What to Pack in A Paleo School Lunch

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Got kids? Want to feed them Paleo at school but don’t know how to do it?

Screen-Shot-2012-08-01-at-5.50.06-PM-300x289.pngThe first thing people are usually worried about, whether it’s for their kids or themselves, is the no refrigerator factor. We’re all very scared of getting food poisoning from food that’s been left out of the fridge for too long, right?

Well, we should be because it can happen. The U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service says we shouldn’t leave cooked foods out of the fridge for more than 2 hours, but I think they’re paranoid. I carried salami, hard boiled eggs, and cooked potatoes around Spain in the summer for 4 days unrefrigerated and ate it with no problem.

So my advice is this.
If you’re uncomfortable leaving your kids’ lunch in their cool, dry lockers for 4 hours until lunchtime, just put a little cooler pack in their lunch box. That little cooler pack will open endless doors to lunchtime fare.

And there’s no need to heat up their lunch after it’s been cooled by that cooler pack. Food can be good even when it’s cold. For instance, we eat cold deli slices all the time with cold pickles, cold lettuce and tomatoes, and cold bread with no problem. So just pack them leftovers from dinner with some fruit and nuts as a snack (or meat or hardboiled eggs if you’re not into nuts). Or…

More Lunch Ideas…

  • tuna salad with veggies or chicken salad or salmon salad
  • deli slices with raw veggies and fruits
  • chicken breast cutlets (cold) dipped in guacamole
  • baked sweet potato fries with a leftover burger patty and some raw veggies (or guac again)
  • berries smothered in coconut milk (canned) with leftover pork chops and broccoli

All are great lunch foods packed in a Pyrex bowl or some kind of tupperware. Then put it all in a super cool lunch box and your kid will be the envy of the school.

Also, there are always our Paleo mothers at www.everydaypaleo.com and www.paleoparents.com. Both of them have recipe books and both are very well versed in “kid foods”.

I hope this helps make your kids’ lunchtimes safe, delicious, and totally Paleo. Anyone else have suggestions?