Easy Lunch Kebabs + Tips for Packing Your Kids Lunch

Easy Lunch Kebabs are customizable based on what you have on hand and are sure to be a lunchtime favorite for both kids and adults! Use your favorite fruits, vegetables, lunch meats and cheeses.

I take packing our lunches very seriously. I pack myself about 6 or 7 different foods per work day. My husband jokes with me that he could never pack my lunch because it involves so many different things and I switch it up all the time- haha! When it comes to packing my daughter's lunch, although Adalyn is not in school yet, I have gotten quite a bit of experience because we go out a lot during lunchtime and I pack her lunches to go.

There are some foods that pack well for lunches and some that pack poorly. I want to share my tips and tricks for packing a child's lunch either for school or for on-the-go.

Stick to an outline of what to pack

When I pack my own lunches, I know that each meal needs a fruit, a vegetable, a snack, dairy, breakfast and entrée. I pack for Adalyn similarly.

Each meal includes at least one of these from each category:

Vegetable

-Cherry tomatoes

-Whole or sliced carrots

-Cucumber slices

-Celery

-Bell peppers

-Salad

Fruit

-Blueberries

-Opal Apple slices

-Clementine

-Banana

-Grapes

-Kiwi

Grain

-Apple Cinnamon Oat Bars
-Whole-wheat bread, tortilla or crackers

-Whole-grain pasta

-Brown rice
-Whole-grain muffins

Protein

-Hummus

-Beans

-Lunch meat
-Nut butter

Dairy

-Greek yogurt

-Sliced cheese

-Milk

-Cottage cheese

These are some example meals of what we put together for Adalyn's lunches:

1. Easy Lunch Kebabs (see simple recipe below)

2. 2 minute pizzas- cheese, veggies and sauce warmed on a whole-grain bagel, English muffin or flatbread with fruit

3. Almond butter on whole-grain bread, cheddar cheese slices, sliced bell peppers, blueberries

4. Quesadilla on a corn tortilla, cheese, black beans, bell peppers and salsa with an Opal apple on the side

5. Tuna salad made with Greek yogurt, whole-grain crackers, celery and a clementine

This Fully Loaded Ham Sandwich is packed full of fresh vegetables and a tasty Greek yogurt spinach dip! www.nutritionistreviews.com

Prep ahead of time

The work or school week can be very busy and doing things ahead of time such as on the weekends can make life a lot easier. I like prepping our lunches for Monday and Tuesday on Sunday night. I will make some foods ahead of time to make it easier during the week. You can slice vegetables and some fruits for easy grabbing.

Healthier Chicken Salad is super easy to make and full of flavor with celery, grapes, pecans and green onion! The dressing is protein rich with Greek yogurt and a hummus spread. www.nutritionistreviews.com

Healthier Chicken Salad can be made ahead of time and enjoyed all week!

Make enough dinner for leftovers

Leftovers make great lunches the next day. I love making extra servings of our dinners during the week to pack for quick lunches the next day.

Easy Lunch Kebabs

Ingredients:

-Opal Apples, cut into bite sized pieces

-Cheddar and gouda cheese cubes

-Turkey or chicken lunch meat, rolled and sliced

-Grapes

-Cherry or grape tomatoes

-Cucumbers, cut into chunks

Instructions: Thread pieces of food onto kebabs. Pack in reusable storage containers. Can make a couple of days ahead of time and stores well in the fridge.

This super easy recipe uses sweet and delicious Opal® apples which give the perfect sweetness and crunch in these kebabs. Opal® apples are naturally non-browning. That means you can slice them up for lunch and they will not brown.

Adalyn loves snacking on apples and I love that I can cut these for her ahead of time and they will not brown. They are only available from November to March so get them quickly! They are grown in Washington State by Broetje and Congdon Orchards.

Like this simple recipe? Check out other easy lunch ideas:
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Blueberry Breakfast Cookies
Kale Caesar Pasta Salad
4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Energy Bites
Fully Loaded Ham Sandwich
Broccoli Bacon Mac and Cheese

Check out The Nutritionist Reviews recipes Pinterest board for more healthy and fun recipe ideas!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Opal Apples. All opinions are my own.