Make Kids Lunches Fun, Nutritious

Cookbook author Mollie Katzen offers these tips for putting together quick, nutritious - and kid-pleasing - lunches and snacks:

Shop together: Help children develop healthy eating habits when they’re young. Take them to the grocery store and let them pick out their own vegetables. Slice the vegetables and pack them in resealable bags for school lunches. You can also let the kids choose their favorite dried fruit, nuts and seeds to make “personalized” snack mixes for the school lunch box.

Pack together: Let kids help pack their own lunches - the night before, if possible.

Slice and dice: Make fruits and vegetables fun to eat. Slice apples, bananas and pears, then slide them onto toothpicks. These “fruit sticks” are easier to munch on than whole fruit. Peel and section oranges. Or serve raisins or grapes.

Mini-mize it: Instead of a big sandwich, pack a miniature bagel, sliced pita, small container of pasta or crackers and cheese. “Kids think it’s more fun to have a minibagel with some turkey and string cheese than to have a big sandwich,” Katzen says. To make vegetables more appealing, pack baby carrots with a small container of your child’s favorite dressing for dipping.

Variety rules: Combine small servings from several food groups for well-balanced lunches. Some possible combinations: peanut butter on rice cakes or a piece of string cheese with apple slices.

Possible menu combos: Two miniature bagels with turkey or cheese, small bunch of grapes, low-fat cookies and milk; peanut butter and spreadable fruit cracker sandwiches, box of raisins, string cheese, pudding cup and milk; slice of turkey wrapped around a slice of cheese in a soft tortilla, bagel chips, small container of strawberries or melon chunks, graham cracker squares and milk.

Snack ideas: Peanut butter-filled celery stalks, air-popped popcorn, frozen yogurt, fruit-filled yogurt cups, string cheese, baked tortilla chips, crackers, cut-up fruits and vegetables.