Grab a Juice and Toss It in Your Lunch Bag

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Juicy Juice.

With six kids, we pack a LOT of lunches around here. Part of the struggle that I have with packing lunches is that it's all too easy to pack an UNhealthy lunch - one the kids will scarf down - and it's more of a struggle to pack a healthy, well balanced lunch that I'm happy to serve and that the kids will eat. After all, lunch is a very important part of the day and it is vital to help kids stay focused and on task for the remainder of the day. (Part of the reason I love summer vacation - shhh, don't remind me that school starts for us in a month. I love living in denial!)

I worked in the cafeteria of my kids school for three years and I was able to view many lunches. Often, I wondered if the kids packed for themselves. Lunch might consist of a candy bar, pudding cup, 2 bags of chips and a soda. Kind of makes a whole wheat peanut butter sandwich sound less appetizing to a child, doesn't it?

Happily, there are some great choices that you can add to a lunch box that will make both you and your child happy. Juicy Juice Sparkling Juice is one such compromise. Containing 70% juice and sparkling water, with no added sugar or artificial sweeteners or preservatives, this juice makes my kids feel like they are drinking a soda treat. My ten year old loves to drink it from a wine glass, claiming that it makes him feel Like a grown up, Mom. With so many unhealthy choices out there, Juicy Juice and their line up of healthy juice choices makes packing lunches just a wee bit easier.

I just wish that they offered a "gobble me up" veggie choice for which my kids would beg.

I'm giving away this GREAT gift basket PLUS a $100 Visa Gift card - to enter, please leave me a comment telling me your most healthy, successful compromise for your kids lunches. You may earn an extra entry for tweeting about this giveaway and tagging me @mttsm.

There are eight other bloggers giving away $100 Visa Gift Cards - check out the BlogHer.com Juicy Juice 2010 Round-up page here!

BlogHer.com Juicy Juice 2010 official rules

Comments

[mylifeasitis]

Unfortunately, our healthiest compromise was when our son was diagnosed with Celiacs. By default of no longer being allowed gluten (wheat, barely, rye)all of our eating got much healthier - but especially snack food. All of our snack food is now organic and very much less processed now. Best part is, we really don't miss Oreo's and other cookies and junk food anymore!

[amie]

I let the kids pack trail mix and fruit in lieu of a sandwich. More fun to eat & since they fortunately do not have nut allergies can get some protein form almonds,etc. They usually pack a piece of fruit and a drink to go with it.

[Michele D]

Clif Z bars. With a side of yogurt and maybe some carrots or pretzels. The hard part for me this year is that my son eats lunch at 10:50am. So by the time he gets home at 4pm he is cranky and starving. Sigh.

[MelissaS]

My son loves muffins for a snack, and I can't buy from the bakery section due to food allergies. Our compromise for his regular muffin fix is whole wheat banana or zucchini chocolate. With the zucchini chocolate, he feels like he is getting a cupcake - a double treat!

[elizabeth]

lowering eyes - a bit...this year I will let my 5th grader eat from the cafeteria at the middle school. He will need to make good choices, I hope he has learned to do so. He has a $ limit, and the lunch ladies are pretty good about checking with kids who continually make poor choices...

We'll see...anyway, we drink very little juice, much more water and coffee (me) -- but if we drink juice it is no added sugar, never corn syrup and juicy juice has a good product - so we do buy/like it. The kids DO bug me to drink soda, and I don't buy it -- so this new drink is a welcome compromise!!

:D

[girlsmama]

My kids love dip. I can get them to eat a ton of veggies by giving them a little cup of ranch. I make the ranch with plain fat free yogurt, so it's even a little healthy.

[mami2jcn]

I can get my son to eat carrots and celery instead of salad.

[tabitha]

i think some fruit snacks arent too bad for dessert - hopefully a little better than candy!

[sy]

i don't have kids yet >.< i consider banana my compromise, it's tasty and keeps me full and away from snacks.
songyueyu at gmail

[sy]

i tweeted http://twitter.com/syytta/status/21623320071

[Kristie]

My mother-in-law buys my picky eater Tiger's Milk Bars. They are full of protein and fiber, but he thinks he's eating a candy bar. Shh... it's not really chocolate- it's carob!

[denise]

My kids love to dip, so we dip fruit into yogurt.

denise_22315 at yahoo dot com

[b]

Our most successful compromise is that he can buy on the days he wants and then I help fix the lunch on the other days. He can take ONE sweet thing. The rest has to be good!

[KG]

My kids don't like sandwiches therefore I detest having to figure out lunch.
They do love bean dip (with whole beans, semi-healthy) & chips... and yogurt is a staple for protein at lunch since no one cares for lunch meat or peanut butter. (allergies).
My oldest is served lunch at school, they are not even allowed to bring lunch. Just one of the many things I love about his school LOL

[shel]

My daughter loves carrots, broccoli and celery with low-fat ranch dip. I also pack her crackers and cheese slices with pepperoni; I make them into little sandwiches and pack them in a Ziploc baggie..she likes them instead of the usual sandwiches for lunch. I also pack her salads with croutons and dried cranberries which she loves.

