September has arrived and so has school, routines and busy hectic mornings.  What to make for lunch for you and the kids is the next question??   Tanya, the owner of Buggy Babies fitness & yoga, purposed this question to me.  She believes that moms and moms-to-be need to stay healthy and strong so they can be at their best for themselves and their families.  I most definitely share these sentiments with her.

Bringing lunch and snacks from home guarantees that your food will be fresh, tasty and healthy.  Essential to this task is preparing food the night before.  This can also include a healthy breakfast that will provide you with energy and nutrition to start your day and coast you to lunch. 

A fun and super delicious breakfast idea is the Gooey Breakfast Cookie, which originated at the Fitnessista, by Gina.  It is packed with fiber, oats, fruit, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals.  Involve your child in the making of their gooey cookie.  They can decorate it how they want with the nutritious toppings and ingredients you provide.  If children take part in preparing the meal they will be more likely to eat it.  They will look forward to getting up and eating their creation.

Gooey Breakfast Cookie
(adapted  from the Fitnessista breakfast cookie recipe)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup oats
1 Tbsp almond butter
2 Tbsp almond milk
½ tsp maple syprup
¼ tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 banana, mashed
1 tsp chia seeds (optional)

1.  Mix together oats and almond butter into a crumbly mixture.
2.  Mash ripe banana on plate, then add it to crumbly mixture.
3.  Add the maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, chia seeds and almond milk and stir until well combined.
4.Pour onto plate into the shape of a cookie.  Put in fridge overnight, uncovered.  It will be very moist at first, but firmer by morning.  It remains gooey and delicious so must be eaten with a spoon.

  Note:  This gooey plate of goodness can be made a variety of ways.  The cookie still turns out well if you want to leave out the fruit.  You may also want to try pumpkin or chunks of apples, peaches, raisins or berries.  You can use whatever toppings you like, such as chocolate chips, shredded coconut, pecans, almonds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, ground flax, walnuts or cranberries. 

Some other healthy breakfast options are hot cereals (oatmeal, rice) or cold cereals (whole grain), over-night oatmeal, puddings (monkey pudding or chia seed pudding), fruit, eggs, breads, muffins and smoothies (can sneak some veggies in with this one). 

  The Lunch Box

A well-balanced lunch will contain a variety of good quality, colourful whole foods with a broad spectrum of nutrients to fuel the body and keep blood sugar levels stable.  This in turn will keep concentration and mood more even-keeled.  Sandwiches are a go-to lunch item –PB & J, turkey, tuna, veggie. Thinking beyond the sandwich gives us some more choices – hearty salads (spiral pasta, quinoa, or barley with vegetables and dressings), soups, wraps, pita with bean and vegetable dips (white bean, guacamole, hummus, baba ghanoush) are some main options to offer vegetables and whole grains and can be prepared the night before. 

Side snacks can include veggies/crackers and dip, “puddings” (chia, breakfast pudding, yogurt, sweet potato mash, apple sauce), whole fruit (apples, bananas, berries, grapes), homemade muffins/cookies/treats, nuts & seeds (almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds) and dried fruit (mango, apples, bananas, figs), trail mix, whole-grain tortilla chips with salsa and cheese.  Fresh, clean water and natural juices (Ceres, 100% Tropicana juice, Happy Planet) are good choices for drinks. 

The lunch box should be appealing, bright in color and delicious.   Here are some examples to get you started:

1. Whole-grain wrap with hummus, tomatoes and sprinkled with cheese.
    Sugar-snap peas and red pepper sticks with creamy dill dip.
    Peach.
   1 Home-made oatmeal cookie.

2. Turkey (from roasted turkey) with mustard, lettuce and sprouts.
    Cucumber ring.
    Sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon.
    Chewy Fruit N’ Nut Morsel (energy ball!)

3. Summery Quinoa (orange pepper, celery, zucchini and spinach chopped small with  dressing).
   Whole grain crackers with almond butter.
   Grapes.
   Dried mangos.

