PHOTO BY PHILIPPE DESNERCK/GETTY IMAGESOne of the biggest, most common mistakes her mom clients make when packing school lunches is forgetting about major food groups. "When serving a 'smart plate,' half of it should be filled with fruits and veggies, a quarter with lean protein, and the other quarter with grains—and at least half of those grains should be whole grains," she says. Now imagine a typical brown bag stuffed with a white-bread PB&J sandwich, piece of fruit, a packaged salty snack, and sugary drink and you can see how a major makeover is in order. Luckily, that's easy enough to do if you follow Glockner's advice:
1. Prep the night before. If you're trying to pack lunches and get the kids and yourself out the door in the morning, you'll be much more likely to toss whatever you can find in there, which has a higher likelihood of being unhealthy.
2. Involve the kids. OK, this one may sound like more trouble than it's worth. But if your little ones are playing an active role in helping to decide what they'll have, they'll be more likely to eat it. This is especially true if you've got a garden (or even a pot of veggies or herbs) in your yard that they helped tend to and watched grow.
3. Sneak in more veggies. Instead of making a sandwich out of bread, cut little squares of bell peppers or rounds of zucchini and make sliders; make a cold "pasta" salad using spiralized veggie noodles; or build fruit-and-veggie kabobs. The more creative you are and the further you go beyond carrot and celery sticks with dip, the more likely your kids will be to eat these good-for-you foods.
