School lunch prep: 7 tips from Andrew Coppolino

September means back to school for thousands of children in Waterloo region, and that means back to preparing school lunches for their parents and guardians.

It's a ritual that can be frustrating especially when the lunches come back home uneaten.

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I'm past the years of having to prepare school lunches, but it was a rough road. My wife and I tried a legion of different approaches; none of them worked.

In the final couple of years, we stood toe-to-toe in a challenge: we would each make lunches for one full school year September to June and there was no backing out.

It wasn't pretty, when it was my turn. I watched the lunches deteriorate from fun shapes and smiley faces to baggies of broken Goldfish crackers and a drinking box or two.

So, before the year rolls too far along, here are a few things to think about when it comes the school lunch.

1. First,think "anti-lunch"

The schools aren't thinking about a formal lunch period, so neither should you. Kids get two "nutrition breaks" during the day, some as early as 10:30 a.m.

Plan what your kids are eating accordingly: a variety of snacks that are nutritious and interesting. You don't have to hit all elements of the nutrition guide in one go.

2. Use your regular food-prep routine

Don't treat school snack prep as something that needs its own special treatment. Make school snacks a part of your regular family food preparation when possible.

Cooking a big piece of protein? Portion off enough for some school snacks.

Making sandwiches for Saturday afternoon lunch? Make a dozen. Just about everything can be frozen.

3. Buy bulk and cook bulk

Pretend you're in a restaurant kitchen and prepare foods in bulk: it saves money, time and work.

Again, just about everything can be frozen.

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4. Freeze and chill everything

Make sure the food and drinks are very, very cold, and even freeze the lunch container itself.

Ship the kids' snacks with good quality ice packs that can get through the day.

5. Plan ahead, obviously

Don't leave snack prep to the morning rush: create your snacks days and even weeks ahead of time and make full use of that freezer.

Spend some timeone weekend making a truckload of snacks that you can draw on for many, many days.

The enormous pile of food might also be a chance to discuss with your kid, depending on their age, what "survivalist" or the "apocalypse" mean.

6. Involve the kidswhere appropriate

You know your own kids, so I can't advise handing them a 9-inch chef's knife and having them carve a roasted chicken. Do it when it works. Recognize that sometimes it doesn'tat all.

Try to include them in the food-prep process. Use the time to teach them about food and encourage them to try new flavours and ingredients.

That's not just altruistic, trust me: their broader palate gives you more to work with in terms of food variety to help overcome the routine.

Kids have short attention spans, so use their help in a limited way and in a way that doesn'tadd to your work load. Maybe have them help with snacks as a break from their homework.

7. Cook inventively

Try using muffin and mini-muffin pans (kids like cute little things) to prepare grab-and-go snacks, both sweet and savoury.

Balance the macros in their snacks: proteins should be the majority, then vegetables and carbs, and then sweets.

Experiment with different ingredients in the pans. You can make all sorts of cute little snacks with cut-up wieners, vegetables or bacon that can freeze.

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You can also involve kids in making quick and easy pastry snacks with ready-made doughs from the grocery cooler: drop in a tablespoon-sized piece of the dough and add a bit of wiener or bacon and bake, or add a bit of brown sugar or a dark chocolate chip or two and bake for a sweet snack.