Another school year is just about to begin. As a parent I am juggling my individual kids' food preferences ('cause they're all different), the family budget and trying to get most of the food groups in.
I hope these ideas help you to feed your kids this year!
​1. Vegies and fruit- fresh and dried

2. Yoghurt and muesli, which can be kept cold in frozen Nude food containers. Nut boxes are also handy but keep nuts at home if your school is nut-free.

3. Grainy crackers, with homous or cheese.

4. Tuna with or without crackers or Messy Monkeys popcorn (see my November 2018 blog about healthy popcorn choices).

5. Leftover quiche, boiled eggs or baked beans for that filling protein hit.

6. Salads with leftover roast vegies, boiled eggs, or homemade sushi.

7. Rolls, wraps or bread (gluten free for those who can't have wheat) with meat and salad fillings.

The popcorn range on our supermarket shelves has expanded it seems this year. I have reviewed a number of different brands to show which is the best choice, with Messy Monkeys coming out on top.  Read on to find out why.
Of course popping corn yourself and giving to the kids in reusable containers saves you money, reduces packaging, and will almost certainly be lower in fat and salt.
These popcorn brands do provide some fibre at around 8-9% and a slightly better choice for kids' lunch boxes than chips.
Just to compare:

• Messy Monkeys popcorn has 9% fibre, 22% fat and 350mg sodium per 100g.
• Grain Waves chips have 6% fibre, 21% fat, and 390mg sodium.
• Smith's crisps have 3% fibre, 34% fat, and 550mg sodium.

Remember we are aiming for <10% fat and <120mg sodium per 100g, although no popcorn comes close to these guides!
Messy Monkeys Lightly Salted Popcorn has the lowest fat and salt that I have looked at.

​The next brands of popcorn are similar- Snackers and Cool Pak. They have 26% fat and 700mg sodium.

This pack of Cobs popcorn has 3 flavours inside- all with 23% fat and 300mg sodium. However the "Lightly Salted, Slightly Sweet" packet has 16% sugar. All the other savoury popcorns I looked at have only 0.1-2% sugar.

I was asked about the sugar in breakfast cereals, so I have been shopping and busily reading labels to show the difference between them. Here are the top 4 sugary cereals with 1 sugar cube= 1 teaspoon of sugar = 4 grams. I chose to use per 100g to display, as the serves listed on cereal packets are very small and unrealistic. Remember we are looking as a guide for foods with <10% sugar.
Coco pops is 37% sugar, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes is 32%, and both Nutrigrain and Milo cereal are 27%. 

You can see that Corn Flakes and Rice Bubbles are not very high in sugar, both about 7-8%. But they don't rate as an everyday choice because of their low fibre content. Corn Flakes are 4% fibre and Rice Bubbles are only 2% fibre. In contrast both Carman's berry bircher muesli and Weetbix are 11% fibre.
Like my Facebook page for continued food reviews based on people's questions and comments- keep your thoughts coming!