School is in full swing now (or, it has been since July if your kids are year round like mine!) and this year I had the added challenge of packing lunches for two budding primal eaters. My second grader is easy. She knows the drill and loves leftover dinner meats. My Kindergartener, on the other hand, is a bit pickier. She doesn’t like leftover meat cold and she likes very few vegetables raw. Luckily for me though, she doesn’t mind repetition.

Many thanks to our readers who requested more lunch box ideas and especially to Nicole who gave me the awesome idea of assigning each compartment of the lunchbox a macronutrient to help teach the kids. I still get a few odd comments about how “Suzy A. or Johnny B. told me my lunch was weird,” but I take those opportunities to remind them about healthier choices that help them grow big and strong and perhaps re-read Sarah Fragoso’s Paleo Pals together!

I usually don’t stray far from the basics below. My best advice is to keep it simple, always make extra dinner meat for leftovers, make large batches of healthier treats when you have some extra time and stock them in the fridge or freezer, let your kids buy lunch every once in a while if allergies are not an issue, use the treat box for both something sweet and non-food items like sticker or notes, and don’t be afraid of repetition.

Proteins:

• nitrate-free deli meat
• leftover meat from dinner
• rotisserie chicken (buy one over the weekend, clean it up, and use it all week here and there)
• hard-boiled eggs
• nitrate free beef jerky or homemade beef jerky
• greek yogurt (if your kids do dairy like mine)
• full fat cheese

Carbohydrates:

• fresh berries
• sliced apples
• dried fruit
• baby carrots
• sliced cucumbers
• raw spinach
• sliced sweet peppers

Healthy Fats:

• nuts of any kind your kids like (aim for dry roasted or raw)
• pumpkin and sunflower seeds
• nut butter (almond, sunflower seed, and sometimes good ol’ PB because you can’t win every battle!)
• organic ranch dressing
• almond flour primal crackers

Combo items:

• apple sandwiches with nut butter
• cucumber sandwiches with sliced meat or cheese
• leftovers in thermos or compartment if they don’t mind them cold
• trail mix (and yes, sometimes even with M&Ms for fun)
• larabars or homemade laraballs
• paleo granola
• primal trail mix cookies
• homemade grain free muffins

Small treat box items:

• gummy vitamins
• mini m&ms
• stickers
• special mini notes
• candied nuts (or “sweet nuts” as my kids call them)
• yogurt covered raisins

Here’s a sample week full of lunches from our house. What are your favorite go-to lunchbox ideas from your family?

Have a happy and healthy school year,

Heather

Related posts:

Lunchbox ideas
Your Primal Family
Paleo Pals Book Review