If you're one of the many parents packing lunches daily, this eNewsletter is for you.

Every morning I pack lunches for my girls and dread the task. I try to keep it simple by making peanut butter sandwiches but the kids almost never go for it. They aren't sandwich eaters, and in their defense, neither am I. So I scramble to get enough food packed each day. I don't want to just throw 4 different prepackaged foods in a sack but sometimes I'm at a total loss.   

Below are some useful tips helping me packing better for 2010-2011. Hope you appreciate the information and tips. Perhaps it will prevent your kids from returning home with what you packed.

-Allison Cate

Make lunches healthy by including: one serving of fruit (grapes, bananas, applesauce) one serving of veggies (carrot sticks - they have mini packs at Krogers, Walmart, Brookshires -  tomatoes, snap peas), one serving protein (peanut butter, deli meats, hard boiled egg, string cheese, yogurt). Use wheat bread (white wheat) for sandwiches. Send a cup for water instead of juice. Keep sweets to a minimum.

Ideas from Parents: 

• Give your child a 'hot' lunch by putting heated chicken nuggets, waffle sticks, fish sticks etc.. into a thermos. They will stay warm till lunch and are a nice change of pace from the traditional sandwich.

• I have burned out 2 of my kids on Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so now I have to try hard to be more creative. My kids like trail mix that I make using a variety of cereals, raisins or crasins, and pistachios.

• My 3-year-old son enjoys ""dipping"" things: bananas in yogurt, pita in hummus, vegetables in peanut butter, and whole wheat pita in pureed sweet potatoes or tomato soup.
  
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Cute things up! Get cute with the lunchbox by using crafts supplies, fun toothpicks, cookie cutters, cloth napkin, flowers, a note from you, and stickers to make lunch feel interesting, fun, and full of love. Shapes matter! Add a smile to their day by cutting food into a shape with a cookie cutter. If it makes your little one happy and eat healthy food you have packed with a smile, the extra 20 seconds are worth it.

It doesn't end there though, kids like things their size, so cube things, make them mini or buy the mini.

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Robinson Film Center| School Calendars | Family Events

As families juggle busy schedules and rising food costs, a growing number of parents are sending children off to school with packaged lunchbox meals. Although Oscar Mayer's Lunchables and similar packaged lunches seem like cheap and convenient options, many pack a hidden cost. These products are often high in fat and cholesterol and contain processed meats, high-fat dairy products, and other unhealthful items that contribute to childhood obesity and raise the risk of chronic diseases later in life. To determine which products pose the greatest danger to children's health, dietitians with the Cancer Project analyzed packaged lunchbox meals made by five major companies.

"Packaged lunches might be convenient, but these high-fat, high-salt products can be hard on your kid's health," says Cancer Project dietitian Krista Haynes, R.D., L.D. "Most Lunchables and other packaged lunch meals are packed with saturated fat and cholesterol. The only way to get significant fiber from these products would be to eat the box."

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