With the vacations finally over, everybody is trying to get back to their routines. Juggling between various aspects of life, as mothers, you always make sure that your kids get to eat healthy balanced meals. Waking up at the wee hours in the morning and packing your kids lunch boxes, your efforts aim to reduce the intake of junk food and make the child more interested in snacking healthy. We at Archana’s kitchen have carefully designed the weekly menu plan for kids lunch boxes and snack boxes which will help you plan well in advance and give you more ideas. Kids love variety and our attempt is to bring in novelty every now and then.
We have tried to include variety of grains, proteins and vegetables to plan these boxes. Addition of nuts in the snacks give them good calories, essential fatty acids and vitamins. For kids below 5 years, try giving them in smaller pieces. Alternatively make a coarse powder from assorted nuts and try adding 2-3 teaspoon to suitable recipes.
Plan your kids menu with this Weekly Menu Planner for kids nutri-healthy lunch boxes’ and let us know how it turns out. Every Friday, we are here to give you new ideas so stay tuned!
Lunch Box Recipes
| Menu | Snack Box | Lunch Box |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Mini Idli Upma, Apple slices, Walnuts | Healthy Vegetable Paratha Roll, Curd Rice |
| Tuesday | Mutter Poha, Orange Slices, Almonds | Penne Pasta in Creamy Pumpkin Sauce |
| Wednesday | Carrot Onion Uttapam, Banana, Cashew Nuts | Stuffed Gobi Paratha, Yogurt |
| Thursday | Apple Vanilla Whole Wheat Pancakes , Roasted Phool Makhana | Rajma Chawal , Sliced Cucumber |
| Friday | Grilled Tomato Cheese Sandwich , De-seeded Dates | Carrot Rice, Boondi Raita |
Tips for Planning
The tips for planning the school lunch boxes start from the previous day and hence we have the preps listed for the day before you would need to plan.| Menu | Planning & Tips |
|---|---|
| Sunday | Prepare Idli/ Dosa batter, you can reuse it on Wednesday. Keep some roti atta dough in the refrigerator as well.Plan the vegetables that need to go into the paratha and keep it ready. |
| Monday | Boil penne pasta and refrigerate and prep the pumpkin sauce as well. The next morning you just have to mix it up and heat it. |
| Tuesday | Keep the dosa batter ready and carrots grated for Uttapam. For the Gobi, cut the gobi and keep it ready. |
| Wednesday | Roast the Phool Makhana, soak Rajma and possibly cook and prepare it the previous night. Make sure you have a fruits like Apple ready to make the pancakes. |
| Thursday | Keep a few dates pitted the previous night, and buy a loaf of fresh bread and butter. Grate carrots and keep some cooked rice aside, so making carrot rice can get simple the next morning. |
