Back to school season is right around the corner! Are you looking for quick and inexpensive lunches to make for your little ones? In this blog post, we’re providing you with lunch inspiration using fruits and vegetables from our PYO patch!
Did you know that if you pick your own fruits and vegetables on our farm, you can get them for half the price? For example, if you buy one of our pre-picked watermelons, it will cost you $8, but if you pick your own it’s $3.50! Our blueberries are $4.25 per pound, which would cost you $1.44 per cup. Our pre-picked blueberries would cost you $4 per cup! Our carrots are $1 per pound, which could cost you only $0.30 for a cup. We have so many more vegetables available for you to pick as well!
Now, for the lunch ideas. Each option provides fruits and/or vegetables, a protein source, and a grain source based on Canada’s Food Guide recommendation. You can learn more about nutrition in the Nutrition Hub section of our blog. Feel free to modify each lunch idea and mix and match. You can add foods to make them more filling or take some away!
Lunch 1: Cheese and crackers with vegetables — broccoli florets, carrot sticks, and bell pepper slices.
Cost: ~$2.19. 2 oz cheese — $0.90; 10 crackers — $0.66; ¼ cup broccoli florets — $0.31; ½ cup carrot sticks —$0.15; ¼ cup bell pepper slices $0.17.
Lunch 2: Hardboiled eggs, crackers, watermelon, and blueberries.
Cost: ~$2.08. 2 hardboiled eggs — $0.60; 10 crackers — $0.66; ½ cup watermelon (medium) — $0.10; ½ cup blueberries — $0.72.
Lunch 3: Whole wheat pita bread, hummus, watermelon, blueberries, and vegetables – broccoli florets, carrot sticks, and green bell pepper slices.
Cost: ~$2.32. 1 pita bread — $0.53; 3 tablespoons hummus — $0.75; ¼ cup watermelon — $0.05; ¼ cup blueberries — $0.36; ¼ cup broccoli florets — $0.31; ½ cup carrot sticks — $0.15; ¼ cup bell pepper slices $0.17.
Lunch 4: Vanilla yogurt, granola, blueberries, and muskmelon.
Cost: ~$2.55. ¾ cup vanilla yogurt — $1.06; ½ cup granola — $0.31; ½ cup blueberries — $0.72; ½ cup muskmelon — $0.46.
Lunch 5: Pasta salad containing rotini noodles, chickpeas, feta cheese, vegetables – diced green bell peppers and tomatoes, and Italian salad dressing.
Cost: ~$1.62. 1 ½ cups whole grain rotini noodles — $0.54; ½ cup chickpeas — $0.30; 1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese — $0.26; ½ cup green bell peppers — $0.35; ½ cup tomatoes — $0.10; 1 tablespoon Italian salad dressing — $0.07.
You can find more recipe inspiration on our recipes page!
This blog post was created by dietetic internship student Amy Campbell.
References:
Health Canada. (2021). Canadian nutrient file. Government of Canada. Retrieved July 25, 2022, from https://food-nutrition.canada.ca/cnf-fce/index-eng.jsp.
Walmart Canada. (2022). Walmart Grocery. Retrieved August 19, 2022, from https://www.walmart.ca/cp/grocery.