It’s back-to-school time, which means packing snacks for lunches and after-school practice. Unfortunately, most Lunchable-type packs, and even snacks packs are loaded with sugar, oil and salt.
To help you get the most nutritional bang from kid-friendly lunch options, we’re Getting the Skinny with Molly the best and worst of grab & go options in stores.
LOVE IT!
No pre-made lunchables on shelves are a “LOVE IT” – best answer is to make your own with whole grain crackers, fresh fruit, veggies lean protein (grilled chicken, turkey + cheese roll-ups, Greek yogurt chicken salad, etc)
Sargento Balanced Break Snack Packs – nuts, cheese, dried fruit. Simple, clean ingredients. Only 190 mg sodium.
Fruit + Cheese, Fruit + Nut, Fruit + Nut Butter Snack Packs – DIY, or store-bought (tip: Walmart has excellent selection)
LIKE IT!
P3 Portable Protein Packs by Oscar Mayer – Good protein + heart-smart fats, but…
- Sodium 580+ mg per serving
- Meats made with added carrageenan, phosphates, cornstarch, sugars…
Hillshire Snacking Small Plates – Tuscan Chicken
- Decent protein, but still contains white crackers + chocolate-covered almonds
HATE IT!
Lunchables – any + all varieties.
White flour, oil, salt, sugar are the foundation of these meals, with added nitrites, preservatives, some have artificial sweeteners acesulfame potassium and sucralose; some have artificial food dyes like Red 40 & Blue 1.
Natural Foods Store “Lunch Kit”
Read labels, otherwise you may find yourself with a seemingly more “natural” lunch kit like this one with 500 calories, 1110 mg sodium, and more than half a day’s worth of saturated fat.
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