Getting to school and discovering you have a ham and cheese sandwich and an apple, yet again, can get tiring after the first few weeks. Change is good; especially when it comes to what you eat. It’s easy to get bored with the same old, same old, and when this happens it can be tempting to skip lunch altogether or binge on snacks like pop, chips and chocolate bars (for some reason they never get dull). In order to relieve the dullness of another standard lunch, you may want to try packing your own to ensure it will never be boring again. Lunches should be full of variety- a few healthy items, and maybe 1 or two treats.

In order to pack a lunch you’ll need: a reusable lunch bag, a small ice pack, a water bottle, juice container, a small round storage container (for dips and sauces), a sectional container (with 2 or 3 sections) and a square container. Reusable plastic utensils and reusable cloth sandwich bags are also a great way to be environmentally friendly and save a little money.

Before you start looting the kitchen for ingredients, first, you can brainstorm some ideas. A good time to do this is on the weekend so you have time to shop and plan a menu before the school week starts.

You can go online to check out ideas; watch a few cooking shows; check out Pintrest or look at some cook books to help you get ideas.

You will want to try and balance your lunches. Try picking a variety of foods from each of the four food groups. You can take a look at the Canadian Food Guide to find out more about the food groups and the amount of servings you require based on your age. The four food groups consist of: Fruits and Vegetables, Dairy, Grains and Meat/ Alternatives. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• (turkey bacon)BLT Wrap with grapes, pretzel sticks and a cheese string.
•  Chicken Cesar wrap, yogurt, celery sticks and a banana.
•  Baked potato with sour cream, feta cheese, rice cakes and rolled up turkey slices.
•  English muffin pizzas with ham and pineapple, chocolate milk and a fruit cup

Of course, you don’t always have to abide by what the Canadian Food Guide tells you. Many families eat different foods and come from different backgrounds. This may consist of many different foods not listed or mentioned in the food guide. There are many different types of cold curries you can make, for example. Maybe you like noodles? Click on the following link that will lead you to a simple recipe on how to make Cold Curry Peanut Noodles: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cold-curry-peanut-noodles-recipe.html

An awesome snack to have in your lunch may be the left over Hummus your Mom or Dad made the day before; you can pair that with some carrot sticks and, voila- you have your afternoon recess snack.

Everyone has different body types and different types of food may not agree with you. However, it is never a bad thing to try and make something new (maybe even spark your love for cooking).

By preparing your own lunch you not only get to have something you actually want, you’ll learn a few things too, like, proper nutrition, how to help out around the house, pride, accomplishment and responsibility. It’s also fun. So get creative and get ready to be the envy of all your friends at the lunch table.