School is back in many parts of the country and that means many of us have to wake up a little early to make school lunches. Here are some tips on helping you pack a school lunch that’s easy, nutritious and delicious.

1. What should you include?

This is the toughest question.  I use the Daily Food Plan tool on ChooseMyPlate.org to create a customized plan for my kids based on age.  The food plan is divided into food groups with daily targets and it even includes a worksheet to track your daily progress and set up goals for the next day.

2. Get ideas

There are so many places to find recipes.  Moms love posting recipes and pictures of their lunches online.  Here are our current favorites:

Choose my Plate.gov’s Recipe Page – Free Recipes

USDA’s What’s Cooking page – Free Recipes

Momables – a subscription service that provides weekly food menus, recipes and preparation instructions

Parenting.com’s Food & Recipe page – Free Recipes

EatRight.org’s Recipe Page – Free Recipes

You can also search for “School Lunches” on places like Pinterest and Instagram where I post pictures of my school lunches every day.

3. Get the right “tools”
I’ve been using EasyLunchboxes 3-pocket meal containers since my son started preschool. They are bpa free and come in many colors.  They are sold only on Amazon.com: 4 containers for $13.95

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I also have smaller toddler-sized bento boxes from Green Sprout that are perfect for those smaller hands and come in several animals: Lion, Crocodile, Hipo, Monkey and Elephant:

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Follow this guidelines and you’ll get the hang of it.  If I can do it, you can totally do it.  Good luck!

UPDATE: Found this great article as a great addition to my great one! 🙂