TORONTO — When it comes to healthy school lunches, Carol Harrison is passionate about making them a teaching opportunity.
"We know food skills aren't really being taught in school and they're so important," says Harrison. "It's an everyday thing that kids can be involved in — help to plan and pack your own lunch. It doesn't always have to be Mom and Dad who do that."
About a year ago, she launched Yummy Lunch Club, a blog chock-full of tips to address questions she's fielded from frustrated parents over her career as a registered dietitian.
She understands the time crunch can lead parents down the slippery slope of buying more highly processed items, such as sweetened granola bars that are "really cookies in disguise." She points out it's just as simple to tuck an extra piece of fruit or some carrot sticks into lunches.
Most Canadians don't eat the number of servings of vegetables and fruits recommended by Canada's Food Guide, which led to the Half Your Plate initiative. The message from the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Public Health Association and Canadian Cancer Society is to make breakfast, lunch and dinner plates half vegetables and fruit.
"If they're not getting them at breakfast and not getting them at lunch, that's a lot they would have to eat at dinnertime. It just won't happen," says Toronto-based Harrison. "You have to work the fruits and vegetables into their lunch."
Harrison suggests using a julienne peeler, mandoline or spiralizer to turn carrots, beets, cucumbers, zucchini and even broccoli stems into "noodles." The noodles can be eaten raw or cooked.
"They add a lovely swirl of vegetables into soups and salads and can even replace pasta in your favourite pasta dish," says the mother of three.
"Bento box lunches are a great way to work vegetables and fruits into lunches because there's so many opportunities to mix and match different colours and textures and it's interesting."
Kids love hand-held food and muffin-tin veggie frittatas, hot or cold, fit the bill. Try broccoli and cheddar, bell peppers and feta, or cauliflower and Parmesan. Add a little leftover meat or grains too. Make a batch on the weekend and use a few for lunches at the beginning of the week. The rest can be frozen for up to a month as quick grab-and-go options.
Harrison advises parents to think about long-term strategies to make lunch prep easy. In just 30 minutes on the weekend, you can whip up a batch of mini muffins, meatballs or a big pot of soup, chili or stew.
"It just takes the edge off packing lunches during the week to know you've got something tucked away that's going to help to make this quicker and easier," says Harrison.
"When I'm making dinner I'm thinking about lunch at the same time."
Here are some other ideas to increase your child's vegetable intake. Many of them use up leftovers so they're not lingering in the fridge, which saves money, says Harrison.
— Veggies added to meatballs bump up moisture and flavour.
— Blitz 175 ml (3/4 cup) cooked sweet potato, beets, roasted red peppers or carrots into gorgeous-coloured hummus, either store-bought or homemade. Pack the super-healthy dip in a little container and include pita bread wedges, breadsticks or vegetable sticks. Or make "boats" out of small bell peppers, which have been halved lengthwise and seeded, and fill with hummus.
— Top crispy kale chips with Parmesan cheese, chili powder, taco seasoning, or even just a bit of lemon and lime zest.
— Make fresh spring rolls with rice paper wrappers and tasty fillings like mango, chicken, mint and bagged coleslaw.
— Whole-wheat pita pizza can be loaded with veggie toppings and eaten cold.
— If you use canned soups, add an extra handful of frozen or leftover vegetables.
— Cold roasted vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots or sweet potato make little side dishes.
Safety should be top of mind when packing lunches — keep hot food hot and cold food cold to prevent bacteria growth. With an insulated container, warm it with hot water before adding food that contains some liquid or sauce.
"It's the liquid that holds the heat and so something like fried rice, which is just going to be rice, meat, vegetables, you can heat it up piping hot, but it's not going to stay hot in the Thermos if it doesn't have some liquid in it," cautions Harrison.
