Ten Healthy Lunchbox Treats.
This post is sponsored by nudie juice and Contagious
Sometimes it’s nice to slip a little treat into my kids’ lunchboxes. But I don’t want to send them to school with total junk that has next to no nutritional value and won’t fill them up, so I’ve made a list of ‘healthier’ lunchbox treats that are school friendly – that means they don’t contain nuts, they travel well, and my kids will actually eat them!
Ten Healthy Lunchbox Treats.
- Pita Chips
- Frozen Juice Box
- Popcorn.
- Frozen Fruit Cup
- Dried Apple Chips
- Apricot and Coconut Balls
- Homemade Muesli Bars.
- Fruit Puree
- Apple and Oat Pancakes
- Fruit Leather
The kids can make these pita chips themselves using left over pita bread or tortillas. They’ll keep for up to a week in a sealed container but I bet they won’t last that long!
Juice is a special treat for my kids, and you can’t get any easier than chucking a juice box or four in the freezer! Look for juice boxes that contain nothing but fruit juice (no concentrates), no added sugar or other nasties.
Pop it yourself and you’ll know there is no extra salt or preservatives, plus it is super cheap!
These are perfect for warm weather, though my kids like them all year round. Just freeze some sliced fresh or tinned fruit in some 100% fruit juice. We like peach and pineapple in orange juice. Make sure you use a container with a tight fitting lid and don’t forget to send a spoon!
You can make your own dried apple chips easily in your oven. Dip them in some orange juice for a tangy flavour or add some cinnamon.
This great recipe from Childhood101 for Apricot and Coconut balls is a favourite in our house. They are quick and easy to make, with no added sugar, and they are delicious!
I make at least one batch of homemade muesli bars every week. My kids love them! They don’t take long to make and I love that I have complete control over what goes into them, so I know there are no nuts or salt or other ingredients I am not keen on.
You can buy fruit puree in little cups in the supermarket, but it is easy to make your own too. We have lots of apples right now, so some cooked apples with some frozen raspberries, whizzed it all together in the food processor makes a quick and easy treat. I send this to school in a little tube container with a screw top lid, so it doesn’t leak.
These apple and oat pancakes started out as a snack, then they became breakfast and now I make mini ones to put in school lunches. With oats, wholemeal flour and honey they are a healthier alternative to cakes or biscuits.
Despite being nothing but fruit, homemade fruit leather is a little like lollies if you ask me! Sweet and chewy!
I am constantly looking for new things to add to my list so I have a good variety of healthy snacks to choose from. When I’m looking for healthier options these are a few things I look out for:
- Read the Labels
- Get the Kids Involved
- Think About How it is Packaged
You don’t have to make snacks yourself for them to be healthy. The trick is to know what is important to you and learn how to decipher the information on the label, so you are only buying foods that fit with your values. Be aware of what you can and can’t send to school and know your school’s allergy and food exclusion policy.
No point in sending a fabulously healthy treat to school if your kids don’t eat it! Talk to your kids about healthy eating, teach them how to read labels, and ask them what they like and don’t like. Also ask them about how and when they eat their snacks – do they need something they can grab and eat quickly as they run off to play, or do they have more time for something that might be slower to devour?
Make sure food is easy to access and well stored. Containers or packets that are hard to open might just get left in the lunchbox, and there is nothing worse than a leaking container! I aim to reduce rubbish sent to school as much as possible so we use lots of plastic containers and pockets when we can.
{disclosure: This is a sponsored post, find more information about sponsored posts here. All opinions are my own.}
Frozen yoghurt, apparently some people think its not so flash to freeze yoghurt, but its actually awesome! Once its defrosted a little in a lunchbox its frozen crunchy healthy deliciousness!
Home made dip and veggie sticks they even like to help make the dip!
Peanut muesli bars. They’re NUTS about them!