Now that my children have been in camp for one full week, I feel like I have a good idea of what is working for them as far as amount of food and snacks I am sending.
I really dislike prepping lunches for school and camp but I realized the deconstructed approach I have taken recently makes it quick and easy, relatively healthy, and it may be even possible to have your children do it. I have not yet succeeded but will keep trying!
It would be too easy if both my kids had the same thing but I decided to follow the current strategy: one or two items with protein, a fruit or veggie, and one or two carbs.
Below is my daughter’s lunch: hummus, yogurt stick, tortilla chips, and grapes. Sometimes I sneak pistachios. She brings sea weed and cheez-its or pretzel sticks for a snack.
My son prefers more of a charcuterie style lunch and he gets pepperoni slices, a turkey jerkey stick, cheddar cheese stick, blue tortilla chips, and raisins (won’t eat fresh fruit…). For his snack, he gets veggie sticks.
The beauty of this type of lunch is that I mostly grab stuff and pack it in seconds. You can play around with different proteins and fruits throughout the summer. Individually wrapped snacks and reusable containers have been great. I figured we can always go back to peanut butter sandwiches if they get bored. I will explore hot foods for the upcoming school year when the average temperature is below 90 degrees.
Wishing everyone an amazing summer! If your child is in a camp that feeds them and they actually eat the food, you have hit the jackpot!!