Homemade Healthier Lunchables from 100 Days of Real Food

Homemade Healthier Lunchables


Yes, packing a healthy, balanced,ย unprocessedย lunch for your child requires a little effort, BUT in the end โ€“ itโ€™s so worth it! Have you ever taken a close look at what some of the prepackaged (agreeably, more convenient) โ€œlunchesโ€ really contain?

Store Bought Lunchables Containโ€ฆ

Ingredients you know are bad:

  • High Fructose Corn Syrup
  • Hydrogenated Oils
  • Artificialย Flavors
  • Mechanically Separated Chicken
  • Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
  • Sodium Nitrites

Ingredients you do not cook with at home:

  • Sodium Diacetate
  • Potassium Chloride
  • Potassium Sorbate (Preservative)
  • Monocalcium Phosphate
  • Thiamine Mononitrate
  • Monocalcium Phosphate
  • Calcium Propionate
  • Whey Proteinย Concentrate
  • BHA and BHT

Ingredients that areย mysteriouslyย evasive… probably for a reason:

  • Flavor
  • Natural Flavors

Now, I donโ€™t think one Lunchable is going to put anyoneโ€™s health over the edge, but please tell me we can all agree this is not what we should be feeding our children on a weekly basis. So let me leave you with some similar, much better alternatives that you can make at home!

Lunchable Makeover: Ham and American Cracker Stacks

Call me old-fashioned, but (in an ideal world) I think everyoneโ€™s lunch should contain some sort of fresh fruit or vegetable. So I took the liberty of adding organic grapes to this lunch.

Homemade Healthier Lunchables

Lunchable Brand Ingredients:

Chocolate Sandwich Cookiesย – Sugar, Unbleached Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate {Vitamin B1}, Riboflavin {Vitamin B2}, Folic Acid), High Oleic Canola And/Or Palm And/Or Canola Oil, Cocoa (Processed With Alkali), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Cornstarch, Leavening (baking Soda And/Or Calcium Phosphate), Salt, Soy Lecithin, Vanillin โ€“ An Artificialย Flavor, Chocolate.

Cooked Ham โ€“ Water Added โ€“ Chopped and Formed โ€“ Smoke Flavor Addedย โ€“ Ham, Water, Contains Less Than 2% Of Sodium Lactate, Potassium Chloride, Modifiedย Cornstarch, Sugar, Sodium Phosphate, Salt, Sodium Diacetate, Sodium Ascorbate, Flavor, Sodium Nitrite, Smoke Flavor.

Pasteurized Prepared American Cheese Product โ€“ Milk, Water, Milkfat, Milk Proteinย Concentrate, Whey, Whey Protein Concentrate, Contains Less Than 2% Ofย Sodiumย Citrate, Salt, Lactic Acid, Sorbic Acid As A Preservative, Cheeseย Cultureย  Enzymes, Oleoresin Paprika (Color), Annatto (Color), With Starch Added For Slice Separation.

Crackersย โ€“ Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Vegetable Shortening (Soybean Oil, Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil With TBHQ And Citric Acid Added To Help Flavor), Sugar,ย Leaveningsย (Baking Soda And/Or Monocalcium Phosphate), Salt, Whey (From Milk), Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavor, Enzymes.

Homemade Version Ingredients*:

Dark Chocolateย – Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa, Raw Cane Sugar, Vanilla Extract.

Organic Hamย โ€“ Pork, Water.ย Contains Less Than 2% Of The Following:ย Sea Salt, Honey, Cane Sugar, Celery Powder.

Cheddar Cheeseย – Pasteurized Milk, Salt, Cheese Culture, Rennet, Annatto Color.

TJs Whole-Wheat Wafer Crackersย – Whole Wheat, High Oelic Safflower Oil and/or High Oelic Sunflower Oil, Salt.

Grapesย โ€“ Grapes

*Organic ingredients were sourced when possible. Not all ingredients in the โ€œHomemade Versionโ€ are technicallyย 100 Days of Real Foodย approved, but are still far superior to the store-bought version.

More DIY Lunch Ideas

Iโ€™d love for you to check out my blog forโ€ฆ

Please share your favorite healthy school lunch ideas in the comments below!

About the Author

100 Days of Real FoodLisa Leake is a wife, mother, foodie, blogger and author of the #1 New York Times Best-Seller, 100 Days of Real Food. She began chronicling her familyโ€™s journey on 100DaysofRealFood.com when in 2010 they decided to start seeking out the real food in our processed food world. What started as a simple pledge has turned into a valuable and practical resource thatโ€™s now read by millions around the globe. Lisa has appeared on Dr. Oz, Good Morning America, CNN, and The Doctors TV Show. Follow Lisa on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

A photo of Andrew Wilder leaning into the frame and smiling, hovering over mixing bowls in the kitchen.

Welcome to Eating Rules!

Hi! My name is Andrew Wilder, and I think healthy eating doesnโ€™t have to suck. With just three simple eating rules, we'll kickstart your journey into the delicious and vibrant world of unprocessed food.

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July 24, 2015 12:03 pm

Where do you find the ham rounds? Did you cut them yourself?

Adriana
November 17, 2013 5:51 am

Be careful with putting sauce/dressing in one of the dividers. Many of the divided lunch boxes aren’t leakproof. I found some tiny quarter sized reusable containers for sauce at the container store, and include those in the lunch.

Sunny
October 31, 2013 6:49 pm

That’s one year and 31 days of unprocessed food. This year I even challenged my children. They were good sports(once they figured it out about 15 days into it) and you know what? It’s 945 pm and no one has even eaten any of the candy we bought for Halloween … And even better… No one missed it! Hurrah!!
Bonus, I lost 32 lbs

Coreen
October 31, 2013 3:16 pm

This is great,not only for kids, but grown-ups, too! My husband and I make frequent trips that take us away from home for lunch. We don’t like buying a burger without knowing what we are eating, and anyway your “lunch-able” looks quite appealing. Thank you!

Cat
October 31, 2013 9:18 am

Oh, thank you for this! My daughter has been begging me to let her get Lunchables to take to school. She is going through a phase where the cute packaging seems to matter as much as what the lunch contains. I don’t like Lunchables because of the health reasons you mention here, but also because of all that unnecessary plastic packaging. And, they are so expensive for what you are getting.

The really silly thing is that I already *have* the silicone baking cups that I use in her lunches and the separated lunch containers, but have never thought to arrange them this way. They are so cute and I bet she will love eating her homemade ‘lunchable’ lunch.

Thanks for a great idea.