Back to School: what's in the Lunch Box?

How can you make your child’s lunchbox attractive and healthy? Here are a few tips on what to pack in the lunchbox.

Fresh fruit cuts: Encourage your child to share his fresh fruit skewers with his friends. They are nutritious and delicious. You can prepare a fresh fruit medley of peaches, apples, and strawberries on colorful sticks.

   

Sandwiches in gluten-free bread: Use the recipe Sandwich bread to prepare gluten-free sandwich buns. Fill them with ingredients that your child likes: Cheese, gluten-free turkey slices, some lettuce and tomato slices.

Man’ouche or pizza: Your child might see his friends buying Man’ouche from the school shop. You can easily solve this problem by preparing some mini-manouche using the recipe of the gluten-free Man’ouche pastry. You can also use the same pastry to make mini-pizzas for your child.

 Soups: Winter will be here soon. October, November, and the cold days will start. Prepare hearty soups for your child and put them in a thermal flask. Don't forget to give him a spoon. Check the soup recipes in the Soups category. They're all gluten-free.

Cupcakes, muffins, and cookies: You have a big variety of recipes to make cupcakes, muffins, and cookies. Use them and pack one or two pieces for your child every day. Keep in mind that you can make a big batch and freeze the muffins or cookies. Check banana chocolate chip muffins and orange poppy seeds muffins.

Smoothies: You can also try our recipes of gluten-free, dairy-free smoothies for your child to enjoy. You can keep a cold smoothie in a thermal flask to enjoy on warm days. Try our Strawberry Smoothie.

Nuts and Dried Fruit: If your child is not allergic to nuts, and if he is 6 years and above, you can pack some raw nuts in his lunchbox like almonds, walnuts, or cashew nuts. They're all good sources of calcium, iron, zinc, and many other minerals. They are also a source of polyphenol anti-oxidants. Dried fruit also are very nutritious and are considered a source of antioxidants too.

Fresh veggies: This might not sound attractive, but there are many vegetables that taste delicious and are very nutritious. Try a medley of baby carrots and cherry tomatoes. You can also pack homemade oven-baked potato chips.

Popcorn: Invest in a popcorn machine that pops kernels using hot air instead of oil or butter. Don't use microwave popcorns because most of them contain additives and preservatives that your child might be allergic to and are not healthy. Make your own popcorn and add flavors to it like caramel popcorn or salt popcorn.

What to avoid in the lunchbox:

Candies: Even if they are gluten-free, candy usually is loaded with sugar that is bad for your child's health.

Sugary juices: the off-the-shelf juice packs that you buy from the supermarket look attractive and they are gluten-free, but keep in mind that most of them are loaded with sugar and are not healthy. Try to make fresh juice for your child using orange or apple or nectarine. You can also mix fruit and vegetables together. When you prepare the juice at home, you are 100% sure that there's no added sugar or artificial colors or preservatives to it. Keep in mind that a child with celiac disease could be very sensitive to artificial colors and preservatives found in juices.

Potato chips: A bag of potato chips will look attractive and easy for you to pack in your child's lunchbox. It could be gluten-free, but do you have any idea how oily it could be and how much salt there is in one bag? Try our oven-baked potato chips and use attractive bags to pack them.

Ready-made gluten-free biscuits: Most of the gluten-free biscuits available in the market are loaded with sugar and shortening to cover up the bland taste of gluten-free flour. Instead make your own gluten-free cookies or gluten-free sable biscuits for your child. You can fill them with our homemade apple jam or homemade strawberry jam. You can also fill them with melted chocolate. Also try our gluten free sugar free granola bars.