Back to school: 6 lunch & snack ideas for busy parents
You get your kids ready for school, pack their lunchboxes and (maybe) eat breakfast, all before rushing out the door. Packing your own healthy lunch? Yeah, that doesn’t happen.
Unfortunately, when you’re not armed with a healthy lunch and snacks, you’re more likely to make a rushed trip through a drive-through or grab whatever you can find in the office vending machine. At the end of the day, you’re either starving or low on energy due to a nutritionally void diet.
To keep yourself feeling and performing your best, toss a few of these easy—and healthy!—meal and snack ideas into your own lunchbox. Little to zero prep is required.
1. Easy meatless Monday: Alpha Foods burritos
You don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy these flavor-packed plant-based burritos. Made with meatless chicken or beef, melty dairy-free cheese, vegetables and spices, these burritos come packed with 11grams of protein for an awesome post-workout snack or meal.
Alpha Foods makes burritos with non-GMO, clean ingredients, keeping them free of cholesterol, animal products and hormones. Try one of four yummy flavors: Mexicali, Philly Sandwich, Chick’n Fajita or Pizza. Enjoy as a snack or add a small salad and an apple to make a healthy lunch!
2. When you’re out of ideas: Copy your kid’s lunch
While you’re making a turkey sandwich for your middle school soccer star, make another one for yourself. Use lean turkey breast and as much dark leafy lettuce greens, sliced tomato and/or other vegetables as you can fit between two slices of whole-grain bread. Pair it with some fruit or veggies and a light dipping sauce, and maybe toss in one of your kid’s string cheeses for an afternoon snack.
3. Just tear, eat and go! Starkist® Chicken Creations Pouches™
Chicken is a great source of lean protein that will keep you going all afternoon. With Starkist Chicken Creations, you can assemble a quick, tasty lunch in no time. They’re available in four delicious flavors, in single-serve, no-drain pouches, with premium white chicken sourced from U.S. farms.
Combine the BOLD Buffalo Style with peppers and avocado to make quesadillas in five minutes. Add Zesty Lemon Pepper to a bed of dark leafy greens, cherry tomatoes and other vegetables for a low-carb salad.
Pair the Ginger Soy variety with a serving of brown rice, or use the Chicken Salad pouch to make a fast and delicious sandwich. Pack an extra pouch in your bag for a quick snack!
4. The super-saver: Leftovers
Last night’s dinner becomes today’s lunch. Pair leftover baked salmon, grilled pork chops or whatever you had on the menu with a side salad and a small bunch of grapes.
5. Snack attack: Yogurt
Need an afternoon pick-me-up? Grab some thick and creamy Noosa Yoghurt, made with fresh whole milk, pure wildflower honey and juicy fruit purees. Add it all up, and you’ve got a whole lot of deliciousness and quality. Noosa uses all-natural, non-GMO ingredients. Its milk comes from cows that are never treated with rBGH.
Enjoy one of Noosa’s dozens of heavenly flavors for a delicious treat. Try coconut, honey, strawberry or something wild like blackberry serrano. Visit your local Publix to pick up an 8 oz. container. With nearly 1,200 stores in the southeast, you’re sure to find Noosa near you. Download a coupon for 50 cents off before you go!
To cut down on the morning rush, pack your lunch and your children’s lunches the night before. If you’re already packing for one or two kids, it won’t take much more time to add a third—yours.
Save even more time by getting everything you need at one supermarket. Publix offers a wide selection of fresh produce, deli meats, whole-grain bread and all the other ingredients you need for quick, healthy meals.
If you’re looking for organic, all-natural foods or foods that fit into a special diet, Publix has you covered. Better Choice shelf tags help you find more of what you want and less of what you don’t. Publix also uses special icons for organic, at least 70 percent organic, locally sourced and gluten-free.
Stock up on the easy lunch staples above at your nearest Publix today!