With the kids going back to school in September…..hooray!!

Don’t you want one less thing to worry about with all the homework, driving around, endless loads of laundry and extra curricular activities to go to?

Nutritious & Delicious has come up with 5 unique ways to save your dollars with less food waste from the kids lunches they take to school.

Nutrition Tip #1 (see picture above)

Cut your apples into length sized chunks and put back together as a whole apple with an elastic band around the middle. This cool technique should stop the apple from going brown and is great for those kids that don’t eat the whole apple. This trick is also good for younger kids who like to eat slices of apple big enough for their own hands to grab. You can also use a small container to dip in either hummus, nut butters or cube cheese to pair with the apple.

Nutrition Tip #2

Keep all the veggies that contain lots of water or juices out of the sandwich and let your child put them together when they are ready to eat. This includes food like lettuce, sliced tomatoes, cucumber, sprouts and pickles. If you put these foods straight into bread, by the time your kids eat the food it all becomes one soggy mess which nobody wants to eat. Instead put all the cut veggies in a separate container or zip lock and your child will enjoy making their own custom creation.

Nutrition Tip #3

When berries get out of season they can be expensive, they come in small containers and are more likely to be moldy. For your kid’s healthy snack at school during the fall, why not buy individual pots of organic plain yogurts and add frozen berries into a separate little pot. When you put the frozen berries in the lunch bags before school they shall be nice and thawed by the time your little person adds them on top of their yogurts.

Nutrition Tip #4

Leftovers can be a godsend!! The nights you are out late and haven’t had time to make lunches for everyone can be stressful. Why not put a few dishes away in individual glass containers whenever you make a large meal that you can spare a few leftovers? Its always nice to have a hearty lunch other than sandwiches sometimes that only mom makes best that you can take to school and reheat.

Nutrition Tip #5

So long as your kids are leaving the house with a decent breakfast other than a granola bar, plus having a dinner that’s also rich in nutrients. You shouldn’t be too concerned about the food having to be so fresh for school. If you put too many fresh foods together in one bag they could spoil. For example, mixing a banana in with a sandwich could make everything taste strange to a child and leave the food in the bag.

Try giving your kids foods that are versatile, they don’t have strong smells, are easy to peel/eat and won’t go soggy within a few hours. I always like to pack whole grain crackers with cheese, blueberries or grapes, nitrate free deli meat sandwiches on whole grain bread, carrot sticks with hummus and dried fruits with pumpkin seeds.