**This post is made in collaboration with Horizon Organic. All content, ideas, and words are my own.**
If your family is anything like mine, school lunches are something that definitely needs fine tuning with each new year. Their palates change as quickly their shoe size and their eating habits ebb and flow like the tide pools. With that, keeping them fueled and takes some effort.
But what remains constant with each year are a few things like Horizon’s no-mess, organic and protein-filled Milk Boxes and Cheese Sticks. The Single-Serve Milk Boxes are key. They travel well in lunch boxes and are perfect between innings or halftime to refuel my kids during sports. The cheese sticks have 7 grams of protein and are what my kids reach for first when we need an on-the-go snack.
Thankfully, Horizon is helping my family stay powered up to navigate their way through every-day-crazies to every day challenges. This back-to-school season I’m teaching them that confidence comes in many forms but the one we are putting to practice and sharing is Horizon’s ConfiDANCE. It’s their back to school campaign, benefitting Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. BBBS provides one-on-one mentoring to unlock potential and create confidence for children facing adversity. The #HorizonConfiDANCE campaign will help BBBS recruit, train and support new recruits to new matches. This started in 1904 and has been going strong ever since, with over 2 million youths served in the last decade.
It’s a great cause and helps so many so many children while teaching my own the value of helping others and their community. To show your support all you need to do is have little fun and share your dance moves on on Instagram or Facebook by September 30th. Horizon Organic will give $5 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, up to $200k. When you do, make sure to use #HorizonConfiDANCE.
Now for a few more lunch packing tips to help your kids, here are some of my favorites:
- Pack it with protein – If your kids are anything like mine, they burn a lot of energy, so keeping their lunch protein packed is key so they don’t hit the half-day slump.
- Keep it simple – Lunchtime is coupled with recess, so what I’ve learned is kids would rather use that time for playing than eating. This means make food that they don’t have to mix, shake or finish in anyway.
- Meal prep like a pro, by preparing foods that can be made ahead of time like: salad rolls, granola grab-and-go bags, smoothie jars, easy-to-sip soups.
- Lunch Calendar – While this may see like a lot of work upfront, it will save you time in the long run. A little work will save you a lot of frustration, missed and uneaten lunches.
- Have them make it with you. They’re much more likely to eat it and will love showing off their skills at the lunch table.
- Keep it fun- Grab some cookie cutters and punch out some fruit and/or sandwiches.
- Find your system – Not every kid likes his or her lunch in baggies. Mine definitely don’t, they prefer the compartment containers so that it can all easily be accessible in one left to right motion of a fork or for easy finger food eating.
- Keep it cool – Using the right container for the right food. Nothing’s worse than putting in all that work and having it spoil.
- Be mindful – Know your child’s school rule for what can and can’t be packed. You don’t want to be that parent with a granola bar and have it confiscated because of potential food allergies for other kids.
If you have any tips of your own, be sure to share them in comment section so we can all help each other out.
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