Tips School Lunch Idea for Picky Eaters

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By Maria Turner • Last Updated: February 16, 2023

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Tips School Lunch Idea for Picky Eaters

Imagine your child’s first day at school. You sent him to school with a lunch box packed full of goodies courtesy of you. And when he comes back instead of expecting a spotless lunch box returned you then open the box to realize that almost nothing has been shifted. And the next thing your child does is to complain.

This might be very overwhelming in the first place, and it is. At this moment you should know that you have for yourself a picky eater! Instead of going through trials, again and again, there are a few tricks to learn by using your creativity and your child’s lunch box is guaranteed to come back empty all the time.

In this article, you’ll learn about the ideas and tricks used in dealing with a picky eater.

What Should You Pack?

If this is your first time dealing with a picky eater don’t take it as the child is trying to be stubborn or has a problem. This is continuously found common in many kids growing up.

Kids at a very young age are not familiar with some foods that adults are used. Their taste pallet has not grown yet to recognize the values of some food items. Rather than thinking of how to win a Nobel Prize for parenting think of how you used to eat at 6 years old.

The lunch is one of the most important meals for kids. Lunch is not heavy on vegetables and has to be the main hit! Sometimes you’ll have little chances for expanding your lunch cooking ideas, and so you have to shop wisely in your fridge just like any other super mom.

Food items being cooked and assembled merely into the box is not the most fantastic thing to children. Try and undergo some processing when preparing the food. Mix some flavor’s in and other additives.

Bonus point – This is when you get to sneak in some healthy ingredients and sometimes your only shot at improving your children’s health by processing the food items. The fastest and easiest way to get your children to name you the best mom in the world is with the food you serve them.

You need to come together and construct a plan A, B, and a plan C. Imagine displaying a bucket of cookies, chicken nuggets, and cheese next to a bowl of salad, what will happen next? That doesn’t make sense. The kid will automatically frown at the bowl of salad once it’s put in front of him.

Your aim here is to create a filling, energetic, and flavorful dish while making sure that the dish comes across healthy – Either by adding some macro-nutrients or reducing excess nutrients.

The great idea is to throw in some food items all over such as apples, peas, tomatoes, celery, and cheese to go along with the main dish.

Keep in mind that the whole great idea about feeding your child the right way is too big for you to digest then follow the steps of creating a balanced diet meal. Before we round up this section, you should note some of the things that should always be included in your child’s lunch box.

Tips for Making School Lunch for Picky Eaters

Tips for Making School Lunch for Picky Eaters

Moms from all walks of life have agreed that their children should eat healthily. To achieve that the mothers have to become as creative. You should look at this as a process of teasing the children by utilizing new methods to make less interesting foods become more interesting.

Sliced and chopped vegetables are more likely to be eaten by children rather than whole vegetables. In terms of other nutrients such as fruits, the strawberry is your best weapon to draw them in. The children love fruits more than they love veggies and that makes it easier.

Below are tips that will serve as weapons when serving a picky eater.

Try and introduce new food items to them

As the child becomes more familiar with certain foods; the chances of broadening your options increase. Once at a time try and sneak in a few new or similar foods to the table. We are not saying that you should teach your child what broccoli is and how to eat it but instead give him a nice experience of eating it in one or two scenarios.

Protips: The more you get them to accept new foods the less picky they become.

Give credits to the texture your kid likes best

Texture plays a significant role when consuming food and it can make the meals happier to eat or sad. Some people prefer hard textures, and some prefer soft surfaces.

Likewise, a kid may prefer eating bread rather than a crunchy type of food. This can be a bit harder to abide by all the time but using this technique whenever it becomes possible can lift the priority on other foods.

You don’t have to make sure they eat everything

A major characteristic of a picky eater is not eating much. Even if it is the favorite food of your child, you can still find out that he doesn’t eat everything.

It will be amazing if every kid leaves a clean plate. However, that happens on a small ratio when it comes to picky eaters. This simple technique of thinking differently can take off from you some of the pain of having too many leftovers.

Make use of divided plates and separate compartments

This works for both the young and older kids. It makes them have clear, distinct choices when eating choosing what they want.

Putting all the food items in one plate can give the kid a fear of contamination between the food he likes best and the one he doesn’t like much. Rather than thinking of mixing everything in one place to sneak in something you can make use of this technique and the kid will always be tempted to have a bite.

Remember to add things such as spoons & forks preferably reusable items and make use of separated containers to prevent cross-contamination.

All these items are dependent on the type of dish you’re serving. If you’re serving a hot dish, then you need a thermos. Other essential items for comfort foods such as metal sandwich containers can be quiet lifesaving.

Don’t deprive them of their favorite Food

The first impression can either make or break the appetite of a picky eater. Once kids look at the plate, and they don’t notice any of their usual favorite food they might start to make their mind up that this is not something for them.

Make sure that there is at least one food item that they familiar with and they like very much to eat.

Food Meal Examples that Even Pickiest Eater Will Love

Food Meal Examples that Even Pickiest Eater Will Love

To give you more insight about how to set their favorite lunch, here are some of school lunch ideas for picky eaters that you can follow for beginner mom:

Pizza Pasta Salad

This is a recipe meant to be made ahead of time and can be prepared in one sitting. You can throw in lots of things starting from cheese to ham or turkey pepperoni. It gives high amounts of proteins to support the child’s growth. Add some fruits in there to turn it into more of a balanced diet and add some of the favorite vegetables of your child.

If possible try to use reduced sodium ham or homemade minced beef as an alternative of the pepperoni.

Waffle and Fresh Vegetables

A Waffle is a very familiar comfort food that is made in thousands of households today. Waffle is a food joint to both picky and non-picky eaters. The way to go is to squeeze in some grilled cheese and some meat or much healthier options such as tomato or cucumber. This is a recipe that has been tried and it is proven to work!

Hot dog, Bun, and Apple or Orange

I don’t think any kid will reject this particular combination. One thing that I found a game changer in this is the apple – As soon as the kid stares at this mixture, there’s no turning back. Reduce the sizes of the hot dog and the apple for a better texture by dicing. Serve it with a dip that the child usually eats.

Final Verdicts

There’s always a way to deal with a picky eater, and one of the worst mistakes you can make is to force that child to eat that particular food item he dislikes. Kid’s lunch boxes are easy to prepare and very quick to assemble.

All you need is the understanding of what makes the kid leave a clean plate after serving him/her and what prevents him/her from doing that. Find a couple of dishes that he/she likes most and understand what goes on and what goes off.

Once your kid grabs the idea of a single complete dish the rest is history. Always remember that with a little bit of creativity and open thinking the rest could be history.