4. Greek salad in or with whole-grain pita.
    Homemade carrot/zucchini muffin.
    Cantaloupe balls.
    Apple sauce.

5. Pasta salad (carrots, peas, yellow pepper, apple with dressing and sprinkled with cheese).
    Sweet potato chips or mash.
    Strawberries.
    Almonds (soaked) and raisins.

Planning and prepping a head of time will make your life easier.  Make a list of a variety of foods you and your kids like, plus new foods and recipes to explore.  There should be a variety of choices to plan your meals.  Keep in mind that you can often use left-overs from last nights dinner for todays lunch, so make a little extra meat, soup, salad or pasta.  Use the weekends to prepare healthy cookies, muffins and treats you can freeze for the week ahead. 

Some items to avoid putting in lunches include pop, deli-meats (contain harmful nitrates), food products with sugar or sweeteners in the first 3 ingredients or with ingredients you cannot pronounce, also check labels for chemically harmful fats (trans fat, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated).  Also, avoid processed sugary cookies, treats (twinkies, wagon-wheels) or candy. 

There are healthy packaged foods at the grocery store and your best defense is reading labels.  A few  include, Larabars, Veggie booty or Pirate booty (rice snacks with kale or cheese – kids do like it!), Mary’s organic crackers and plain Terra Vegetable chips (the flavoured ones contain MSG).

Allow your children to help prepare or shop for foods they like and they will be more likely to eat healthier foods.  Talk about food choices with your child and explain the reason behind these decisions.  Give them choices, such as “Do you want a peach, pear or grapes in your lunch?”  Children need to be exposed to foods frequently in order to accept them so don’t assume your child won’t like them and not offer it.  There should be a variety of choices that are appealing, but not full of empty calories and anti-nutrients. 

Here are some recipes that are easy and kid friendly.

  Sweet Potato Chips
(from Super Healthy Kids blog…a great resource for kid friendly recipes and menu ideas/plans).

1 sweet potato
Unrefined sea salt

1.  Grate or cut sweet potato into thin slices (as uniformly as possible)
2.  Place on a baking sheet and salt.
3.  Bake at 250 for 1 – 1 ½ hour.  Flip half way through so do not curl one way.  They should be crispy and orangy-brown ….not chewy anymore. 



Note:  The sweet potato must be cut very thin to get the crispy, crunchy chip texture.  Some of mine were not cut thin enough and were slightly chewy, but the thin crispy ones were incredible!! 

 

Toasty, Salty Chickpeas
(adapted from Super Healthy Kids)

2 cups cooked chick peas or 1 can
1 Tbsp coconut oil
Unrefined sea salt to taste

1.  Drain and dry chickpeas thoroughly with towel.
2.  Melt coconut oil and drizzle over chickpeas and stir with spoon to ensure all beans well covered.  Sprinkle with salt. 
3.  Pour beans onto cookie sheet with foil. Roast in the oven at 400 for 30-35 minutes.

Note: This is a great way to get kids to eat beans.  You can eat them plain, add them to trail mix or sprinkle on salad.  You can also add spices for different flavours -- dust them with cinnamon and nutmeg for a sweet treat; dust them with chili powder or cayenne for a spicy twist; sprinkle them with garam masala and curry powder for an Indian-inspired flavor.

  Monkey Pudding
(adapted from Brendan Brazier)

Ingredients:

2 bananas
1 cup blueberries (or any other berry of your liking)
½ cup soaked almonds
¼ cup ground flaxseed
2-4 Tbsp carob or cocoa powder
2 tsp ground Rooibos tea (grind to a fine powder in a coffee grinder)
1 tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp of unrefined sea salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  Makes 2 servings.

Cucumber Chains

1 cucumber
Unrefined sea salt

1. Wash well and cut into 2 inch pieces. Cut the seeds out of the center using a pairing knife.  Slit half of the cucumbers on one side, then connect them to the other ones to make a chain.

Enjoy these chains on their own or with a dip!