesting and flavourful with fruit and vegetables.
• While children may be reluctant to eat whole pieces of fruit, they love food they can eat with their fingers. Choose colourful fruit and vegetables and chop them up into bite-sized pieces that can be stored in small containers or slipped into sandwiches and wraps.
• Incorporating fruit and vegetables into lunches doesn't need to be a covert operation.
Small children love to help Mum and Dad in the kitchen and they are more likely to eat lunches they have helped make. It's also a great way to teach them how to make healthy choices.
• To keep lunches nice and cool, particularly during the warmer months of the year, Claire recommends using a chilly block and putting it at the bottom of your child's lunchbox or bag. To make a chilly block, freeze a small bottle of water and add to the box to keep it chilled or use a store-bought chilly block placed in the freezer the night before.
• Spread avocado on sandwiches instead of butter
• Prepare sliced cucumber, lettuce, sprouts, tomato wedges and grated carrots for your family to make their own wraps, sandwiches and subs. If you take them in a container and put your sandwich or wrap together at work or school, it prevents the sandwich getting soggy.
• Mix chopped fruit such as kiwifruit, apples, pears and oranges with low-fat yoghurt. Young children tend to eat more fruit when it is chopped up
• For a change use wholegrain pita, naan, bagels or tortilla wraps instead of bread.
For more information visit www.5aday.co.nz
Five of the best
Here are five tasty and healthy lunchbox ideas:
1FOR a nutritious packed lunch try egg and lettuce wholemeal sandwiches cut into triangles for fun and easy handling. Pack a low-fat yoghurt and a small banana - try drawing a face on the skin for added fun!
2 For a delicious and healthy alternative to sandwiches, try a potato frittata wedge packed with chopped courgette, onion, corn, spinach, mushroom and/or tomato - anything goes in this great lunch option.
Pop chunks of cheese and cherry tomatoes in a small container for added protein, vitamins and minerals. A home-made mini banana bran muffin adds extra fibre to this lunchbox and makes it a great filling snack so the children don't run out of steam before the day is out. Add a piece of fruit to round out the nutrition content.
3 Children love pizza! Leftover home-made pizza slices with their favourite vegetables such as mushrooms, tomato, baby spinach, corn, courgette and onion are a great way of getting a few extra vegetables in at lunchtime. Making a wholemeal pizza base will add a little more fibre, keeping children fuller for longer.
Add a small container of berries and grapes. Cucumber sticks make a fresh, healthy addition to this lunchbox combo.
4 Sushi with tuna and avocado along with a handful of carrot sticks makes a tasty lunch providing carbohydrate and a good vitamin boost. Add strawberries or apple slices for a nutrition boost.
5 A wholemeal roll or wrap with ham and cheese, lettuce, grated carrot and cucumber makes a tasty protein-packed lunchbox staple and is a fantastic way of adding more vegtables. You can include sliced tomato in a small snap-lock bag so the children can add it at lunchtime - this stops the roll going soggy. A pottle of chopped fruit in juice makes a good alternative to fresh fruit.
- Source www.5aday.co.nz
