Most often, parents don’t put too much effort for their child’s school lunchbox, since they are too busy. They only often cook food that’s easy to prepare such as hotdogs, chicken nuggets, eggs, and burger patties. And the cycle repeats.

While your child doesn’t complain eating fried processed foods every day, as a parent, you have to prepare healthier and appetizing lunches for your child. If your child often arrives home with his lunch half eaten, then it’s time for you to give more focus on your child’s lunchbox meals.

To help you pack a healthy lunchbox for your child, here are some ideas.

Fill it with protein and grains.

Remember that your child still needs to stay in school for another half a day. To give him the energy that he needs, your child’s lunchbox should be packed with foods that could fill his tummy. And the food groups that make your child able to feel full are protein and grains. For your child’s main course, you could prepare him his favorite meat dish with rice, fish with rice, or even big portions of sandwiches with homemade burger patties and vegetables.

Sneak in the vegetables.

Aside from protein and grains, vegetables help complete a healthy lunchbox. And since children are very picky when it comes to eating vegetables, only prepare veggies that they like eating. Children usually love eating beans, cabbage, spinach, carrots, sweet bell peppers, and potatoes. To encourage them eating vegetables, you could try making a salad out of them, or stir-fry them if your child want a mild salty, slurry taste.

Let fruits be the desserts.

If your child has a sweet tooth, teach them how to love eating fruits instead of candies and chocolates for lunch. Fruits contain healthier sugars than candies and chocolates, but they could still satisfy your child’s palate. You could give your child fruit tidbits to serve as dessert for lunch. It could be a banana, slices of melon, an apple, mango, or a piece of orange.

Don’t forget the water.

While other parents prepare fun and cool drinks for their child such as milk shakes and fruit juices, nothing will beat the health benefits of plain drinking water. Since your child is fatigued from studying in school, drinking water could help him rejuvenate his energy and reduce his feeling of fatigue. Aside from this, water helps out to flush the toxins inside his body and helps him maintain his weight. Milk shakes and fruit juices definitely taste good, but they contain too much sugar which could be bad for your child’s health.

Preparing your kid’s lunchbox should be really well-thought of. You don’t want them to be eating junk foods, right? Even if you are too busy because of work, allot an hour or two in preparing your kid’s lunchbox. Or you could prepare the ingredients at night, so that you won’t be in a rush cooking your child’s lunch in the morning.

What foods do you cook for your child’s lunchbox? Share them with us!