An estimated 22 million students will attend today’s opening of classes in the public elementary and high schools nationwide.
I wonder how many moms are beating the “back to school blues” especially in preparing packed lunch or ‘baon’ for their kids every single day.
Most moms wouldn’t settle for less when it comes to preparing healthy meals for their children. I stumble these tips from the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology, long ago. I refer to these tips every time I run out of ideas to perk up the meals I prepare for my own school-age kids.
* Think about you child’s ‘baon’ ahead. Healthy school lunches can be easy when you plan ahead. Plan your kids’ baon a week in advance and give them lots of healthy selections to choose from. This will teach them to develop the habit of making choices for themselves
* Packed lunches should have three or four food groups represented to fuel them through a lot of the school day’s activities, for example,
* Use a different sandwich filling each day (tuna, cheese, egg, or chicken). Preferably use whole grain breads and low fat mayonnaise or dressing. Add cut up vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, pipino (cucumber) for added fiber. Prepare sandwich fillings the day or night before to save time in the busy morning.
* Include milk and fruit juices for beverages. This will help assure your children of a nutritious drink and also save you needless expenses on carbonated beverages. If you include tetra pack fruit juice, keep it in the freezer then put directly in the lunch box – it will have thawed by lunchtime and will keep the rest of the food cool.
* Make sure your child is drinking safe, clean, and enough water.
* Be concerned with food safety when packing lunches. Use thermal/insulated lunch box to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. With a good thermal/insulated lunch box, there is no limit to the delicious, nutritious and safe packed lunches for your kids.
Monday
Fried Longganisa
Lettuce-Cucumber-Tomato Salad
Boiled Rice
Banana Fruit
Snack – Fried Banana/Camote
Tuesday
Chicken/Pork Adobo
Sauteed Abitsuelas
Boiled Rice
Fruit in Season
Snack – Egg Sandwich
Wednesday
Fish/Meat Omelette
Atsara
Boiled Rice
Orange Juice
Snack – Boiled Peanuts
Thursday
Beef Tapa
Fresh Tomatoes
Boiled Rice
Pineapple Juice
Snack -Chicken Sandwich
Friday
Fried Chicken/Breaded Pork chop
Buttered Vegetables
Boiled Rice
Fruit in Season
Snack – Fruit in Season
tnx po dito sa nutritious tips na ito. malaking tulong din ito sa akin kahit wala pa akong kids. single pa ako at nakatira sa isang apartment. minsan kung anu nalang ang kinakain ko basta makaraos lang at nakakalimutan k na o di kinu-consider ang value o nutritious content ng mga ito. hehe
Maganda rin kasi ‘yung may preconceived menu ka at least for a week, saves you time to think and energy to go to market. Made-develop mo pa ‘yung health habit.
Ako naman even if my kids do not really eat veggie salad, I see to it to include banana in their lunch box. Kahit papaano may prutas sila.
Good thing I just had cereals now. hehehe. Yup, cereals for merienda. I was craving for something crspy to chew on, and I remembered I have a freshly opened box of cereal from breakfast. So, I took a cup full and had a quick merienda.
Okay, off topic…
Wow, you really thought of your kids weekly baon. he he he. I used to have chicken, egg, rice and milk during my elementary days. Of course there were some alternate meals. I just can’t remember them now. LOL
I enjoyed reading this one. Made me hungry too!
Z
Sarap naman ng cereals. But I prefer oatmeal with lotsa milk. Yum.
Di naman nasusunod ang one-week menu religiously,depende sa gusto ng mga kids. Picky eaters kasi.
Z, thanks for the visit and the nice comments. 🙂
thanks Mommy Miriam..I could follow this menu for me and hubby..he..he..feeling kidz…
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Hey really good recipes. Try to avoid pre-packaged snacks because its unhealthy. One can even go for some innovative ideas like Ice cream cone can be filled with cheese, veggie and tomato chopped or a tuna fish salad which a great snack, involve the child in building their own meals from sandwiches, cheese cubes, and dried fruit or serve the meal in innovative plates and cups. To know more on tactics on healthy snacks for kids, refer Fun healthy kids snacks