Nutrition expert Stefani Sassos shares kid-approved, award-winning snacks and smart lunch-packing tips to make school mornings easier and more budget-friendly. Back-to-school mornings can be stressful, but planning ahead and choosing kid-approved snacks can make packing lunches easier and more enjoyable for everyone.
Healthy Snack Options
Sassos said one of the best ways to save on groceries is to talk with kids about what they actually like, which can help cut down on food waste. On average, a household of four loses around $2,912 per year in food waste, according to a 2025 report by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Sassos and her team recently tested hundreds of snacks for Good Housekeeping’s annual Snack Awards, focusing on taste, nutrition, convenience, and value. She shared some of the top-rated snacks for kids’ school lunches, along with a few simple lunch-packing hacks.
Some of the top-rated snacks include LesserEvil Crunch Cheezmos, Uno Bites Nano Cucumbers, Once Upon a Farm Strawberry Shortcake Power Wheels, and Horizon Organic No Added Sugar Chocolate Milk Boxes.
Lunchbox Hacks
The biggest lunch packing tip is to build a routine of planning lunches the night before, Sassos said. “After dinner, with the kids, get them involved,” Sassos said. “It’s going to get them so much more excited to eat the food and much more involved.”
Looking to stretch your grocery budget? Sassos said to go back to basics by buying fresh whole foods. “Also talking to your child. What did they like? What didn’t they like,” Sassos said. “Because if they’re not eating it, it’s a food waste problem, right, as well as a waste of money.”
Original reporting: WPBF West Palm Beach — read the source article.
