These days it’s all about going green to save our planet, and staying healthy to save our bodies. Parents want the best for their kids; so that means feeding them their favorite things without letting them know it’s healthy. School lunches are one of the best ways to make sure your kid is eating healthy and still having their favorite foods. You want your child to be happy when they open up their brown bag and see that mommy/daddy still has his/her best interest at heart. So in this article I will give you recipes and different ideas for your child’s brown bag lunch.

First, we’ll start with the main course which is usually a sandwich, soup, crackers and meat, etc. Sandwiches are easy to make which means there are small changes that can be made to make them healthier. Let’s start with the bread. Moms/dads throw the white bread out and exchange it for wheat bread or whole grain wheat bread. So what’s the difference you might ask? When processed, white bread doesn’t include all the nutritious parts, but wheat bread does included all the nutritious part plus it’s higher in fiber, vitamins B6 and E, magnesium, zinc, folic acid and chromium. The meat is the best part of the sandwich so the best options for that is turkey, ham, and chicken. If you’ve packed hot dogs for lunch, try fat free hot dogs or turkey dogs. Cereal is also a good lunch, but those high sugar cereals have got to go. Trade that in for low-sugar cereals and whole grain cereals. According to familydoctor.org, instant cereals with cream may contain high-fat oils or butterfat. Granola cereals may also contain high-fat oils and extra sugars. For the milk try skim, soy, or 1% milk instead of 2% milk or whole milk.

The best part of the brown bag lunches are the goodies. That is one part that you don’t want to take away from your child because you want them to eat healthy. Times like this food companies give you the option of having the original product, or the new healthy version of it. For example, Lays chips, they have the original product but also have the baked chips and the 50% less sodium chips. That’s a perfect idea right there for when going to the grocery store. Look for the original products, but look for the healthy alternatives. Look for labels like reduced fat, less sodium, etc. Other alternatives to those sugary products are yogurt, molasses cookies, gingersnaps, pretzels, etc. There are also some recipes that I’ve found that will help too. Go to this link for a variety of kid recipes http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/index.html.

Now your child needs something to wash all that down with. Like I stated before, soy milk, skim milk, or 1% milk is good to drink. You can also add orange juice and water to that list. 100% juice such as Juicy Juice is awesome for kids. They also have great products for brain development and immunity.

By: Jasmine B. "Healthy Brown Bag Lunches for Kids & Parents"