The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Packed Lunches!

School dinners or packed lunch? The million dollar question that is spoken in every household with school-age children! I'm not going to influence your decision as all local authorities have different policies and menus in operation, but here are some great ideas to point you in the right direction of a healthy packed lunch!

1. Lean meat, chicken, tuna, eggs, low-fat cheese or houmous are all great tasting healthy choices. Try to avoid ham, salami and bacon which are high in salt and saturated fat.
2. Always add salads and vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber, carrot sticks, sliced peppers and sweetcorn.
3. For a change to 'normal' bread sandwiches, try pitta bread or wraps to make tasty sandwich parcels.
4. Spreads like butter, margarine and mayonnaise can be used but only in small amounts. They add flavour but can add fat and calories to the meal.
5. Try using wholemeal bread as it's higher in fibre and will bring other benefits to your child's lunch.

For the record, I'm not biased either towards or against school dinners; my son has lunch provided by the school but my daughter prefers to take a packed lunch! We're lucky that we have an overall great school lunch menu in our county with a great team who provide it!

Why not try some of these tasty sandwich filling ideas out on your family? They're great for days out too - when we get the sunshine back!

• Boiled egg and watercress
• Tinned tuna and sweetcorn
• Cold chicken, lettuce and low-fat cheese spread
• Boiled egg, tomatoes and soft cheese
• Houmous, grated carrot and lettuce
• Low-fat cheese spread and grated carrot
• Sliced cheese and tomato

Check out the Great Grub Club website here for more nutritious sandwich ideas! Enjoy!