[shel]

Tweeted:
http://twitter.com/auntiethesis/status/21687094498

[Karina]

I'll give them ranch dressing for their carrot sticks. They absolutely love it!!

[Rebecca Graham]

I give them ranch dressing to dip their vegetables in.

[Jill]

My kids love healthy food (sometimes more than the unhealthy) so we don't really have to compromise much. They get some sort of fruit and dairy in their lunch boxes daily and love it!

[SANDY]

yogurt instead of pudding
plain yogurt with carrot sticks as a dip
instead of chips popcorn or pretzels

[Cindy]

Granola mix with raisins, fresh fruit, yogurt and veggies were all part of a routine. Cookies, chips and pop were rarities.

[Viva]

I pack lunch daily and only on the chicken nugget days do my kids buy at school, 2 days a month. Not too bad ; )

[steph]

Frozen gogurts! They have sugar but it is dairy and a good "dessert" comparatively speaking.

[Melissa - Shrinking Jeans]

I try to include fruit in their lunches and FiberOne bars or something instead of chips. We need to work on the lunches.

[Ellie W]

My little grandson loves carrot sticks, sliced apples and bananas, raisins, etc..
I also make muffins for him all the time. he loves anything in a muffin. I make carrot cake/muffins and even my oldest son, who never met a vegetable he liked, loves them. It's about the only way to get a carrot in him.

[Ellie W]

Tweet
http://twitter.com/eswright18/status/21715623451

[Nadine L]

My daughter has always liked healthy foods, so it's never been a compromise. She always loved Fresh fruit, String Cheese, yogurt and Dole fruit cups, so it was never a struggle to send her with healthy foods in her lunch box

[Elizabeth I]

I used almond butter instead of peanut butter.

[Nathan C]

almond milk :D

[Deanna]

Cereal. It surprised me when my son asked for it, but it was a hit among his friends. He took the cereal and the milk in separate containers and mixed them when he was ready to eat. As long as you pick a cereal with low sugar (and high fiber if you can pull it off), it is a relatively healthy snack or lunch item.

[Marilyn Wons]

My grandsons love fruit and yogurt in their lunches instead of candy!

[Gail Crawford]

My healthy compromise is fruit cups.

[Stephanie V.]

organic milk with a drop of organic chocolate syrup mixed in
tvollowitz at aol dot com

[brenda]

skim milk cheese sticks.

[Danielle]

my nephew compromises fruit leather for fruit snacks. he says he actually likes them better!

[Ann F]

I'll let my daughter have a sweet treat if she eats all her fruits and vegetables.

[Elizabeth N.]

We use all-natural peanut butter (the kind without all the "extra" ingredients). It took some getting used to, but now they prefer it!

[Amy V]

Low fat real cheese and crackers, made to look like a Lunchable!

[Heather S]

Trail mix rather then chips

[Nanci K]

I implemented portion control on everything they eat. Put things in a bowl, don't eat it right out of the bag.

[Katie]

Instead of peanut butter sandwiches on bread (which gets boring), we make peanut butter 'sandwiches' on graham crackers. String cheese (so much fun to peel!) and crackers is another sandwich alternative. Apple slices are improved with a small amount of caramel dip. Another fun treat is a berry smoothie (blend strawberries, blueberries, bananas--or whichever fruits are desired--with yogurt and milk) and freeze the drink. Pack the frozen 'drink' in a thermos or a bowl, and it will be properly drink or spoon-able by lunchtime.

[Linda Fish]

I use bread with whole grains added

[linda lansford]

I put grapes in tte lunch

[Rox]

Our healthy compromise is Silk's vanilla soy milk. My daughter can't stand regular milk, and I don't love that the soy milk is sweetened -- but at least she's getting a lot of nutrients, calcium and protein with less sugar and fat than chocolate milk boxes.

[pat ramey]

fresh fruit, string cheese, carrot sticks.

[Sunshyn Vanderheiden]

I found an all natural type of poptart which doesn't contain too much sugar and no HFCS. It makes for a much healthier snack.

[Sarah Hirsch]

i pack pretty healthy lunches for my daughter, and i guess the compromise part is that i let her buy sometimes, which is unhealthy because they serve pizza several times a week in the lunchroom

[Lisa Foster]

My grandson usually eats the hot lunch at school and since I also work at the school I routinely swing by and see if he is making healthy choices--he usually does pretty well--fruit or applesause for dessert.

[Lisa Foster]

http://twitter.com/fostertam/status/21777771754

[Andrea S.]

If you eat the "good for you" stuff first and are still hungry then you can have some of the "fun" stuff.