Lunchtime seems unfairly synonymous with sandwiches, but the team at A Sweet Life is determined to kick off the school year right, offering up some low carb lunch ideas that will keep your child with diabetes satisfied without potentially sending their blood sugars skyrocketing after lunch. That’s right – we’re planning our back to school lunches and we’ve got some tips and tricks for keeping options low carb and healthy, helping kids fill their bodies with delicious food while they fill their brains with all that learnin’.
Let’s start with the lunch boxes themselves – these are some great lunch box options available now that make low carb lunch more easily organized. Check out a bento box, or another kind of compartment style lunch box, to make it easy to pack a snack or a bunch of lunch foods. Compartment lunch boxes come in a bunch of different sizes, colors, and system styles to fit your kid’s preferences.
Before packing up snacks, sit down with your kiddo and see what they’d like to see in their lunch boxes. Are they cheese fans? In love with olives? Keen on some crunchy cauliflower or edamame? Encourage your child to make a list of their favorite snacks so you have a solid jumping off point. (And you can check out these food swaps and low carb snack hacks to help with your meal planning brain storm.)
And now let’s work on LUNCH. Here are a few recipes from A Sweet Life that are perfect for your low carb lunch plan:
Tuna Salad Cucumber Boats
Here’s a fun and fresh way to serve tuna salad. Skip the bread and hollow out some cucumber, then fill with your favorite tuna salad recipe. These make a great low carb lunch or snack. And if tuna isn’t your favorite, try using chicken salad!
Low Carb Gluten Free Flatbread
The sandwich is back, and it’s better than ever because it’s low carb and gluten-free. Grilled cheese sandwiches are no longer just a fantasy, neither is toast with butter, or peanut butter sandwiches. Carolyn’s gluten-free flat bread is perfect for making sandwiches and panini, helping fill up your child’s lunch box and belly without the blood sugar boost.
Low Carb Bacon Chicken Artichoke Pizza
Help really prepare your child for college by prepping their palette for cold pizza. Almond flour, coconut flour, and mozzarella cheese come together to create a pizza crust that can stand up against the bounce of a backpack.
Mini Pizza Muffins
In keeping with the pizza theme, how about trying some pizza muffins? Chock full of diced pepperoni and mozzarella cheese, they make a perfect during, or after, school snack. Serve them on their own or with some low sugar marinara sauce for dipping.
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Pancakes
With plenty of summer’s end zucchini at the ready, this back-to-school breakfast can take a quick and easy spin into lunchland without too much effort. The chocolate chips will give your kids a bit of a sweet treat and they’ll never know it’s a pancake made out of vegetables.
Dill Pickle Almonds
Citric acid is the ingredient here that gives these almonds their pickle-like sourness and tang. These nutritionally dense little snacks are the perfect small side for one of those delicious panini sandwiches we mentioned earlier.
Rosemary Walnut Crackers
Crackers are an easy snack, but finding lower carb options can be tough. Making your own snack crackers, however, is totally doable. Check out these rosemary walnut crackers that are perfectly seasoned and excellent for school lunches.
Low Carb “Dorito” Cheese Crisps
Unhealthy chips are often found in school lunch rooms, but we have a not-so-carby spin on your basic Dorito … using the ease of pre-sliced cheese. Simply cut each of these squares into 4 smaller squares and bake them. Then sprinkle on a little taco seasoning and they taste just like Doritos!
Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lunchtime is a great time for a sweet little pick-me-up, and these low carb cookies are perfect to send kids into an afternoon of brain strain. These can satisfy the most intense chocolate craving and, best of all, they’re easy!
We have plenty of other delicious low carb recipes on our site, making the stress of school lunches a thing of the past. And if you have a favorite recipe that you prefer to pack, please leave us a link in the comments section. We’d love to share ideas!
