Snazzy Lunch Box Ideas:
Say Goodbye to Ho-Hum Lunches with These Gourmet Treats
They want something more exciting than bologna and cheese. You want
them to have something more nutritious than a Pop-Tart.
Is there any way to spice up the kids
lunches that doesn’t require an hour of advance preparation? You
bet!
Try tempting them with these kid-friendly, healthy gourmet foods.
They’ll have even your pickiest eaters looking forward to lunch:
* Gourmet Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter & Co. (www.ilovepeanutbutter.com)
makes a line of gourmet peanut butters that are sure to tantalize
the kids’ taste buds.
Try Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter with shredded apples on whole
wheat (it tastes just like apple pie). Or spread the Dark Chocolate
Dreams Peanut Butter on good-quality white bread or French bread and
top with sliced strawberries. Both sandwiches are excellent grilled,
too.
And peanut butter is an excellent source of vegetable protein, fiber
(2 tablespoons contain as much fiber as a half cup of broccoli),
magnesium, Vitamin E, niacin and folic acid. It’s also cholesterol
free.
Just make sure you read the label to see if your peanut butter
contains any partially hydrogenated oils. You don’t want those —
they’re the worst kind of fat for you.
* Gourmet Almond Butter
Trend (www.trendalmondspread.com)
makes a similar line of gourmet almond spreads.
With flavors like Milk Chocolate Cherry, Butterscotch and White
Chocolate Cantaloupe Almond, you’re sure to find an almond spread
the kids will like. And almond butter is high in fiber, protein,
calcium and certain minerals.
* Flavored Water
Kids love juice boxes, but even 100% juice is high in calories and
sugar. Milk or water are the best choices. But when kids are craving
something sweeter, try tempting them with HINT Water (www.drinkhint.com).
Bottled water flavored with just a hint of natural sugar, HINT water
comes in flavors like apple, raspberry lime, cucumber and
pomegranate-tangerine.
* Crispy Fruit Snacks
Sensible Foods Fruit and Vegetables Snacks (www.sensiblefoods.com)
makes a line of all-natural dried fruit snacks that are far
healthier than your average potato chip. And thanks to a special
freeze-drying process, they’re crunchy, too.
They come in flavors like Cherry Berry (a mix of cherries, apples,
blueberries and strawberries), Tropical Blend (apples, pineapples,
mangos, and bananas) and Organic Supersweet Corn (sweet corn).
* Healthy Brownies and Muffins
Is it possible to eat a chocolate brownie for lunch that’s not only
nutritious, but low calorie, too? Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa
Claus.
The brownie in question is called a VitaBrownie, made by Vitalicious
(www.vitalicious.com),
and to be fair, it isn’t huge. But it packs a walloping 6 grams of
fiber, 4 grams of protein, and 50% of the U.S. RDA of Vitamin A,
Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamins B6 and B12 and 60% of the
RDA of Iron.
Plus, it actually tastes good. Not oh-so-rich gooey fudgy brownie
good. But way better than your average diet product good. And
remember, most diet brownies and desserts don’t have much
nutritional value.
Vitalicious also makes VitaMuffins and VitaMuffin tops in flavors
like chocolate AppleBerryBran, Blueberry Bran, Cranberry Bran and
Deep Chocolate.
Author Bio:
Stephanie Gallagher, a.k.a., The Shopping Mom, is the author of four
books, Editor of The Shopping Mom’s Favorite Things (http://www.the-shopping-mom.com)
and Healthy Cooking Columnist for Suite 101 (http://healthycooking.suite101.com).
