I Took the Walmart Great Lunchbox Challenge {Blogorama Bonanza Back 2 School Hop Sponsor Spotlight}

My dear daughter starts preschool in a couple of weeks and you want to know what I dread the most? ...making her school lunch everyday.

I am pro at making her lunch at home, which is usually leftover dinner. Ha! Now I have to plan, prepare, and pack a lunchbox five days a week and I am a sweating bullets thinking about it. When I was asked to go shopping at a Walmart store to turn my child's good lunchbox into a great lunchbox, I felt it was a perfect opportunity to get some practice.

I am a stickler about healthy meals at home and I naturally want that to extend to lunch at school, but I won't be there to make sure my daughter eats all her veggies. So the challenge becomes how to make her healthy lunch enticing. The answer is get creative.

•  Bring in the replacements. Let's take an old favorite- the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which is a good lunch, and make it great by giving it in extra healthy update. Switch out the white bread for 100% whole wheat and use almond butter instead of peanut butter.

• Accessorize. Cold cereal with milk is a good traditional breakfast, but adding fresh fruit slices (bananas, strawberries) make it a great breakfast.

• Go Natural. Yogurt cups make a good snack, but a better version is the yogurt  made with real fruit and no artificial colors, flavors or sweetners.

• Watch out for hidden sugars. The last thing you want is your child bouncing off the cafeteria walls and then becoming lethargic in class after a sugar crash. A juice box is a good beverage, but bottled water is a better drink. Add tangerines, grapes, peeled baby carrots to lunchboxes instead of cookies or candy to satisfy their sweet tooth and encourage healthy eating habits away from home.

It's also important to strike a balance. I don't believe in depriving my child of every fun food. I let her have low-sodium/zero preservative tortilla chips served with guacamole. She loves dipping her chips in guac and I love that she is getting so many nutrients from the avocados.

Here's  picture of my shopper's haul from Walmart:


I bought all of this for $24.68! Pretty amazing, right?! Walmart is proving that you don't have to sacrifice nutrition to get value. On your next shopping trip, look for the Great for You seal available now in the produce section and on additional Great Value and Marketside items starting this fall which will make it easier to identify affordable, healthier food choices. 

Here is a picture of my great lunchbox: 

Almond butter & jelly on 100% whole wheat toast, peeled baby carrots,
tangerine, almonds snack pack, yogurt with fruit on the bottom, and water

What is your biggest lunchbox challenge during back-to-school? Leave a comment below then come back tomorrow for your chance to win a $25 Walmart gift card in the Blogorama Bonanza Back 2 School Event!